(Editor Note: This post contains some language which may be considered harsh and offensive. We may have edited the article to reflect this, but the videos generally are NSFW and uncensored. Be advised.)

Well, this seems to be an ongoing wild ride for everyone involved. Dallas Fuel team member Félix "xQc" Lengyel has become the notorious bad boy in esports as of late. A couple weeks ago, Lengyel streamed himself spouting off toxic, bullying, and homophobic remarks in retaliation to the usual gaming trash talk by the Houston Outlaws tank Austin “Muma” Wilmot. This led to a steep fine and suspension. After the dust had settled, he publicly, via Twitch, told the Overwatch League what they need to do with his fine.

For context, Wilmot jokingly mocked xQc’s catchphrase “Rolled and smoked” after their win, while xQc was sitting on the bench for that match. Wilmot is an openly gay player in the Overwatch League and claimed to be aware of xQc’s apparent homophobia, mentioning it just prior to the joke. Lengyel, not quite realizing he was proving his homophobia in doing this, started getting angry on his next stream, rambling to Wilmot, “You didn't smoke sh*t! Shut your f**king mouth. Go back there. Suck a fat c**k. I mean, you would like it.” While this exchange was resolved with a simple apology and forgiveness, publicly, via Twitter, this behavior is unacceptable.

This ridiculous response was met with backlash from the OWL and LGBT gaming communities, as well as a heavy $2000 fine from OWL and a suspension that takes xQc out of the entire first Stage of the Overwatch League (which includes four games remaining at the point). He wouldn’t even be allowed to practice with the team during the suspension. This may be extended well into Stage 2 if he has any further incidents. But, by his track record, he couldn’t go a full month without some sort of additional blemish to his integrity, judging by the past 3 months total.

Before our match begins, we would like to issue this statement regarding @overwatchleague's decision to suspend @xQc. #burnblue pic.twitter.com/26ffHaPPEz — Dallas Fuel (@DallasFuel) January 20, 2018

Lengyel, homophobic comments aside, has been known for causing havoc as a toxic player for a while now. Back in November, he was banned by Blizzard for toxic behavior during a stream. He received the three day Overwatch ban for maliciously reporting players on his team, randomly, with no real reasoning behind it other than the words “f**k you” on each. In December, he was banned yet again, this time for seven days, for toxic behavior, throwing (i.e. losing on purpose) online games during his stream, in anger.

“I just feel like if the $2000 does not go to some LGBT thing which is directly related to the actual fine,” he spouted off, “then I’ll literally match it and donate $2000 myself to some LGBT thing, myself. Otherwise, it’s irrelevant. It’s literally irrelevant to be fined then, I feel like. I could be wrong. Isn’t that how sports work and sh*t like that?”

Now, at face value, that seems noble. Offering to send $2000 to a charity organization that you’ve verbally slighted is definitely a step in the right direction. The problem here is that the Overwatch League has never said they would or is obligated to donate the fine in question. This fine is due to his toxic behavior in an agreed-upon contract when he joined the team.

He is a professional player representing a brand in the Overwatch League. They are not required to do squat other than discipline a player in their organization that broke the rules. From xQc’s remark, OWL has not responded as of publication, but it remains to be seen if they even have an obligation to do so.

As xQc generally does too often, he spoke up again and again. Although is he currently under suspension, he still streams and plays online. After verbally trashing CS:GO when CS:GO player Scott “SirScoots” Smith called him out by name on Twitter last week, he still didn’t learn.

I do happen to love that "stationary, peek in the corner gun game" as

you called it @xQc https://t.co/4GQcACXUDX — Scott Smith (@SirScoots) January 21, 2018

The latest fiasco happened on January 29th, though, where he explained he’s off the clock when he streams and, based on his “enlightenment”, still doesn’t understand the nature of his position as a "role model" and "professional".



“I just had a huge breakthrough in my enlightenment. You just said it, drunk on the job. You see I’ve never seen streaming as a job, ever, and I told myself I’d never see it as a job at any single point. If I saw it as a job, I’d quit. I feel like I have this mentality when I stream,” he said on live-stream, “that everyone acts like ‘You’re a professional now, dude. You’re a role model.’ So, when I stream I am on the job because I’m a professional. No, f**k that s*it, f**k it. If you don’t like my stream, if you don’t like what I say, don’t watch this garbage broadcast! Get the f**k out the chat, stop watching me! It’s my zone! It’s mine! Mine!”

He went on to explain that he has a right to stream drunk, if he so wanted to, since he’s not working at that moment. Just a few moments later, he had a moment to think about it and realized that all of his sponsors flash on his screen when he streams, thus making his point moot and proving that if he does stream, he’s still on the job and a role model. At that exact moment, he was directly repping a Dallas Fuel badge on the video, which includes Jack in the Box, official sponsor of the Dallas Fuel. Additionally, his main streaming Twitch “team” is presented as Dallas Fuel, as well on all broadcasts.

Blizzard and the Overwatch League have a very serious decision to make in the near future and they have a ton of questions to answer still. Should Félix "xQc" Lengyel be booted from the OWL to avoid further toxicity or controversy? With the recent backlash about diversity throughout the entire League, does the entire roster need a shake up? Will Blizzard create a more concrete code on how teams are formed in future seasons? These are questions the OWL may have to address as the event gets more traction and the spotlight grows brighter upon the professional Overwatch competitive scene.

In the mean time, our best advice for Lengyel is: "Shhh."