Oh no.
Multiple NACL Players Found In Popular Chinese Boosting Discord
Elo boosting has been prohibited to professional League of Legends players ever since the LCS came to be. However, that does not seem to stop the following players who were recently discovered on a Discord server belonging to a popular Chinese boosting service. This has now sparked discussions on the official League of Legends Subreddit.
Firstly, this boosting service is not new. It gained public awareness after a player named 'Timal' hit rank 1 in the North American solo queue, then changed their name to that of the boosting service to advertise it. Since then, many customers and high-level players looking to offer their own services have joined their Discord.
While the Discord server is entirely in Chinese, not all the players are actually offering their services to the Chinese servers. Another important market is the North American server.
Is Boosting Allowed By Riot's Terms Of Service?
Generally, Riot Games will not punish you for duo boosting an account. There might be a difference between two friends who happen to be multiple ranks apart and designated boosting services, but it is unclear whether Riot acts upon the latter. Customer experiences suggest that they do not usually ban the booster or the boosted.
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However, solo boosting is effectively prohibited through another rule. In order to boost an account alone, a booster has to log into the account of their customer. Riot's Terms of Service state that sharing login credentials is prohibited. Since Riot are able to check their player's IP addresses, they can collect evidence that account sharing has happened and will ban the account as a consequence.
Additionally, boosting players is generally not allowed for players contracted to any League of Legends Esports organization. Veteran players Jake 'Xmithie' Puchero and Zaqueri 'aphromoo' Black have been penalized for elo boosting in the past.
Apart from a banned League of Legends account and possible bans on alt accounts for ban evasion, this has no consequences for the account holder as long as they are not involved in pro play. However, if you boost an account while you live in South Korea, you might get slapped with a fine of up to $18,000 or a two-year prison sentence.
These Players Are Involved With The Boosting Service
Among the 'S-tier boosters' – the highest level of boosters the service has to offer – some popular names in the North American scene can be found. One of them is previous LCS bot laner Johnson 'Johnsun' Nguyen, who has last been playing for FlyQuest in the 2022 season. He has been advertised on the server on May 11 but has since left the server again.
Another player leaving the server after being advertised is Trevor John 'Trevor' Roy. He is currently playing as a support for Supernova in the NA Challengers League. At the time of his joining on December 1, 2022, he has not been contracted to any team but joined Cincinnati Fear three weeks later. It is unclear when he has left the boosting service, but there is no evidence suggesting he has been boosting accounts while contracted to Cincinnati Fear.
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Players still on the server include former NRG Challengers mid laner Jouhan 'Copy' Pathmanathan and former CLG Academy mid laner Stephen 'Triple' Li. Both are not currently on a professional team, and Copy's retirement from competitive League of Legends ahead of the 2023 Summer Season suggests that he will not be looking to be part of one in the near future.
The same can not be said for Young Hoon 'Hyper' Seo. He is currently part of CCG Esports, who are competing in the NACL Summer Qualifier playoffs. As of now, he is still on the Discord server and being advertised as an S-tier booster. It is unclear whether Riot Games or the organization are aware of this. Should Hyper be found guilty of breaching the Terms of Service, he may be suspended from the tournament.
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Keep in mind that having your account boosted does not only invalidate your achievements, it also costs you a lot of money and may cost you your valuable account. While Ranked is supposed to be a competitive environment with high stakes, your quality of life will not be compromised if you do not manage to reach your desired rank. Keep it fair for everyone, in the end you will cheat on yourself harder than the system!