Aspiring LoL pro got banned for inting, but Riot freed him after proving it’s a skill issue

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When Gorillajones123 declared his intention to leave his job and pursue professional League of Legends (LoL), it caused quite a stir online, with well-known figures in the LoL community such as LS cautioning him that making such a move could be risky and might not yield positive results.

Nevertheless, he’s consistently putting in the effort and striving to reach the major leagues as a top laner. Unfortunately, his hard work was disrupted when he was assigned to the jungle position by mistake in one game, resulting in a disappointing performance with 3 kills and 21 deaths.

In this game lasting 27 minutes, a player died 21 times, which is almost twice as much time spent dead compared to alive. Riot Games decided this was intentional dying based on their ban system. However, Gorillajones denies any wrongdoing, asserting that he didn’t intentionally lose the game for his team.

The situation became so critical that Riot Games’ top-tier analysis team, the “apex skill analysts,” had to intervene to confirm that the player indeed performed poorly in the match. Now, they are conducting an internal investigation into their auto-ban system.

Riot apologizes for banning Gorillajones amid inting allegations

In most standard League of Legends ranked games, it’s not ideal if a player is assigned a role other than their preferred one, as this could potentially disadvantage your team. As a player, it’s beneficial to have proficiency in at least two roles that align with your current skill level, so you can consistently secure victories and progress up the ranks.

In higher levels of the game, it becomes scarce to find opponents who can excel when placed in a role through auto-filling. At this stage, Riot Games even concealed player names slightly within the lobby as a tactic to discourage players from abandoning games due to noticing their teammates have been autofilled.

In an unexpected turn of events, Gorillajones found himself in the jungle role instead of his usual top lane position. This time, he was matched against Bel’Veth, a champion known for her ability to overpower other junglers during the initial stages of the game, particularly at level 1.

As Perry, a seasoned ex-pro jungler turned streamer and coach, I scrutinized our recent match and pinpointed some errors made by Gorillajones. Upon closer examination, though, it seemed those deaths might not have been deliberate choices after carefully revisiting the footage.

Investigated the Gorillajones match labeled as “2.2CSPM 21 death game,” where he received a seven-day suspension.
It appears that he might have been outplayed or “Omega gapped” by Bel’Veth instead.

After reviewing the match, what are your thoughts on whether the ban was justified?

— Perry (@perryjglol) July 13, 2025

The powerful foe Bel’Veth consistently stayed in her jungle, collecting Gorillajones resources almost as frequently as her camps. With no chance to gather resources, level up, and him repeatedly getting trapped by her waiting strategy, the game was essentially lost for him from the start, resulting in numerous deaths.

An experienced jungler would possibly how to deal with the issue, but he didn’t.

In an exceptionally unique situation, Gorillajones’ appeal led Riot Games to scrutinize the game in question. Not only did they overturn their initial verdict, but they also selected this game for a thorough internal assessment of their automated ban system’s functionality.

According to Drew Levin, a developer at Riot who frequently expresses his views on Twitter with the aim of enhancing the solo queue experience, he stated that our top analysis team has re-examined the situation today and feels that the punishment was too severe. Consequently, we are lifting the ban right away and conducting a thorough investigation into the automated systems that penalize negative behavior based on KDA (Kills, Deaths, Assists) and excessive deaths.

Speaking of which, the determined player has been struggling lately in the solo queue, as he’s found himself unable to advance beyond Diamond despite creating a new account and encountering challenging games along the way.

gorillajones putting up nickich numbers in diamond 😭

— Gryffinn (@GryffinnLoL) June 10, 2025

Following Gorillajones’ announcement on May 6, 2025 that he had accumulated enough funds to turn professional and intended to resign from his job until he reached that point, he has encountered some obstacles. However, these challenges have not deterred him from holding onto his aspirations of going pro. In fact, after hearing the news of his unban from Riot, he declared with confidence, “Nothing can hold me back.

Indeed, despite encountering a few obstacles along the way, Gorillajones’ determination to become a professional League of Legends player is truly commendable.

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2025-07-15 19:18