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FACEIT has officially cleared Counter-Strike 2 prodigy nocries of any wrongdoing following a detailed integrity review, putting an end to weeks of community speculation about his sudden rise to the top of the North American leaderboard.

The investigation began after nocries, a relatively new name in the FACEIT scene, shot to Rank #1 in North America, drawing attention from fans and esports organisations curious about his rapid climb. FACEIT launched a full three-phase review to ensure its competitive integrity standards were upheld.

A Deep Dive Into the Details
From August to September 2025, FACEIT’s integrity team carried out an extensive audit, checking for signs of multi-accounting, smurfing, or win-trading. No issues were found, and the Anti-Cheat client detected no suspicious activity. The review also confirmed that the account had no prior bans or sanctions.

Next came a background check on 16 September, where nocries sat down for a formal video interview with FACEIT’s Integrity staff. The goal was to verify details about his identity, Steam account, and gameplay history, all of which had sparked speculation online.

FACEIT verified that nocries, a player of Buryatia background with Mongolian heritage, had only one registered FACEIT account created in January 2022. His government-issued Russian ID matched previous FACEIT verification records, and his Steam account. created in 2021, showed nearly 6,000 hours of Counter-Strike play. He also reported having around 10,000 hours across older accounts shared during his early teens.

From Europe to North America
The review noted that nocries had reached nearly 3,000 Elo in Europe while playing CS:GO in late 2022, despite dealing with higher latency from Russia. After relocating to the United States earlier this year, his latency dropped significantly, allowing him to compete more consistently in North American queues starting in June 2025.

The team also examined IP variances and VPN usage, both of which were confirmed to align with his student travel and relocation. Even an activity gap from late 2024 to early 2025 was accounted for, as nocries took time off during his move and PC rebuild.

Proving Himself on LAN
To address any lingering doubts, FACEIT invited nocries to its New York headquarters for supervised LAN play between 23–25 September 2025. Using FACEIT-secured hardware, he played nine matches under direct observation.

His performance matched his previous online results, showing consistent mechanics and natural statistical variance. In fact, during the visit he not only re-claimed Rank #1 in North America but also top-fragged in his first-ever FACEIT Pro League (FPL) match.

FACEIT’s Final Verdict
“The review found no breach of FACEIT’s competitive integrity policies,” the company confirmed in its official statement.

Following the successful review, nocries’ trial invitation to the FPL circuit has been upgraded to an indefinite invite, allowing him to keep competing alongside professional players and top-tier talents.

FACEIT also announced plans to introduce a new validation protocol for high-ranked players and roll out an updated Anti-Cheat system aimed at further securing the integrity of its ranked ecosystem.

What’s Next for Nocries?
Having cleared his name and proven his skill on LAN, nocries now stands as one of North America’s most promising up-and-coming CS2 talents. His next goal? Joining a professional team and competing on the international stage.

Given his composure, consistency, and drive, it might not be long before we see nocries representing an organisation at a major Counter-Strike event.