Indian Rainbox Six Siege pro, Coffee, alleges that L2K are not paying prize money

Bhavya 'Coffee' Devgan, an upcoming Rainbow Six Siege competitive prodigy, was allegedly swindled out of his hard-earned prize money by Sri Lankan esports organization, Live2Kill.

It is a dark day for the South Asian esports scene, as this controversy has been brought to light by the player himself.

In a detailed TwitLonger, Coffee disclosed all the minute details about the fraudulent scheme administered by Live2Kill.

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Indian Rainbow Six Siege pro Coffee allegedly swindled out of hard-earned prize money

Coffee approached L2K during a perilous time, when their roster had only four permanent members. In their hour of need, Coffee rose to the occasion, only to be benched soon after.

He was selected as the fifth member at first, and even after putting in twelve hours per day, Coffee was eventually dropped from the team.

He was an integral part of the L2K roster which participated in the South Asia Nationals 2020 Open Qualifiers. Team L2K eventually came second in the tournament and qualified for the Six Major Closed Qualifier.

It is important to note that Coffee performed spectacularly in all the matches during the Open Qualifier, but as soon as Team L2K advanced to the Closed Qualifier, he was substituted for a former ESL India Rainbow Six Series Champion, Uday Raj "Skipper" Jain.

Coffee felt that L2K was using his skills just to qualify for the tournament; however, the ends definitely do not justify the means, and the Rainbow Six pro states as much in the Tweet.

Live2Kill claims in their defense that Coffee was apparently not good enough during his brief tenure with their Rainbow Six Siege team. As Coffee had transitioned from console to PC quite recently, the organization felt that they were expecting too much from a player who is still new to the platform.

The reasons given by L2K suggest that Coffee did not live up to the mark when it came to "mechanical precision." Coffee mentioned in the Tweet that despite his family commitments, he managed to dedicate over twelve hours to build chemistry with the roster.

Simultaneously, Coffee also alleged that L2K had arbitrarily fired Kumar ‘!onz’ Tathagat (coach & analyst), and from then on, he took it upon himself to act as the interim coach-cum-analyst for the roster.

He even took the responsibility of formulating effective strategies before the Closed Qualifiers, and it was his intel-gathering skills that proved pivotal in the team's success.

Despite being the team's sixth player, Coffee dedicated his time to make sure that his team exceeds expectations in the Six Major Closed Qualifiers.

Team L2K went on to grab the third position in the tournament and received $3000, but this is where the situation started going south for him.

Soon after the competition, Coffee was informed that his abilities were not at par with the rest of the roster, and that his services were not required. L2K claims that Coffee was not able to vibe with the rest of the team and that this was the primary reason he was removed from the roster.

But Coffee demanded that his share should commensurate his efforts. He further added that he only wanted to be treated fairly during his time as the fifth player in the L2K roster during the Open Qualifier.

Keeping his effort as a coach-cum-analyst aside, L2K apparently owes Coffee about $300.

To his dismay, Coffee states that not only was he denied his earnings, but he was also repeatedly harassed by the L2K officials.

According to them, Coffee was not fit to stay in the team and that was reason enough for depriving him of his payment. Furthermore, L2K already distributed the winnings amongst their roster without informing Coffee.

L2K official statement - Image via Twitter

Following this, Coffee confronted L2K's in-game leader, Dulshan ‘Fatalz’ Lakvidu. Their discussion was far from "warm" as Fatalz told him that he did not live up to the "L2K image." Simultaneously, Coffee also maintains that Fatalz insulted Coffee's talent by mentioning how he was not good enough.

L2K official statement - Image via Twitter

Team Live2Kill came up with a thorough explanation on Twitter which addressed both Coffee and the former coach.

In return, Coffee issued a public statement delineating all the conversations, deals, and promises L2K made before he joined the team. The chats disclosed by Coffee revealed how he was harassed multiple times by Fatalz as well as other officials at L2K.

It is important to understand that the South Asian esports scene is currently booming. Teams are signing players who show promise and expectations for major upcoming tournaments.

If organizations and teams do not live up to these expectations, then playing in prestigious tournaments would be an exercise in futility.

At the end of the day, player-organization interactions like these harm the community more than cheaters or hackers. While several good teams operate moralistically, there will always be teams that besmirch the competitive community with their rapacious actions, as Coffee so rightly points out.