A professional CS2 player, Adriano “WOOD7” Cerato, from ODDIK, got into a Twitter argument on May 12 about a controversial play during the PGL Astana tournament. WOOD7 is an experienced player who has been in the scene since 2017 and won the Intel Extreme Masters XVI (IEM) Fall in South America. He’s also the cousin of another pro player, Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato, who plays for FURIA.
The Controversial Play
The issue started during a match between ODDIK and G2 Esports on Dust2. In the third round, ODDIK used a non-standard method called “refunding.” This involves buying a weapon, giving it to a teammate, having them shoot and return it, and then selling it. The player making the transactions can’t move during this process.
WOOD7 tweeted that he was banned from using this play, saying, “They just banned the refund, unfortunately, I had another cool deagle play in my sleeve that I won’t be able to use.” He also claimed that the Imperial team used the same tactic against ODDIK during the Major qualifier.
Response from G2 Esports
Aymein “Aymeinstein” Bencheikh, G2 Esports’ assistant coach and former pro player, responded to the controversy. He said that his team knew about the “bug” but chose not to exploit it. He shared a screenshot showing that the PGL Astana organization later clarified that abusing this play was not allowed.
Aymeinstein’s tweet read, “Just a reminder (VALVE update 06.06.23): ‘Players can now refund any purchase made in the same round if it hasn’t been used.’ Everyone on our team knew about this bug, but for obvious reasons, we chose not to abuse it. It wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the game GG…”
Aftermath
Despite the controversy, ODDIK’s win against G2 Esports stands. ODDIK will face FURIA on May 13, while G2 Esports will play against BIG. The refund controversy sparked a debate among players and fans about what’s allowed in the game and how teams should handle gray areas in the rules.