Riot Games investigating Vega Squadron for win trading in LCL

William Davis Published 25/03/2020

Riot Games is launching an official investigation after Rolandas “Optimas” Vincalovičius accused Vega Squadron of win trading during the 2020 LCL Open Cup.

Russian organization Vega Squadron is in hot water. The team was accused by former member Optimas of win trading. The incident took place during the 2020 LCL Open Cup, a competition that runs in parallel with the 2020 LCL Spring Split. In the Open Cup, eight teams from the LCL face eight teams from open qualifiers.

Vega Squadron finished the group stage with a favorable score, and even if they dropped the final two matches, the team would make playoffs. In the second to last game, Vega was supposed to face a rookie team called Funny Yellow Dog. Considering the difference in experience, the odds favored Vega by a massive 15:1.

LCL team Vega accused of throwing two games

According to Optimas, head coach Kirill “JamesPeke” Katashov brought up the situation and started talking about a possible win trade. JamesPeke would be subbing in for jungler Yaroslav “MightyDragon” Svistun, who had to miss the game for unrelated reasons, so Vega could potentially justify dropping the game. Optimas made it clear to the organization that he wouldn’t let the situation taint his reputation. Vega reassured him that everything would proceed as normal and Optimas accepted to play.

What happened next was nothing short of a disaster.

Throughout the match, it’s obvious that Vega is boldly engaging and dying on purpose. Funny Yellow Dog didn’t do anything to get their kills, they just had to wait for Vega to go into them. Vega proceeded to forfeit the final game against M19. The team then played two tiebreakers and completely destroyed the remaining competition.

Optimas was released from the team days later and the player shared the reasons for the change in social media. Vega immediately denied the allegations and said the there’s no proof of any bets being placed. According to Optimas, JamesPeke and top laner Оleg “Charger” Zhuravlyov are constantly betting, so it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for either of them.

The accusations caught the attention of Riot Games, who have since launched an investigation. If Riot finds proof that a member of the team placed bets on the match, they’re likely to be suspended and the organization could itself face consequences.

Right now, Vega is sixth place in the LCL and out of the spring playoffs.

Read Also

Esports Betting

BLG vs T1: Best betting odds and picks for MSI 2026 Hannan Mundia BLG and T1 are among the favorites to win the 2026 MSI tournament, which is why so many fans are anticipating their match in the bracket stage’s first round. After BLG’s performance at last year’s World Championship, those who haven’t kept up with the team’s performance may not expect much from it. However, with the LPL team’s revamped roster and strategic approach to League of Legends, there’s a good chance ...

Esports Betting

League of Legends Classic will be back in 2026, here’s what we know Wasif Ahmed Riot has announced that League Classic will come out in Season 3 of 2026, as a game mode. League Classic is “old League of Legends”, the ability to play the game on a specific patch from over a decade ago. How much information do we have? What is League Classic, when will League Classic release, and what patch will it be for? Ever wanted to rediscover the old version of ...

League of Legends

Karmine Corp vs Team Liquid: Best betting odds and picks for MSI 2026 Hannan Mundia While both Karmine Corp and Team Liquid lost one series each, both teams will have another chance to continue in the 2026 MSI play-in stage to potentially qualify for the bracket stage. Both participating teams got swept by T1 in this MSI stage, bringing them to the third round. Team Liquid’s performance against Deep Cross Gaming was impressive, but does that really mean that it has what it takes to ...

Esports Betting

T1 exposes Karmine Corp with 3-0 win at League of Legends MSI 2026 Wasif Ahmed T1 just beat Karmine Corp 3-0 in the play-in stage of the 2026 Mid-Season Invitational. More importantly, T1 turned KC’s strengths into weaknesses. The bot lane and teamfight prowess that shone in the LEC were no match this time. The match started with Karmine Corp picking a disrespectful draft, blind picking three immobile squishies. Right off the bat, a botched invade put their jungle and bot lane at a disadvantage. ...

Esports Betting

The top 12 best players at MSI 2026 Wasif Ahmed The 2026 Mid-Season Invitational is mere days away, and it will see the best players in the world face off. The reward is a prize pool of $2,000,000 and extra slots at the upcoming World Championship. So, who are the top 12 best players at MSI 2026? As the most decorated player in recent NA history, Inspired is LYON’s star player. In one word, this jungler is smart. Inspired’s signature ...

League of Legends

KeSPA Cup returns in July 2026 exclusively on Disney+ Hannan Mundia The KeSPA Cup is slated to return sooner than most expected, though its date and exclusive Disney+ partnership raises some questions. The KeSPA Cup is an annual tournament organized directly by the Korea e-Sports Association. While it doesn’t get nearly as much attention as Riot-organized leagues and events, LCK powerhouses still participate in it. 2025’s KeSPA Cup is still fairly fresh since it took place in December. This year’s tournament ...

Esports Betting

Best betting odds and picks for T1 vs Karmine Corp at MSI 2026 Hannan Mundia This year’s MSI is still ongoing, and the next match in the play-in stage is slated to pit T1 against the LEC’s Karmine Corp. Both participating teams absolutely destroyed their respective opponents in this stage’s first round. With two 3-0 scores, both Karmine Corp and T1 have established themselves as powerhouses. However, the level of opposition was clearly different, and that fact may show its face in this match. Tournament: ...