Reign of Gaming

It's been another wild week to ignite the year in e-Sports. Katowice wrapped up with surprising results, and that was just the start for what was a week jammed pack with news. This weekend will see the final European teams qualify for the Season 3 championships, and if you aren't lucky enough to watch live check out Leaguepedia's coverage page to see how your favorite teams are doing and VoD's to all the games. With all the attention focused on the European LCS, let's take a look back at what transpired this week including Riot's major ban decision.

Mebdi DQ'ed from LCS

Team Solo Mebdi, one of the teams that had a strong chance to qualify for the LCS, was shocked this week to find out that Riot had banned 3 of their players just days before the biggest tournament of their lives. StunnedandSlayed, Veigodx, and Rayt3ch will be kicking themselves for their repeated poor behavior, and costing the rest of their team a shot at Season 3. The timing seems callous at first, but the case against 3 of their players is quite staggering.

It might be a different story if only one player was in question, but 3 of their members have been repeat offenders against the Summoner's Code. They each had a sort of final straw, and Riot chose to act swiftly, and this was really their only course of action. All 3 of the players had been permabanned before. You can view Riot's ruling here.

Riot has an image to protect, and more importantly an example to set for the entire gaming community. Having players that repeatedly harass other players, make disgustingly offensive comments, and admit to DDoSing other players cannot be part of the LCS. Teams that are part of Season 3 will be direct representatives of Riot and the company, and the e-Sports community at large cannot afford to be seen as angry, spiteful, malcontents if they hope to legitimize gaming to a more mainstream audience (and sponsors).

American Roster Moves

Quickly becoming a fan favorite, Team MRN made another big announcement this week with the addition of talented free agent Nientonsoh as their second substitute. Marn announced it on his twitter, and they will certainly have a skilled player in their fold who can play several positions. The team, of course, qualified in the last spot for North America in dramatic fashion just two weeks ago, and hopes to make some noise in Season 3.

Speaking of NA subs, The Brunch Club has announced that talented solo queue player and former FXO AP mid Bischu will bring his outstanding Nidalee play to their ranks as a substitute for their team. TBC is another NA team that hopes to reclaim some former glory for the region, and showed some promise two weeks ago when it cruised to a spot in the LCS. North America has needed some new blood for awhile to push the envelope and make everyone around them better, and these additions, and new teams especially will only serve to improve the overall quality of play.

Finally, Meat Playground disbanded in the wake of not qualifying for Season 3, and former MP player Pobelter has found himself back in the ranks of Curse. Pobelter joins forces with, Rhux, IWillDominate, Altec, and YodaTV to form Curse Academy, the new Curse "B" team. This team will be ineligible to compete in Riot's Season 3 official events because of Pobelter's age and IWillDominate's very public suspension, but there will be plenty of events they can take part in. This collection of talent will not only help push Team Curse, but if they can gel together could find themselves in the thick of major competition in a year's time.

So RoG'ers what did you think of the news this week? Was Riot right in their DQ'ing of Mebdi? Which NA team got the better sub? How will Curse Academy do? Let us know in the comment section, and be sure to tune into the European qualifiers this weekend!

Follow Reign of Gaming on twitter and like us on Facebook

Follow me on twitter here!