While League of Legends fans eagerly await the return of the professional season in 2023, many players have been streaming their single queue games, including TheShy, Weibo Gaming top laner.
However, he didn’t expect that his broadcast of his game on the Korean server would result in him being permanently banned for having lost a ranked match Jan. 12.
He was greeted with a message about his account being suspended upon his return to the lobby. He was dumbfounded and tried to reconnect several times, but he didn’t understand what had happened.
When TheShy understood he wasn’t able to log in again, he cut the broadcast early. His account is still blocked today. On OP.GG, it’s listed as a level-one account with an empty game history.
Although it hasn’t been confirmed, he was almost certainly banned thanks to a new rule on the Korean server.
Riot Games Korea announced earlier this month that as part of a wide array of measures to improve LCK’s competitive environment, “accounts rented to foreign pros have been suspended.”
Account suspensions started on Dec. 1, 2022, but more waves have been registered since, and rental account suspensions will continue throughout the “first quarter” of the year, according a press release from the LCK.
These account rentals will not be restored if there are bootcamps in Korea. TheShy, an LPL player was likely to have used one of those rental accounts. This was why the account was suspended.
TheShy’s permanent suspension hasn’t prevented him for returning to Korean solo queue, however. He began a new broadcast today and played under an unknown account.