Riot Suspends Tatu From CBLOL Playoff Series Following STEPZ Incident
Riot Games has fined and suspended Brazilian League of Legends jungler, Pedro ‘Tatu’ Seixas, for his behaviour last weekend.During the CBLOL Playoffs, FURIA pro Tatu passionately celebrated and shouted trash talk from…
Riot Games has fined and suspended Brazilian League of Legends jungler, Pedro ‘Tatu’ Seixas, for his behaviour last weekend.
During the CBLOL Playoffs, FURIA pro Tatu passionately celebrated and shouted trash talk from across the stage before walking over to confront his jungle opponent.
This was in response to RED Canids jungler Eloy ‘STEPZ’ Rodríguez allegedly calling Tatu a dog and a son of a bitch.
Tatu will now miss the Upper Bracket semi-finals against Los and has been fined R$15,000 ($3k USD).
CBLOL Statement on Tatu Suspension
The official statement from Riot and the CBLOL reads:
“This behavior is inconsistent with what is expected of a professional player and constitutes a repeat violation of the regulations and the Riot Games Global Esports Code of Conduct. Therefore, FURIA was notified of the seriousness of the situation, and Tatu is suspended for one round of CBLOL.”
Tatu broke the code of conduct earlier this season when he messaged an external friend, not a teammate, about a build during champion select of a CBLOL match.
That also led to a one-match suspension and a R$10,000 ($2k) fine, leading to coach Lucas Yudi ‘Luuukz’ Higashi subbing in.
Riot is allowing FURIA to field an emergency substitute for the upcoming LOS series, with the org needing to select the player by Thursday, September 10th, at 1 pm (Brasilia time).
Considering FURIA lost the last time Tatu was suspended, it’s no surprise LOS is given a 75% chance to win by Polymarket users.
Tatu himself posted an apology, stating:
“I recognize that I went too far and I’m learning a lot from this situation. I’m very intense and authentic, but I need to know my limits and find that middle ground.
“I truly believed that if there was any punishment, it would only be directed at me, but it ended up affecting the whole team and that’s what weighs on me the most.”
Mixed Community Reaction
Some LoL fans are furious with Riot’s decision, arguing that the esport is in dire need of personalities yet players are being punished for showing character.
Former LEC caster Adrian ‘Jamada’ Wharlton-Thorne labelled the punishment as “overkill.”
“We can not live in lala land where we want things to be lollipops and rainbows. If we want players for fans to latch on to, it has to be all sides of that spectrum.
“If you want to breed a generation of robotic players who go ‘yes this series was hard but we did our best and won’ we’re going about it the right way,” Jamada added.
Fellow caster Jake ‘Hysterics’ Osypenko agreed, saying:
“He will get fined for this 1000% but I love this kind of stuff; personality, emotion and actually bringing more rivalry to the game.”
Meanwhile, former LEC and CBLOL coach Peter Dun thought the punishment was fair, stating:
“To go into the other team’s area midway through a series crosses an acceptable boundary for trash talking and building hype (even if it’s great for fans).
“Furia will still have the lower bracket. If this happened in lower bracket maybe I would feel differently, but this is a justified punishment.”
Meanwhile, LCS caster Barento ‘Raz’ Mohammed claimed Tatu was instigating violence:
“I’m completely happy with players sh*t-talking, I’m completely happy with actual rivalry and actual beef. When that sh*t happens, we amplify that right?
“There is a line, and that’s literally a fight being started… even if the assumption that there was no contact made, you’re inciting a fight! You’re allowing that to happen on broadcast, mid-series, at what point do you think a fight is not going to start? And at what point do you think you’re not liable?
“The logical follow-through is a real fight, real legal problems, possible police if it gets escalated. That’s never-ending escalation and as a league, you should absolutely stop it.”
Was Tatu’s punishment deserved or did Riot shoot its own product on the foot by being to strict? Share your thoughts with us on the Insider Gaming Discord.
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