League pros accused of “blatant win trading” in disastrous Ultraliga match

A League of Legends pro match in the Ultraliga has raised the suspicions of spectators, with many claiming that pros on Iron Wolves were playing to throw the game. While nothing is concrete just yet, the uncharacteristic actions of these players have raised a lot of questions.

For a game as big as League of Legends, competition for spots as a pro player even within the minor leagues is very cutthroat. The level of skill you have to have as a player to be considered for a team is incredibly high.

And, while some pros crack under the pressure and make mistakes they wouldn’t normally make, there are times where it becomes a bit suspicious that a pro who’s been working toward that spot for years would make such an obvious misstep.

In the Iron Wolves vs Team ESCA match, many are accusing members of Iron Wolves of “blatant win trading” in several instances of the match. Some have gone as far as asking Riot to immediately investigate the players and the competitive integrity of the game.

League pro players accused of throwing matches intentionally

It’s not uncommon for people to playfully joke about a team win trading, or that someone should “check PayPal” after making the wrong decision in a League match.

However, win trading isn’t unheard of in League of Legends. Various LDL and LPL win trade scandals have torn apart the landscape of the Chinese League esports scene before, leaving dozens of players banned from competing. More recently, match fixing scandals have made their way to the European Leagues, with Turkey’s TCL having 14 players suspended in late 2022.

The mid/jungle duo of kylin and Odin on Iron Wolves, a team within Poland’s Ultraliga, was playing in a way that seemed pretty much impossible for pros. They outright refused to do damage and let enemies players live, when they could have killed them, at certain points. Nothing has been confirmed as of yet, but community backlash against the players has been swift.

Both ExpressLoL and GRP Esports have posted dozens of clips of kylin and Odin taking actions they viewed to be purposely throwing the match, and many players have agreed.

Over on Reddit, people were making fun of just how blatant their win trading seems to be, and the kicker? Iron Wolves still won the game despite kylin and Odin making several plays that gave the enemy team an advantage.

“Not only are they bad people for wintrading, they also are bad at wintrading. That fight by jayce is reportable. Glad that Gwen won that game,” one Reddit commented.

“lmfao the clip of Jayce just walking at them and not using any abilities is so obvious. Like can you make it a little more believable it’s not a wintrade?” said another.

Dozens of people are convinced beyond doubt that they were trying to lose this match on purpose.

“There is absolutely no chance for anyone to say that it was not a wintrade if watched the replay of the game. These things could barely happen in weekend soloq with drunk people playing at 3AM,” a user said.

Neither Riot nor the teams involved have commented on the situation as of yet.