With the LCS Lock In only a few days away, several of League of Legends’ most iconic players will be unable to play in the NA tournament due to visa issues.
Update on 14 December at 17:22PM (GMT)
Liquid’s Santorin has tweeted that he has received his visa. Whether or not he can play tomorrow, however, has not been confirmed.
MY VISA FINALLY ARRIVED!!!
— Lucas Larsen (@Santorin) January 14, 2021
A similar tweet has also been dropped by CLG’s Broxah, where he states that “I don’t know when I’ll be able to travel to the US yet” with the star jungler noting he may not be in America until “February, and even that I don’t know for sure.”
Visa update. pic.twitter.com/SnaN1vDxQS
— Broxah (@BroxahLoL) January 14, 2021
Original story follows below…
It’s safe to say that the way that we approach esports has changed over the past year. 2020 saw the esports world revert back to playing online and having to cope with all the associated issues.
Moving into 2021 chaos still reigns however, with League of Legends being heavily affected by current travel restrictions. The LCS Lock In, the newest addition to the North American LoL scene, begins on January 15 and has already seen some serious issues.
The biggest of these are that several LCS players will not be able to play in the tournament due to visa problems, which will leave multiple teams without their star players.
Which players can’t play at LCS Lock In?
The list of star players that can’t compete in the Lock In leg of the tournament is pretty extensive, and it’s one that leaves you cringing for the teams affected.
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CLG are one of the squads that have been hit the hardest. With star jungler Mads ‘Broxah’ Brock-Pedersen and former Rogue top-laner Finn ‘Finn’ Wiestål having complications, their new and improved lineup has lost it’s two brightest stars.
The same applies to Team Liquid, who picked up former FlyQuest jungler and standout performer Lucas ‘Santorin’ Tao Kilmer Larsson in the off season. Subject to travel restrictions once more, TL are in a pretty sticky spot.
Speaking of FlyQuest, they’re not out of the woods either. One of our players to watch, Brandon Joel ‘Josedeodo’ Villegas’ triumphant return to the Rift has also been delayed.
A full list, including Academy players who are facing the same issue can be found here:
| Team | Player |
| 100 Thieves | Luger |
| Cloud9 | N/A |
| CLG | Finn, Broxah, Thien, Katsurii |
| Dignitas | Spawn, JayJ |
| Evil Geniuses | Tony Top, Jojopyun, Shoryu, Mystiques |
| FlyQuest | Josedeodo, Dreams |
| Golden Guardians | Tally, Yunbee, Chime |
| Immortals | Raes, Destiny, Topoon, Pretty |
| Team Liquid | Santorin |
| TSM | Yursan |
Watch Now: Can Perkz & Cloud9 Steal the Show? Amazing Previews LCS Lock In
What does this mean for the event?
While it’s not the best start to the 2020 season for CLG, Liquid and Flyquest, the positive is that we’ll get to see some new players take to Summoner’s Rift.
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Jonathan ‘Armao’ Armao (formerly ‘Grig’) will be back on the LCS stage in place of Santorin, while Colin ‘Solo’ Earnest and Ryan ‘Keel’ Keel will replace Broxah and Finn respectively. Flyquest are yet to replace their star jungler.
The situation is pretty unfortunate, especially because the Lock In marked the debut for many of these players on the LCS stage. We’ll keep this article updated with any new details that release, but until then we’ll have to wait a little longer to see some of our favorite players.