Today, Riot banned 16 Oceanic League of Legends players for infractions ranging from toxicity to account sharing. That’s 40% of the Oceanic Challenger Series’ eight-team league.
In a statement today, Riot says they’ll work with the compromised teams “to ensure they can continue to compete in the OCS.” With three players banned for the full year and a half dozen for 2017's first split, several teams, especially SIN Academy, will be under quite a bit more pressure to perform.
Most players were banned for “boosting,” or playing on another person’s account to boost their rank or status. It’s a way of pocketing a few extra bucks on the side of tournament earnings. “Boosting” in the OPL has been a problem for at least a year in part because of the negligible salaries Oceanic players earn. Last year, players’ salaries were doubled from $3,000 to $6,000, which still isn’t enough to make ends meet.
Perhaps team leaders—and especially SIN Academy’s—should consider why 10 OCS players were “boosting” in the first place. But for toxicity or harassment, there’s not excuse.