Riot's World Championship Ban on Incarnati0n Was Correct Action

Unless you follow the League of Legends competitive scene closely you might not even know who I am talking about. So to start off this article let's get some introductions in order to better understand the topic. The main subject of this is a player by the name of Nicolaj "Incarnati0n" Jensen from Europe. Jensen as a player is terrifically skilled in not just League but also had success in World of Warcraft arena at one point. Unfortunately for Jensen alongside his skill is an outstandingly bad attitude. If there ever could be a poster child for being a toxic player Jensen could be it. To give an idea of how toxic this player has been we can look at the disciplinary action taken by Riot. The company has issued a permanent ban on Jensen's username Incarnati0n and any future usernames he might hold in the game. Meaning that Riot themselves never want Jensen playing their game...ever. The original ruling, which can be found HERE, from the eSports team of Riot was the following:

Relevant Rules
The Summoner's Code establishes the standards of behavior for all League of Legends players.

Analysis
Jensen has consistently disregarded the letter and spirit of the Summoner’s Code. His disrespect for the rules of the game is unacceptable for any player, especially a high-profile eSports competitor who has a regular opportunity to lead the community by example.

Ruling
Jensen has violated the Summoner’s Code in a persistent and remorseless fashion.

Competition Penalties
Jensen is:

• Ineligible to compete in the LCS Season Three European Qualifier in Warsaw, January 25-27, 2013.
• Ineligible to compete in the LCS indefinitely; this suspension shall commence immediately.
• Ineligible to compete in any Riot-affiliated League of Legends tournaments indefinitely; this suspension shall commence immediately.

So now that we know a little bit more about our beloved Nicolaj Jensen let's talk controversy. Jensen since his ban has become the known coach for the professional LCS (League Championship Series) team SK Gaming. SK Gaming has undoubtedly improved under Jensen's guidance to the point they earned themselves a trip to the World Championships in South Korea. This next bit will be confusing and hopefully you can follow along :D

Because Riot's rules/regulations throughout the LCS don't officially recognize coaches Jensen was allowed to come to the LCS studio as a "team guest". Keep in mind that until this point Riot never officially came out and said that Jensen was the SK Gaming coach. I'm assuming that Riot didn't want people to know that Jensen was the coach. The problem that has arisen now is that at the World Championships coaches will be recognized as part of a team by Riot. This decision also caused the ruling to be made that Jensen will not be allowed to be the team's coach at the championships. This means that Jensen is not allowed to be with the team backstage in the prepping areas for games. Which can be crucial if your coach has things to go over with you between games in series matches. 

A backlash has erupted from parts of the community accusing Riot of purposely lowering SK's chances of winning. The community tried especially to go after Riot's wording in their original penalties to Jensen. Mainly that, in the ruling, Jensen isn't allowed to "compete" in any League of Legends tournament. This attempt to spin Riot's words around by people is a joke and here is my reason why. People want Riot to recognize coaches as PART OF A TEAM in League of Legends righhhtttttt? Well if Jensen is the coach and PART OF SK Gaming then that means he competes WITH the team. Since a coach still competes on another level with a team that means Jensen's penalties still apply to him. If you don't think that's true then he shouldn't be called the coach. That's like saying any professional sport coach isn't actually part of a team or compete with them. Riot was being nice to Jensen by not calling him the coach during the season and allowing him into the studio as a "team guest". Most likely this ruling would have happened sooner if Riot came out and said he was the coach publicly during the LCS splits.

Some in our community think he should be given a clean slate and allowed to start over. Why? He has been given the chance to redeem himself multiple times and failed at it. The point is that Jensen made the decision to be the toxic player that our community complains about everyday. The consequences are his to face and because of this he might have brought SK Gaming down as well. Riot can't just give someone a clean slate because they did some good things for a team behind very closed doors. Then every permabanned player would want another chance. There is a reason it's called a PERMANENT BAN and it's because Jensen made choices on how to treat people online in a video game.

Personally it makes little sense to me why SK picked up Jensen as their coach. Did they really think there wouldn't be any issues with it? They could have kept Jensen on as a consultant or analyst but because they went with coach they now have problems. I don't feel sorry for Jensen (obvious reasons) or SK Gaming but I hope that for next season they can work this out with Riot. It seems that Riot is ready to make an example out of Jensen in some way to be honest. To show that they are ready to be serious with the disciplinary action they drop on people. If Jensen truly has changed then good luck to him with working this out with Riot but I wouldn't hold my breath. Being that toxic just doesn't go away in my opinion and can re-surface at a moments notice. Unless this ruling and situation has truly made Jensen fully realize his errors.

So what do you think? Do you think Riot should turn a blind eye to everything Jensen has done in the past and give him another shot as coach? Let me know in the comments below and good luck to SK Gaming on the Worlds stage with/without their coach.

With love,
Nubby