UPDATE: This article previously stated that both teams could not see The Ball, when in fact it was only invisible to Vitality. The error has been fixed.

The second game of the EU LCS match between League of Legends teams Giants Gaming and Vitality wasn’t close by the 26 minute mark. Giants had a 9k gold lead, were up seven kills, three dragons, and three turrets, and were positioning around Baron Nashor to use the buff to close out the game. After their victory in the first game, closing out the game would mean Giants would take the series.

Then, a glitch happened. Vitality mid laner Erlend “Nukeduck” Våtevik Holm’s Orianna experienced a visual bug, making The Ball invisible to Vitality while it was hovering over the champion.

The game was paused, and Riot referees offered the teams a remake – a standard ruling when a game-breaking bug pops up. The ruling was confirmed via Twitlonger by Riot Games EU Esports Product Manager Marc “Riot Snowbird” Schnell.

However, the ruling in this instance wasn’t without its problems. While the inability to tell where The Ball was at all times would certainly create a disadvantage for Vitality in fights.

Giants were so firmly in the lead at that point, there’s a strong chance they would’ve been able to close out the game.

Because of their lead, Giants didn’t accept the remake when it was offered (according a Tweet from Giants team manager and another from the Giants official Twitter).

Vitality, on the other hand, did accept it. Because of the LCS rules, Game 2 was remade despite Giants’ protests. Vitality went on to win the remade game, evening the match score at 1-1, and then won the Game 3 to take the series 2-1.

According to the official LCS rules, the remake was allowed. However, some fans have wondered why Giant’s couldn’t block the remake or why they weren’t simply awarded the game thanks to their large lead.

The official LCS rules are clear and stringent about remake rulings. When a bug that affects the credibility of a match pops up, the disadvantaged team is offered a remake. In this case, because of the invisible Orianna Ball, both teams were disadvantaged. So, when Vitality was offered a remake, it was entirely within their rights to accept it, even if Giants refused.

For a team to be awarded a win after a bug, one of these three criteria must be met: The winning team must have a gold differential of 33% or more, the turret differential must be greater than seven, and they must have more than two standing Inhibitors over their opponent. According to the LCS rules, the remake was 100% legal.

While the game save state tool Chronobreak is available for this circumstance in North America, the program is still in beta and as such is only available in the North American LCS.

This match was particularly important for both rosters, as they were fighting to stay out of the last place spot in their respective groups in EU. Both teams were sitting on a 1-6 record, one game out of last place in their groups. A last place finish would see either team being relegated and potentially losing their spot in the LCS.





Follow Taylor Cocke on Twitter @taylorcocke.