Olivia R. July 21, 2019
An item shop mishap may have lost Misfits their game against Splyce during Week 5 of the LEC Summer Split.
At the 12:30 mark of the game, Misfits called for a pause when AD carry Matus “Neon” Jakubcik sold his Essence Reaver, one of his finished items, instead of selling a health pot. It was clearly done in error but Neon and Misfits believed that the error came on the part of the game itself.
The referees disagreed and it was a decision that proved lethal for Misfits, with the player suffering a major setback to his growth by losing the weapon. Misfits lost the game shortly thereafter which sparked a discussion about the referees' call.
“I’ll reserve final judgement on the Neon/shop interaction until all facts are known, including what information was or was not available to the referees at the time and what was used or not used to make their decision at the time,” Misfits CEO Ben Spoont stated on Twitter.
While LEC fans seemed convinced that Splyce would have won the match either way, skepticism in the decision was widespread. Many responded that the referees often make poor calls and for a time, fan analysis seemed to indicate that this was one of them.
Neon’s Pro View stream of the transaction shows him clicking on the health pot but watching the Essence Reaver be sold instead. Riot’s match history seemed to further proved the referees wrong. The logs show Neon selling both items, yet on screen the health pot is clearly visible in his inventory. He also gained 2,310 from the interaction, which is the exact amount Neon would have obtained from selling the Essence Reaver.
While all signs pointed to this being a bug, Riot League operations lead for EU Esports Maximilian Peter Schmidt made a statement on Twitter siding with the referees.
"While he was in the shop Neon selected his B.F. Sword and then right-clicked on the ER to upgrade his item...He pressed left click on the potion, then released the click after moving his cursor off of the item," Schmidt explained. "This neither selected the potion nor sold it, and is intended functionality of the game."
Regarding the match history, Schmidt explained that the system groups shop interactions together that happen within a short time frame.
Schmidt's statement drew mixed responses from fans who took the opportunity to criticize the sometimes spotty League of Legends game client. Regardless, according to Schmidt it was not any sort of unique hiccup that specifically impacted Misfits.
Following the loss, Misfits dropped to ninth place in the LEC with a 2-7 record. Misfits rebounded well by defeating Rogue.