Prior to the LCS rule changes, Ninjas in Pyjamas were in negotiations with Lemondogs to purchase the LCS spot. Lemondogs' manager cites this as the reason for incomplete paperwork.
Two days ago, Riot released new rules for the LCS that both prevented qualified organizations from purchasing teams that failed to make it into the LCS and prevented organizations that failed to qualify from purchasing a spot in the LCS from another organization. This was likely a response to rumors that either the Lemondogs would be buying the Ninjas in Pyjamas team or Ninjas in Pyjamas would be attempting to purchase the LCS spot from the Lemondogs.
The latter rumor was confirmed today by the Lemondogs owner, Daniel Aicardi, in an onGamers interview. According to Aicardi, Lemondogs were in negotiation with Ninjas in Pyjamas for the spot until the news was released, the morning of the final LCS paperwork deadline. Because of this last minute rule change, the organization had to scramble to line up a roster, as many of the members of Lemondogs that played in Battle of the Atlantic had split up and found new teams in preparation for the NiP purchase. He also claims that Riot assured him that partially incomplete paperwork would be sufficient, and that they would work together to iron out details.
This excuse seems flimsy at best. For one thing, it is likely that the rule change, though sudden to LCS fans, would have been known as a tentative plan by the Lemondogs organization in advance. For another, Ninjas in Pyjamas manager, Martin "Deficio" Lynge, stated definitively on January sixth that the Ninjas in Pyjamas would be participating in the Coke Zero League, making it unlikely that negotiations were still taking place the three days leading up to the rule change announcement.
Indeed, in the onGamers article, Nick Allen said that the paperwork provided wasn't just partially incomplete, but nearly blank. He also informed the interviewers that the paperwork was turned in two minutes before the deadline, giving Riot no time to work with Lemondogs to iron out details. To make the Lemondogs' excuse even more untenable, Nick Allen claimed that the Lemondogs had received two extensions beforehand.
"This was the 3rd deadline we had given, and he still couldn't hit the deadline. So we strictly enforced the 3rd deadline, and the results you see before you."
—Nick Allen, 2014
To further corroborate Riot's statement, NiP's manager, Deficio came forward. Deficio received various attacks from the Reddit community for his misleading Tweets. In particular, on December sixteenth, he stated that the Ninjas in Pyjamas players would not be joining Lemondogs, which glossed over the fact that the organization was in negotiations to buy the spot. As a result of Aicardi's statement in the onGamers article, he also received criticism for announcing that NiP would be joining the Coke Zero League on the sixth. Deficio, however, refuted this claim.
and things like this: "Negotiations had intensified between Lemondogs and Ninjas in Pyjamas in the days prior to the deadline" is so false.
— NiP Deficio (@NiPDeficio) January 10, 2014
?Further, in a Reddit post, Deficio states he can back up his information with Skype conversations. He also argues that he believes the flack NiP would receive for purchasing the spot would not be worth the cost, so he is happy that the team agreed to play in the Coke Zero League instead.
"To the people flaming NiP for collusion and paying LD under the table to not sign the players yesterday, come on. I hope his own statement is proof enough otherwise I can provide skype logs and conversations of NiP not only stopping the conversations with LD about the spot but also deciding on playing Coke League and being happy with it."
—Deficio, 2014
Most signs point to Lemondogs' management dropping the ball on this one. Still, many in the League of Legends community continue to feel misled and agitated by continued European LCS team swaps and opaque statements made by both Riot and team management. In the end, the players are the ones who lose out in most of these deals and mistakes. Hopefully Riot can enforce their new rules and deadlines in the future to prevent more disappointments.
