Regret and a chance for forgiveness, those are the key thoughts with now former Axie Infinity pro player RJB of Axiemptomatic’s statement on social media after being hit with a banhammer. Following the end of Axie Infinity’s 20th competitive season, RJB was part of a massive banning of 7 of Axie Infinity’s tops players for match fixing and win trading. Developers’ Sky Mavis went on to investigate cases of alleged match fixing which resulted in the 7 players being banned as well as hundreds of NFT assets in the form of Axies.
The ban wave was implemented early this week which included prominent Axie Infinity top players and content creators after a violation of the game’s terms of service were found following match replay investigations. RJB of Axiemptomatic, one of the banned players playing under the banner of the RJB guild, finally said his piece by posting the statement below on his social media page regarding the ban.
Screenshot from RJB | Axiemptomatic’s Facebook page
In his statement Axiemptomatic admits to be at fault, no matter how unintentional their actions may be and says that he is ready to face the consequences of the actions that resulted in the ban. RJB | Axiemptomatic also apologizes to their supporters and promises to make a comeback for the next competitive season, hopefully, without any issues.
Here is a full English translation of the statement:
“Good morning to everyone, my bosses.
I know a lot of people know what happened yesterday and I didn’t speak up about it because I didn’t want to fuel the tension of the other players who were banned with me yesterday
I am asking for patience (forgiveness) from my supporters and most especially to my managers for what happened
I didn’t have the intention to win trade because I know in my capability in playing Axie. I don’t ask for wins against other players. The discord just became a hangout spot for friends who were grinding the leaderboard in order to not run into each other in the queue and hurt each others MMR (Editor’s note: That is also illegal by the way)
I accept all the consequences whole-heartedly because I made a mistake in participating in ending matches in a draw. This will serve as a lesson and inspiration for me to be better at playing the game
Again, I am asking for forgiveness from Axie Infinity for what happened and to everyone that supported me. I hope you continue to support me despite what happened.
Thank you to those who continually support and know how much I love this game. This is not the end of the battle. I will make a comeback in Season 21, I promise.
Spread love and positivity my bosses!”
Just like the other banned players, the reason for Axiemptomatic’s ban was tagged as under Match Fixing or Win Trading as the banned players are allegedly forcing their matches to end in a draw. In a statement by xSkyyy earlier this week, the forced tie match result stems from an “unwritten rule” in a Discord channel populated mainly by Axie Infinity top players wherein they have to end or force the match to end in a tie if ever they face a fellow member of the said Discord in a queue.While, the original intention of having a Discord channel for pro players was noble, as per xSkyyy, the “unwritten rule” is a clear violation of Axie Infinity’s terms of service and just like any violation, could unfortunately result in a ban for any player that is reported or confirmed to have committed such act.
As of the moment RJB of Axiemptomatic’s Axies are banned from use for a total of 999 days and RJB | Axiemptomatic, as well as the other 6 players, would no longer be able to participate in Axie Infinity pro esports events. Regardless of this however, RJB | Axiemptomatic and the other banned players can still play Axie Infintiy using new accounts and new Axies, provided that they don’t commit the same or new mistakes that could be against Axie Infinity’s ToS.