Richard Lewis reacts at BLAST Global Finals: “I would have disqualified Team Vitality”

Ava Thompson-Powell
Richard Lewis Vitality stream sniping
With a monitor being left on in the background of high-profile Team Vitality’s stream during BLAST, the internet is rife with discussion over what should be done.

Richard Lewis reacts to the alleged stream sniping controversy at the BLAST Premier Global Finals, as concerns were raised after Team Vitality appeared to have a stream of the event playing in their tournament room.

While it’s probably an accident on Vitality’s front, Richard believes that he’d have disqualified them to prove a point to all CS:GO organizations that there’s a zero-tolerance policy on stream sniping. He adds that it’s important not to point the finger at ESIC, because BLAST should have dealt with the situation straight away.

Lewis is of the opinion that keeping those who are allowed into the room during play at a minimum is vital, as it keeps foul play at bay. With swarms of fans all over the world and a player that was recently crowned as the best player within the scene, he believes that there’s a lot of deflecting.

Many are stating that the stream wasn’t even of their game, but Richard rebuts this as misinformation, stating that while the stream is delayed by a few minutes, it still allows information to come through into how the opposition is performing.

Being featured on the front page of Reddit, Lewis believes that BLAST should have taken a stand. All this being said, though, he isn’t saying that they have cheated, even going so far as to say, “I’m sure it’s just an accident,” but maintains that as the stand-out, high profile team, Vitality taking a penalty would have shown the seriousness of this offense, accidental or not: “No joke, I would have disqualified Vitality, I would have.”


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