Cloud9 support Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme has sparked a conversation on Twitter regarding proposed changes to the import rule in the North American League of Legends scene.
League of Legends reporter Travis Gafford brought the import rule change to light on his Hotline League Podcast. Gafford revealed that LCS team owners had been in talks with Riot Games to adjust the LCS import rule to allow more international players on LCS rosters. The import rule was brought up during an exclusive press conference with the current LCS team owners. Most owners were in favor of the import rule being changed, with some executives having a more aggressive take.
Cloud9 CEO Jack Etienne got into it with League of Legends fans on the Cloud9 Reddit, calling fans’ stances racist and xenophobic. His North American support player, Vulcan, then tweeted his own thoughts and said that if owners want more imports on their team, then they should just buy a team in that region.
The comment once again sparked some tension, this time between TSM CEO Andy Dinh and other NA players. Dinh responded with “Ignorant tweet. If every LCS team left the LCS- you’ll be out of a job buddy and probably be paid minimum.” His comment comes after TSM, a team comprised of current or now-resident international players, took the win over Evil Geniuses.
North American players mock TSM’s CEO
100 Thieves’ North American mid-laner Tanner “Damonte” Damonte quickly took the side of Vulcan on Twitter. He responded after his team’s own win over Immortals with a jab at Dinh and joking about the “out of a job” and “being paid minimum” comments from TSM’s CEO. Vulcan quickly responded by saying that he would “put in a good word” with the McDonald’s manager.
i can put in a good word with the mcds manager no worries man 👍
— Philippe Laflamme (@VulcanLoL) February 20, 2021
Even Team Liquid’s own South Korean support Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in got into the fun by posing an idea for a future event. The idea centered around the idea of “Team Imports” and “Team McDonalds,” which would feature all North American players. Below the tweet, he revealed that these two teams were drafted from the current top four teams in the LCS. Despite many teams being full of imports, there are still five native players between the top four teams.
What the import rule is and how it could be changed
The current LCS import rule states that teams can only have two player slots on their active roster filled by residents of other regions. Some longtime North American players in the LCS have been grandfathered into NA residency, such as Lucas “Santorin” Larsen, Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg and Jung “Impact” Eon-Yeong.
We need to make a event game
Team Imports vs Team Mcdonalds
Ssumday Closer Perkz Zven Swordart
vs
Fakegod Blaber Damonte Neo Vulcan— Yongin Jo (@TLCoreJJ) February 20, 2021
The LCS no longer accepts the grandfather clause, however, and now requires players to obtain a green card, with the exception of Oceanic region competitors. The Oceanic Pro League was shut down in October, and Riot Games allowed any players from the region to compete in North America regardless of residential status. There are currently five Oceanic players across four different teams in the LCS, and three of those squads are among the top four LCS teams.
Riot Games has yet to make a statement regarding the potential import rule changes. There has only been speculation from players and fans that teams could potentially have a whole roster of imports. However, most teams, outside of Dignitas, feature multiple non-resident players or grandfathered-in starters.
