The VALORANT Champions playoffs is on a break today and tomorrow, but the world of VALORANT is still reeling from controversy sparked by a Riot ruling for the final moments of the XSET FPX series at the Lower Bracket Quarterfinals.

What happened in the XSET FPX Series in VALORANT Champions Lower Bracket Quarterfinals?

The match between XSET and FPX was highly competitive, with XSET and FPX fighting for their tournament lives at this point in the tournament. XSET took Game 1 of the Best of 3 match, but FPX was able to retake the series with map 2, forcing Game 3. Both teams have been pushing each other to the very limits, as XSET and FPX fought neck to neck all throughout the three maps of their matchup. At this point, the game score was 11-12 in favor of FPX, with FPX requiring just one more win to secure their position in the tournament. FPX would win the round, ending Map 3 with a score of 11-13, ending XSET's run in this year's Champions.

However, after almost an hour and a half after FPX's win, both teams returned to Ascent to replay the round. The score was rolled back to 11-12, with XSET winning the round and scoring 12-12 against FPX, leading to an overtime extension.

Explaining the Killjoy Turret Bug that caused the Replay

A competitive update issued by Riot soon after explained that in the final round of the match, a Killjoy Turret Bug caused the turret “to fire in the wrong direction.” This is important, as at that point in the game, XSET could be relying on the turret's movements for information. If the turret fired in the wrong direction, this gives XSET the wrong information – i.e., that they should be expecting an opponent to come from that direction. With the turret firing off in the wrong direction, XSET didn't see FPX coming from the other way, with the bug potentially causing them to lose the round.

Because of this, Riot decided that the two teams will have to replay the final round, which resulted in the rollback to 11-12.

XSET would win the replayed round, causing an overtime, and, the two teams would actually fight back and forth to cause multiple overtimes. The game ended with a score of 14-16, with FPX defeating XSET a second time, advancing to the lower bracket semifinals.

FunPlus Phoenix will be facing Korea's DRX next in the lower bracket semis, with the winner advancing to the lower bracket finals against the team who'd lose in the upper bracket finals between LOUD and OPTiC Gaming. Meanwhile, XSET will be returning home with $60,000 in the bag.