Recently, the LPL organizers added a rather strange rule to the competition regulations for professional League of Legends players in China, which mandates that the League of Legends accounts provided by Riot Games China for players must maintain a minimum rank of Diamond.
The checks will be conducted before each round of competition, and any team that has a player who has not achieved Diamond rank will face administrative fines for each violation.
In a recent stream, JackeyLove revealed that the fine for each player whose account does not reach Diamond rank is 10,000 Yuan per person, which is approximately over 32 million VND.
The first round of checks will officially be applied today, July 1st, during the matches between IG vs DMO and SN vs LGD.
Invictus Gaming and Suning are the two teams at the highest risk of facing fines. Currently, in IG’s lineup, Rookie is in the process of climbing to Diamond rank and has not yet achieved it, while TheShy, Ning, and Puff are in Platinum I, and the substitute support player Reheal is even stuck in Platinum II.
If before the upcoming match against DMO the accounts of IG’s players do not meet the required rank, they will have to pay a total fine of 50,000 Yuan (around 164 million VND). Meanwhile, their opponent DMO has fully met the requirements and, of course, will not be fined a penny.
Also competing today, July 1st, is the match between Suning and LGD Gaming. On the Suning side, three players have not yet climbed to Diamond rank: Angel and huanfeng. In the latest check this morning, SofM and SwordArt have achieved Diamond rank; however, with this result, Suning still has the potential to face a fine of up to 20,000 Yuan for the two slots that do not meet the requirements (approximately 65 million VND).
Thus, if both IG and SN do not improve their situation, they will have to pay a total fine of 70,000 Yuan.
This rule is not overly strict, and the fines are not too high. The main purpose is to encourage League of Legends players competing in the LPL to focus more on playing on Chinese servers, rather than getting too caught up in trying hard in Korean ranks. The presence of top players in the region holds significant meaning in attracting players.
A few exceptional cases like TheShy or Rookie, while not playing Korean ranks much, often play games on their personal accounts; therefore, the accounts provided by Riot do not meet the required rank.
After the news about the new regulation was released, the League of Legends gaming community in China reacted with both amusement and excitement, as surely their players will be more diligent in grinding on Chinese servers more regularly, rather than only trying hard in Korean ranks as before.