Things have taken a rough turn for ENVY after they cut ties with Alex “canezerra” Banyasz. The move comes right after Riot Games handed him a 12 month hardware ban. According to both sides, this was not about cheating, but about repeated violations of Riot’s Terms of Service.

ENVY made it clear that the ban leaves no room for him to stay on the roster. He is not allowed to play, compete, stream, or take part in anything related to Riot titles for the duration of the suspension. Because of that, the organization ended his contract right away.

canezerra responded publicly and owned up to his behavior. He apologized to fans, his team, and Riot, saying he has not always handled himself well in game, especially in ranked matches. He explained that he has spent years grinding and trying to improve, often putting in long daily hours, but admitted that his attitude did not always match that effort. He also said this situation is a wake up call and that he wants to come back better.

Before all this, canezerra had been building a name for himself in the Valorant scene, especially as a streamer. He joined RANKERS in 2024 alongside names like P0PPIN, ion, Eggsterr, and Inspire. That roster was later picked up by ENVY when the organization returned to Valorant after a long break. The team even found success, winning Americas Ascension.

However, there were already limitations. Since canezerra and ion were still under 18, they could not compete in VCT events. ion briefly played elsewhere on loan earlier this year, while canezerra remained part of the broader roster setup.

The timing makes things even messier for ENVY. Their 2026 season has not been smooth so far. They started Kickoff with mixed results, made a roster change by bringing in Demon1, and then exited the event with a losing record. Moving into Stage 1, they stuck with the same lineup but have struggled, especially with meta shifts like the Yoru nerfs affecting their playstyle.

Now, with more instability around the team, ENVY is heading into its next match against Cloud9 trying to avoid falling further behind early in the stage.