Adam ‘nbgee12’ Zanzoul, a semi-professional CS2 player from North America, has been banned from FACEIT for life for collaborating with Jake ‘Stewie2K’ Yip, Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač, and Guy ‘NertZ’ Iluz to steal SSDs at the IEM Dallas event.
Despite facing challenges during the tournament, G2 Esports emerged victorious at IEM Dallas on June 2 with the assistance of stand-in Stewie2K. However, their success was overshadowed when unknown perpetrator nbgee12 snuck into the backstage area of IEM Dallas in the middle of the night and stole critical hard drives containing the team’s information.
The tournament organizers store players’ in-game settings and other information on SSDs for easy access during on-stage setups and to uphold the fairness of the competition.
According to a report from Dust.us, the 19-year-old player involved in the SSD theft at IEM Dallas in 2024 has been permanently banned by the organization. This comes after a history of bans for both in-game and out-of-game behavior, with the initial ban being for a period of five years before being made permanent.
He joined a stream with North American CS2 pro and streamer Collin ‘CoJoMo’ Moren to discuss the incident in detail. During the conversation, he confessed to trespassing into a restricted area at the Texas event and stealing the aforementioned player’s drives.
The player who has since been banned admitted to attending the tournament’s location at 4 AM and live-streaming the event to an audience on Discord.
Allegedly a photo from nbgee12’s Discord stream of him taking Stewie2K’s SSD.
Upon further investigation, it was revealed that nbgee12 was discovered by ESL through security footage. As a result, he was prohibited from attending the event and was detained by the local authorities.
According to the stream, the police did not charge me when they realized I was acting foolishly and causing trouble on Discord. It was simply trolling and not a deliberate attempt to bother anyone.
The player revealed to Dust2.us that he had consumed marijuana prior to the incident.
“He expressed that words are insufficient in conveying the extent of his humiliation and dejection. He sincerely feels disgusted by his actions and is dedicated to using this experience as a learning opportunity.”
Nbgee12 has been a familiar face in the local NA Counter-Strike community since 2021 and most recently filled in for Elevate at the American RMR for the PGL Copenhagen Major. However, following this event, it is unlikely that the player will have another opportunity to achieve success in Counter-Strike in the near future.
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