A VCT debut that once felt inevitable is now in doubt. North America’s rising Valorant prospect, Alex “canezerra” Banyasz, has suddenly dropped out of the scene after Riot Games stepped in with one of its harshest penalties.

On April 16, Riot handed canezerra a 12-month hardware ban for multiple violations of its Terms of Service.

This wasn’t about cheating. The action came down to behavioral issues that crossed the company’s competitive standards.

As a result, the 17-year-old is now barred from playing, competing, streaming, or appearing in promotional activities across all Riot titles until at least April 2027.

In response, canezerra has publicly apologized: "I made a serious mistake and said things I deeply regret. There's no excuse for it. I'm really sorry to my fans, Envy, Riot, and everyone who supports me - I've let you down."

ENVY followed the announcement by immediately terminating canezerra's contract. As the ban made him ineligible to participate in any official capacity, the team had little room to keep him on the roster.

Canezerra was actually a part of ENVY’s long-term plans. He played a crucial role in the 2025 Challengers circuit to secure the team a VCT Americas spot through Ascension. Across the 2025 season, he maintained a top-tier K/D ratio of around 1.29.

This young prospect was already kept away from Tier 1 due to age restrictions, and this recent incident will now delay his debut further.

Why Riot Games Issues Hardware Bans and What Triggers Them

Hardware ID bans are probably Riot's most severe punishments. Unlike general bans, which block the account, hardware bans target the player's system directly.

However, this kind of ban is very rarely issued. These are typically reserved for repeated or extreme violations. It gets triggered when things go out of hand, such as persistent toxic behavior, severe harassment, or credible threats toward other players or staff.

If a player faces this ban, there is no way to bypass this restriction, not even by creating new accounts or reinstalling the game. Any attempt to access Riot titles on the banned device triggers the VAN 152 error.

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Written by

Nilendu Brahma

Edited by

Pulkit Prabhav