LoL pro player dropped for sexist comments in solo queue
Riot GamesLFL jungler Nicolai “Nicolaiy” Garkov has been dropped from his LoL team after sexist comments made in solo queue games against another pro have come to light.
Toxicity is hardly new when it comes to League of Legends solo queue, and pro players are far from immune.
Countless pro players have been banned or punished for their behavior while playing on the solo queue ladder and breaking the Summoner’s Code.
Usually, the worst punishment a player will face is a fine or reprimand, with heavy punishments like suspensions coming only when players engage in cheating or boosting. However, one LFL player has now been dropped by his team because of his solo queue toxicity.
Nicolaiy dropped by LoL team after sexist messages in solo queue
Nicolaiy was a jungler for MS Company, a team in the LFL’s Division 2, so he is not exactly a well-known pro player.
However, as uncovered by journalist Rigas, during a recent solo queue game, Nicolaiy began to spew toxic and sexist comments towards fellow pro player Maya “Caltys” Henckel, the bot laner for G2 Hel.
Repeatedly, Nicoliay pointed out that Caltys was a female and used this as an explanation for her poor play, such as saying in all chat: “I just have a girl on hypercarry champ its gg.”
After these messages were uncovered, MS Company released a statement, apologizing to Caltys and dropping Nicolaiy from their team. The statement read, in part, “[t]hese words have no place in Esport and in our society.”
After being released by the team, Nicolaiy eventually released an apology of his own, but his account has now been deactivated.
However, before releasing the apology, EU coach Veteran managed to screenshot several now-deleted tweets where Nicolaiy appears to be doubling-down on his position.
Regardless of what the future holds for Nicolaiy and MS Company, this is another lesson that toxicity simply isn’t worth the consequences.
Even though your average solo queue LoL player doesn’t have to risk getting dropped by a pro team, a ban or chat restriction still smarts.