One of the teams competing in the upcoming League Oceanic Challenger Series’ grand finals on March 31 has encountered a rather unique problem: They have 24 hours to find three new players.
Team Regicide, the most successful team in the OCS’ regular split, have found three of their players suspended. The ruling was finalized after Riot Games’ Oceanic division discovered that the players in question had boosted and sold accounts in the past.
The ruling, which sees former Regicide players Yuekai “Cyk” Chan, Thomas “Leesa” Ma, and Bill “Eyla” Nguyen barred from competing in the remainder of the OCS season, now means Regicide has 24 hours to field a new roster. This is a tall order, considering that a majority of the league’s player base was banned on Feb. 9, due to negative behavior, account sharing, and account boosting.
In the event that Regicide can’t field a full roster before the grand finals on March 31, Outlaws, the second team to reach the OCS grand finals, will be awarded a default victory. Additionally, if the team isn’t able to field a roster, they will be denied from entering the Oceanic Pro League’s promotion series—the region’s most competitive league.
The situation is definitely peculiar, considering the fact that the three players in question were allowed to compete in the OCS for roughly a month, as well as the league’s semifinals, before being suspended by Riot.
For Leesa and Eyla, the competitive ruling means they will not be allowed to compete in any Riot Games affiliated events until the beginning of next year. Cyk, who according to Riot Games was selling boosted accounts, received a harsher suspension, and will be barred until 2018’s second OCS split.