LoL: LEC fines Team Vitality

The weekend saw the official start of the LEC Winter Split 2023, which we were all looking forward to. For many, the expectation was to see new teams like KOI and Heretics fighting against the best in EMEA. Others are eager to see the new G2 Esports roster, as well as the return of Martin “Rekkles” Larsson to his home, Fnatic, for the 2023 LEC season.

Undoubtedly, this generated incredible anticipation in every League of Legends lover and, of course, the EMEA community.

Not all good news

Unfortunately, it’s not all good news. The first day of competition, i.e., last Saturday, January 21, was marked by a series of breaks in the matches that provided a negative experience.

Far from all this, one player has been in the news in the last few hours. It is Luka “Perkz” Perković, current midlaner of Team Vitality. As Riot Games’ statement says, the player used a banned rune during their match against Fnatic, which took its toll on the team.

League of Legends Esports EMEA director Maximilian Peter Schmidt said:

“You may have noticed that Perkz picked Waterwalking on Ryze yesterday, which is currently banned in pro play. Our Competitive Operations team assessed Perkz did not gain a significant advantage via the rune. Vitality will be fined in line with past precedent.”

Reason for the fine to Team Vitality

As we note, Maximilian Peter Schmidt, director of League of Legends Esports EMEA, provided the information. Perkz used the Waterwalking rune, banned in the professional League of Legends scene.

Riot Games’ operations team has concluded that Team Vitality player Perkz did not take advantage of this in the game. However, Team Vitality will receive a fine, as has happened on different occasions.

The main reason why the Waterwalking rune is banned is that when Ryze has it equipped, he moves through the river and can recover mana by moving in and out of the river. This allows him to have a very calm line phase with the ability to use his abilities at all times. This is something that Ryze certainly cannot do at the start of games.

This news has not sat well at all with the community, with many claiming:

“Cant you just do something on TR so people cant pick it? Would make a bit more sense than fining a team coz a player forgot”

Others attack the LEC management asking for this bug to be fixed:

“Man its been 5 years since the bug exists, please fix it already”

Since the lane phase can be a turning point in any pro game, this combination of runes and champions will remain banned until Riot Games finds a solution for the glitch.

Header: Riot Games