E-sports player Warasin “Tokyogurl” Naraphat was caught red-handed cheating using Discord.
Even though e-sports are becoming increasingly relevant, a career in gaming remains a distant dream for many. As a rule, only the best of the best manage to gain a foothold in this industry, but some people look for practical shortcuts.
In the MOBA Arena of Valor, an attempted cheating scandal has caused a stir, with Thai e-sports player Warasin Naraphat – better known as Tokyogurl – caught red-handed. But it was allegedly not a one-time offense. Apparently, her entire career is based on lies.
Via Discord to victory
Tokyogurl was previously considered a rising star in the e-sports world, bringing numerous victories to the Thai team Talon. But this facade has now collapsed like a house of cards.
The deception came to light during the Southeast Asian Games, an Arena of Valor tournament held in Thailand in 2025. Team Talon represented the host country with Tokyogurl in the role of carry.
During the group stage in the match against Vietnam, the game was paused after a staff member noticed something strange on Tokyogurl’s screen. You can see the scenes in Mujin’s YouTube video on the subject, starting at 9:52:
Her hand movements did not seem to match what was happening on her screen. After the interruption, Tokyogurl’s performance deteriorated noticeably. Talon lost the match 3-0 to the Vietnamese team.
On the same day, the Thailand National Olympic Committee announced with a statement confirming that the e-sports player used unauthorized third-party software or hardware. As a result, she was excluded from further participation in the tournament and had to leave the team.
Later, it came to light exactly how Tokyogurl had cheated. The tournament was held on a private online server and the participants were given a new game account. Instead of logging in herself, Tokyogurl sent the login details to another person who played the match in her place. Using a Discord stream, she brought the game scenes to her device on site and coordinated her hand movements with them.
The fact that Tokyogurl played significantly worse after she was caught suggests that this was not the first time she had secretly let someone else play for her. However, this has not yet been confirmed.
It is now also known who this other person is: Tokyogurl’s boyfriend and former Arena of Valor e-sports player “Cheerio.” On TikTok, he made a statement. From Thai:
I would like to clarify the events that took place during the Southeast Asian Games and other competitions, where suspicions arose that a third party was used as a substitute player in several disciplines.
I admit to having done this, as reported in the news.
I have had time to reflect on my actions and deeply regret them. I sincerely apologize to society.
Reactions to this scandal are as expected. Both former team members such as captain Jormkon “Givemeakiss” Pumseenil and the president of the Thai Esport Federation, Santi Lothong, are shocked.
