Photo Credit: Daily Dot
One of the most tenured and experienced casters in League of Legends is OGN and LCK’s MonteCristo. The Korea-based caster has been plying his trade in the OGN and LCK regions of League of Legends, an area fielding some of the best teams in the world. What Monte brings to the table is not just extensive knowledge about his own region, but also his encyclopedic knowledge of the game as a whole. Recently however, MonteCristo was involved in a controversial management decision with his organization Renegades. Riot Games ruled that he would receive a one year ban from “holding any ownership or Riot-recognized position with any team in a Riot-sanctioned league.[1]
Another touch of drama that surfaced around the same time when it was announced that the three Korea-based casters of MonteCristo, DoA, and Papasmithy would not be attending the Mid-Season Invitational due to conflicts with Riot about payment. According to the casters, Riot offered them 40% to 70% of what other casters were receiving in events of similar size.[2] Despite renegotiations of payment, the casters declined to attend and relationships worsened between Monte and Riot.
In Riot’s first statement, they stated that the ruling “has no bearing on Monte’s status as a caster for OGN, IEM, or any other League competition.”[3] However, Monte announced via Twitter that he did not receive an invitation to Worlds.[4] It’s very likely that all the drama affected this decision in some way as Monte has always been a fan favorite and an expert analyst. It is unfortunate that he was not extended an invitation by Riot, and Worlds will sorely miss one of the best experts that Korea has to offer.
References
[1] https://www.lolesports.com/en_US/articles/competitive-ruling-renegades-and-tdk
[2] https://nexus.vert.gg/msi-30f7f6cdd946#.yy922ub51
[3] https://www.lolesports.com/en_US/articles/competitive-ruling-renegades-and-tdk
[4] https://twitter.com/MonteCristo/status/776789802532368384?lang=en