UK streamer Vicksy has called out another streamer and League of Legends (LoL) player for his – and his community’s – treatment of her during a Twitch Rivals online tournament.
Vicksy, a VTuber who uses a virtual fox avatar on her streams, was taking part in the Twitch Rivals x Riot Games Summer Rumble 2022 with Team UK’s League of Legends side, consisting of No Arm Whatley, Foxdrop, Fuzzmonkey and Shiique.
She posted a tweet showing how Team MENA (Middle East and North Africa) player Cipher had made several abusive and sexist remarks about her during the tournament:
Vicksy also posted more sexist abuse from Cipher’s Twitch chat, and she said: “His Twitch chat was also making consistently horrible comments towards me. I wonder why girls are mostly absent in esports/competitive settings?
“Unfortunately, this is a small amount of evidence – he continues to talk about me during his games calling me a daughter of a dog etc, anyone who can speak arabic is free to translate.
“I really wish I can exist without people circle jerking over me being a girl in a competitive setting.
“Two years ago I would have been so upset and crying at this situation, but I have an absolutely amazing partner and a perfect community standing by my side, and life is great! I’m proud of how well I’m handling it to be honest, onward to even more positivity!”
Vicksy
Vicksy also called out popular YouTuber Thenitrozyniak for his comments, including him telling her to ‘lose weight’, before deleting the post and blocking her on Twitter.
‘This is disgusting and you do not deserve to be treated like this’ – community rallies around Vicksy
Many members of the League of Legends and esports community stood up for Vicksy, including UK Valorant host, journalist and Twitch Rivals host Yinsu Collins, LEC/esports host Sjokz, Vicksy’s teammates and more.
We’ll leave a selection of comments below.
This is absolutely disgusting and you do not deserve to be targeted and treated like this. Really sorry to see you had to deal with this, these creators/trolls/garbage humans making horrible comments about you should be ashamed of themselves
— Yinsu (@YinsuCollins) August 24, 2022
@TwitchSupport pls.
— Eefje Depoortere (@sjokz) August 24, 2022
Really sorry this happened! Disgusting behavior.
— Troubleinc. (@g_troubleinc) August 24, 2022
incredibly maidenless behaviour. Gross
— Foxdrop (@Foxdroplol) August 24, 2022
I can only assume this man is an Andrew Tate fan. What an absolute idiot
— Rezone (@RezoneGAMES) August 24, 2022
Horrible :/ I hope twitch take action for this, shouldn't be tolerated at all.
— Billy (@NutriLoL) August 24, 2022
That's just straight up disgusting. I'm sorry you had to deal with that scumbag 😔
— 𝔸𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 ™ (@itstotallyamber) August 24, 2022
Twitch has also been contacted and is looking into the situation.
Cipher responds with apology Twitlonger: ‘I meant no harm and I was only joking’
Lebanese player Cipher, who plays for Saudi Arabian League of Legends team Geekay Esports, posted an apology in a @Cipherlol Twitlonger, saying: “Today I messed up! I said something during Twitch Rivals that I regret.
“This is not who I am and it was inappropriate. I meant no harm and I was only joking which I shouldn’t have. Things like this should not define our scene and I truly apologise to Vicksy.
“I can’t take back what I said and I should be better and do better for our communities. I am sorry again and I am willing to accept the consequences, learn and move forward. Hope you can forgive me.”
Some in the community criticised Cipher for posting a statement that wasn’t heartfelt, while others welcomed the apology.
Vicksy: Who she is and Twitch Rivals criticism
Vicksy is an experienced League of Legends mid-lane player, and regularly reaches Master tier in the game. She is also known for playing Dead by Daylight and a mix of other games.
Vicksy played in the UK League of Legends esports scene with Team Paria years ago and Vicksy reached record stream numbers after securing an early Vex Pentakill when the champion was released last year.
Vicksy has played in several Twitch Rivals tournaments in recent years, and won in TFT in 2019.
Vicksy also criticised the setup for Twitch Rivals this time, and for Team UK being flamed in Twitch chat by viewers from other nations after they finished last (Team East ended up winning).
She questioned why she was picked over streamers like HuzzyGames, and why other teams had more time to prepare, with higher elo players like Thebausffs and ex-pro players like FORG1VEN, while the UK was left with some players who don’t play the game as much, a mid-lane main in ADC and more.
Esports News UK has contacted Twitch for comment.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
