Two professional players in League of Legends are accused of having obviously cheated during an official match of the Polish Ultraliga in LoL. The two apparently performed so poorly during “win trading” that it caught everyone’s attention – and they even won the match.
Which professionals are involved? It concerns a match on January 23 between Team ESCA Gaming and Iron Wolves. The players in question are two Chinese mercenaries playing for the team Iron Wolves:
- Jungler Wen “Kylin” Zheng – he played as Lee Sin
- and Mid-Laner Shuai “Odin” Wang – he played as Jayce
Team leads by a wide margin, suddenly 2 professionals play terribly
What are they supposed to have done? The players are accused of intentionally trying to lose the match. Their team was leading 7-0 and by 6,000 gold after 15 minutes when they suddenly began to play very poorly.
According to the site 3D Juegos, they stopped attacking the opponents. And the jungler even obviously refused to take down an enemy inhibitor (via youtube).
As seen in the game video, both played noticeably suicidally, repeatedly getting “caught” by the opponents unnecessarily and thus being absent during crucial moments.
Kylin finished the match with 3/9/6 and Odin with 3/8/9 – the two professionals died almost 3 times more often than they got kills.
Nevertheless, their team won the match, even though they were behind in kills 24-29.
Why do they do this? In LoL, one can bet on the outcome of e-sports matches. If weaker teams win, they achieve higher win rates.
It is therefore suspected that the two players were involved in a fraud.
Here are the reactions: The unusual behavior caught the community’s attention and was sharply criticized. A reddit-thread on the topic had almost 7,000 upvotes and 739 comments.
In the reddit thread, a multitude of examples were provided showing how poorly the two professionals performed.
The Ultraliga subsequently suspended both players for 2 games each, even before Riot Games could initiate an official investigation. This is said to be the harshest punishment the league is allowed to impose on its own.
It can be assumed that a further, harsher punishment from Riot Games will follow.
More on the topic:
LoL: Community believes a pro cheated live in a tournament – sparking a huge debate
