Metal Desks Wreak Havoc at Valorant Champions Shanghai

Valorant Champions Shanghai hit a snag when custom metal desks caused wireless mouse interference, forcing players to switch to wired mice. Riot apologized but upheld a controversial match result.

Ever had your mouse suddenly stop working mid-game? Now imagine that happening during the biggest Valorant tournament of the year. That's exactly what went down at Valorant Champions in Shanghai, where custom metal desks messed with wireless mouse signals, causing chaos on stage.

According to the Valorant Esports X page, "repeated mouse interference issues have caused multiple tech pauses and disrupted our most important tournament of the year." As a result, Riot asked all players to switch to wired mice until the problem is fixed. The interference even affected a match between FUT Esports and 100 Thieves, where FUT's xeus couldn't fire their mouse. FUT lost 0-2, but Riot later admitted they should have allowed a round rollback. "We take responsibility for that error," they said.

However, Riot decided the match result would stand. They explained, "After considering the available options, we have decided that the match result will stand, as other options would result in overturning a victory by a team that competed under the same conditions and was not responsible for the error." So 100 Thieves keep the win, but the controversy lingers.

Why did this happen? Riot built custom metal desks for the tournament and believes the material choice caused the interference. For most players, switching to wired mode is easy—just plug in a USB cable. But some mice, like the recent SteelSeries Rival Pro, don't have USB Type-C ports, so players would have to swap mice entirely. That means adjusting to a new shape, weight, and feel—a big deal at the pro level.

Even if you can use the same mouse in wired mode, being tethered adds resistance to your movement. Players might have to tweak their playstyle slightly for the tournament or until the issue is resolved. It's a reminder that wireless mice are popular for a reason: no cable drag, and modern polling rates make them just as fast as wired.

Regardless of how quickly this gets fixed, it's a setback for pros. They might start packing spare USB cables just in case. What do you think—would you stick with wireless or switch to wired for competitive play?