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Why is NRG Exempt From LCS Rules?

AngryScrub·11/17/2015, 12:40:42 AM·12 votes·4,078 views

After the NA 2015 summer split Team Coast, a challenger team, "earned" a LCS spot by beating team Enemy during their promotion series.

Sometime today Energy Sports (NRG) bought the LCS "spot" that Team Coast earned. Every person tied to the Coast team that qualified for the LCS is not on the NRG roster. Instead they are replaced by other players that had absolutely nothing to do with Coast's promotion into the LCS. As a result, not a single player that fought to earn an LCS spot with Coast is going to play in the upcoming Spring Split.

From what I understand normally when a **team **is bought out there are rules in place to prevent a 100% team overhaul. However, it appears that NRG is free to field a completely new team and essentially use their deep pockets to circumvent the challenger system altogether.

There's a few things at play here that I would like clarified.

Why is NRG allowed to buy their way into the LCS without going through the Challenger League? Isn't that the pre-designated mode new teams are required to go through to earn an LCS spot? Since they didn't buy team coast are they even ALLOWED to just buy the "spot" that Coast would take up for spring split? It seems like a shady way to circumvent the rules to me.

This also seems to contradict statements made by LCS in the past. See Below.

"we do not want to marginalize a team’s efforts and successes in the Promotion matches simply because another owner has deep pockets and wants to buy back into the LCS." Granted, NRG isn't buying **back **a spot, but I think buying a "spot" in general goes against the spirit of this rule. The current situation also seems to marginalize the efforts of the individual players on Coast that had to grind their way into the LCS for an entire split.

"Rationale: While we want to preserve the ability of teams to pick up new players and change their roster, we do not want them to pick up entire existent lineups and** essentially drop in a new team **(and we consider a team to be 3/5 or more of the starters). "_ Well, the lineup that CST had for their LCS spot has been 100% replaced._

http://2015.na.lolesports.com/articles/update-lemondogs-lcs-rule-changes

"The Challenger Series (CS) is the birthplace of future esports champions in North America and Europe. As the only path for players to join the premier LCS, competition in the CS is fierce. The Challenger series is comprised of six teams facing each other team twice in a double round robin season. All matches are played in a Best of 1 format." This is the only place I could rind detailing rules about a team being entered into the LCS. Does Riot need to update the wording here?

http://2015.na.lolesports.com/about

Edit: NRG did keep KonKwon from what I can tell. So 80% of the roster is new.

45 Comments

JimmyNtheKudos11/19/2015, 1:00:02 AM6 votes

Man these guys played their hearts out to make it to the LCS, and just like that poof you're not in the LCS.

Riot should have not let this fly...

TemptedAngel11/18/2015, 8:34:28 AM4 votes

Based upon my interpretation of the rules this is illegal. Also NRG fails to meet another LCS requirement; 3/5 of the players are Korean and none of the Korean players have been playing in NA LCS long enough to be grandfathered in like Bjerg. As much as I respect the players they signed I would never be willing to support the organization for this move. Imo if you have money to spend and you want an LCS presence create a challenger team and get into the LCS like everyone else. The players deserve stronger rights and protection from the teams/organizations that employee them. How can I, in the state of California, have a difficult time firing a toxic/defiant employee who threats the livelihood of other co-workers; yet young vulnerable kids trying to prove themselves get zero job security for what they have earned.

Maybe I am over reacting, and maybe my response is not 100% rational but I do know this move does not feel right. It feels like a 5 player team from China just moved in and qualified for the NA LCS........ Oh wait............

Ale non è male11/17/2015, 1:33:43 PM2 votes

Because they find the loophole that they are not Team Coast, but a different organization that was buying the spot while Coast organization remains alive and is probably going to play in CS And, by the way, the problem arises mostly because Coast was probably the org that was selling the spot for a cheaper price, because if they were buying Dig, TiP, T8 spot what they did would have been perfectly legal

The worst thing, imho, is not the "lacked" player protection, but is the fact that, once again, an American org builded their roster aorund imports and not local players. I can understand Chris and Shrimp not making the cut because of the import status and they didn't want to be locked with them when searching for imported players (even though Shrimp could have deserved a chance, imho), but it is really sad how a good player like Pekin Woof got completely screwed because the NRG org started to build their roster around GMB, and instead two mediocre to bad players like Moon and KonKwon were prized despite being worse than Pekin Woof (in comparision with their role), just because they were the first players available in those spots not covered by imports. That's why NA can't build talent, if you build around foreigners and then left out talented players, while filling with scrubs the remaining roles, you are going to frustarte your own talents and keep around your own mediocre players

Axis the Dragon11/17/2015, 2:33:01 AM2 votes

Not only that, they're essentially a Frankenstein construct made of different pieces of different teams

Ex-TiP toplaner Impact Ex-Jin Air midlaner GBM Ex-Team Imagine jungler Moon Ex-Gravity ADC Altec Ex-Origen Coach Hermit Ex-C9 Coach Charlie Lipsie

Still, I wonder how Team 8 / Immortals are gonna do it? 3 of their players left (Goldenglue/Porpoise are free agents, Dodo retired)

Seiferoth11/22/2015, 11:13:04 PM2 votes

They need to stop letting teams sell their teams and completely abandon the previous team... I hear Gravity wants to sell too I'm like what the heck... guys what the heck.. IF THEY WANT TO DROP OUT, OK DROP OUT! and Hold a mini tournament in the Challenger Series to replace teams that drop out.... bad Riot, Bad Riot!

Hangsterr11/17/2015, 8:46:29 AM1 votes

The English tho

RichardLe4/10/2016, 9:25:20 PM1 votes

how many imports can a team have?