The Version1 player made “a categorically offensive and discriminatory remark” in reference to an official. V1 will play the event with a stand-in.
Riot Games have suspended Version1's Jordan "Zellsis" Montemurro for the first Challengers event of VCT Stage 3.
In the full statement, it is revealed that on May 28, during the check in and rule review session at Masters Reykjavik, Zellsis made "a categorically offensive and discriminatory remark" in reference to an official.
The specific ruling Riot point to is section 7.1.2 of their Global Competition Policy, which states that "All Teams and Team Members must observe the highest standards of personal integrity and good sportsmanship at all times. Team Members must behave in a professional and sportsmanlike manner in their interactions with other competitors, Tournament Officials, the Tournament Operator, the media, sponsors and fans."
Zellsis' flexibility in Reykjavik makes him a big loss
Zellsis and Version1 had a relatively successful run at VCT Masters Reykjavik. It was a success even to qualify, making them one of two teams representing North America. Once there, they scored a highlight win against European champions Team Liquid en route to a 5th-6th place finish. Zellsis individually found himself on Killjoy rather than his typical duelists. He performed relatively well, taking more of a back seat but not being a weak link either. He ended the event with stats of 230.5 ACS, 1.10 KD, and 153.8 ADR.
Version1 have stated that they'll be using a substitute for the events that Zellsis will miss. This is a situation the team will be familiar with, as Jamal "jammyz" Bangash had to sub in for Maxim "wippie" Shepelev in Reykjavik. Whether they'll go with jammyz again as a sub is unknown. He's been trialing with several other North American rosters already, including FaZe and Luminosity.
With the suspension, Zellsis will miss roughly half of the North American leg of Stage 3. Challengers 1, the event he's out for, puts four teams in Challengers Finals. If Version1 are one of those four teams, he'll rejoin them for that last leg of the Masters Berlin qualification process. If V1 aren't top four, we'll see him back in Challengers 2, which qualifies the last four teams for Challengers Finals.
The VCT Stage 3 North America start date has not been announced. Europe will begin on June 28th, as revealed earlier today.
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