Syndra, Lux, and Sett banned for start of 2020 LEC Spring Split

TL;DR

  • Three champions disabled from LEC due to game-breaking bugs affecting competitive integrity
  • Lux’s ultimate fails to deal damage, Syndra cancels teleports incorrectly, Sett’s ultimate extends duration
  • Professional players can systematically exploit these issues while casual players encounter them randomly
  • Bans may extend to European regional leagues if technical issues persist unresolved
  • Riot maintains different disable thresholds for competitive vs regular gameplay environments

Riot Games has implemented temporary competitive bans on Sett, Lux, and Syndra within the LEC ecosystem. The announcement came from Maximilian Peter Schmidt, Riot’s league operations lead for European esports, who confirmed the restrictions via official social media channels. These champion limitations will remain active throughout the initial competitive week of the 2020 LEC Spring Split, with potential extensions depending on resolution timelines.

Lux and Syndra face removal due to technical glitches capable of dramatically altering match outcomes. Meanwhile, Sett’s exclusion serves dual purposes: allowing professional competitors additional preparation time while addressing concurrent mechanical problems affecting his kit functionality.

Technical Analysis: Champion Bugs Impacting LEC Competition

Lux experiences critical failures with her Final Spark ultimate ability, where the high-damage laser occasionally deals zero impact despite proper animation and targeting. This random damage negation creates unacceptable competitive variance where skill expression becomes compromised by technical instability.

Syndra’s Force of Will ability demonstrates unintended interaction with teleport channels. When Syndra grabs an enemy minion and throws it toward an opponent during their teleport animation, the summoner spell cancels improperly—a interaction that violates established game mechanics. Professional competitors had extensively prepared Syndra strategies for the Spring Split, making this disable particularly impactful for team preparations.

Sett encounters multiple technical problems despite the practice-time rationale. His ultimate ability, The Show Stopper, sometimes glitches visually and functionally, causing the targeted enemy champion to remain attached to Sett for extended durations beyond the intended effect window. This persistence bug creates unbalanced crowd control that disrupts intended champion counterplay.

Competitive Integrity: Different Impact Across Skill Tiers

Riot’s designation of these issues as “game-changing” prompted community questioning about why global disables weren’t implemented. Schmidt clarified that professional athletes possess the technical skill to systematically reproduce and exploit these bugs, whereas casual players encounter them as random occurrences without competitive consequence.

“The competitive disable threshold differs significantly from general client restrictions because pro players can consistently weaponize specific technical issues that ordinary players experience only incidentally,” explained Schmidt. This distinction highlights the different competitive integrity requirements between professional and recreational play environments.

The competitive ruling may extend to all European regional competitive circuits if resolution proves delayed. This contingency planning ensures competitive fairness across the entire European competitive ecosystem, maintaining consistency in professional play standards.

Understanding Riot’s layered approach to technical issues reveals their sophisticated competitive integrity framework. While similar to how other competitive games manage balance—such as the weapon tuning in our BF6 Weapons Unlock guide—the company applies different standards based on exploit consistency and impact severity.

Professional competitors face unique challenges when technical issues arise. Unlike casual gameplay where bugs create minor inconveniences, professional matches can see entire strategies built around reproducible glitches, similar to how advanced tactics develop in games featuring specialized class systems. The ability to practice specific bug interactions transforms random occurrences into strategic weapons.

Teams preparing for LEC competition must constantly adapt to such technical restrictions, requiring flexible draft strategies and backup champion pools. This adaptability mirrors the strategic flexibility needed in other competitive titles, as detailed in our Battlefield 6 Complete Guide for comprehensive competitive preparation.

Action Checklist

  • Monitor official LEC announcements for champion disable updates and expected resolution timelines
  • Develop flexible draft strategies that account for potential champion restrictions
  • Analyze bug reproduction consistency to understand competitive exploit potential
  • Practice alternative champion options to maintain strategic depth during technical restrictions

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