Team Impulse Banned from North American LCS
Riot Games has banned Team Impulse from participating in the North American LCS after the team repeatedly failed to provide contracts to its players and pay them on time. This comes after Riot recently banned Team Dragon Knights and Renegades for similar reasons.
Impulse’s Turbulent Year
Impulse, formerly known as LMQ, has faced numerous challenges in the past year and a half. Starting with the banning of their star player, XiaoWeiXiao, for ELO boosting, followed by the loss of key players to NRG Esports and Cloud 9, the team had to field a completely new roster of rookies in the Spring Split.
Riot Grants Their Wish
Team Impulse recently announced their search for investors, stating that the team owners were open to selling their spot. Riot has now granted their wishes and if Impulse fails to sell their spot by May 18, Riot has “follow-up steps” in place. Additionally, the team has been fined $20,000 by Riot.
LCS Standards Not Met
Riot stated that Impulse “does not meet League standards for a professional organization” due to their failure to pay players on time and provide contracts. Despite LCS intervention, Impulse continued to neglect minimum player compensation and failed to make the required payments to players.
This failure led to Impulse’s ban, which was less severe compared to the bans of Renegades and Team Dragon Knights. Unlike the management of these two teams, Impulse’s management has not been banned or suspended from owning a team in the future.
Riot plans to implement harsher penalties for teams that fail to pay their players promptly in the future, in order to avoid any repeated patterns.
The esports community hopes that these rules are modified sooner rather than later to ensure fair treatment for players.
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