Why would you even give visibility of that screen to the teams? That's just poor planning and negligence on your part. There should have never been need to make a rule to not look at a screen that could change the outcome of a game. Change your setup and eliminate the possibility of glancing at the venue screen.

so who's idea was it to have ANY screens within viewing range of the players, or vice versa??? why is there even the remote possibility that they could stretch their necks once in awhile and trigger an "investigation" to see if they were cheating??? this is just dumb...

the fact there were screens they could look at is just stupid.. as awesome as RIOT are with everything in general, it's a joke that this post exists to deal with a problem that should never have happened.

i think most people agree that giving them the ability to even see the screens is ridiculous. so, the only way to be fined is if you benefit from looking at the screen? mmkay then.

I think we all knew from day one that the tournament was missing booths or separating walls, but nobody said anything until these incidents started occurring

Personally, I think Riot is being too lenient. The fine should at least be much greater, and should definitely scale off total tournament earnings and not just current earnings. Also, all cheating teams should be fined, not just Azubu - all of them broke the same rule, so it makes no sense that only one team be punished.

That said however, any action beyond a fine would not be possible at this stage.

To those calling for Azubu to be disqualified:

If we take the matter based on principle, EVERY TEAM that looked up should be punished equally. As people have written many times before me, cheating is cheating, regardless of the end result. The rules expressly forbid looking anywhere but your own screen. Five teams broke the SAME RULE. So if Azubu got a DQ, I would expect TSM, TPA, WE and IG to all be DQed as well. Imo, this would be the worst outcome.

To those calling for a rematch:

This would be the fairest (and most entertaining) recourse, but again, not feasible at this point. Given the already enormous delays due to connectivity issues, one can assume that Riot no longer has the time to organize and hold any formal rematch. They are renting the venue; they don't own it. Riot probably would have had rematches if time constraints weren't a factor.

Ultimately, I'm not going to let this sour the finals. I'd rather watch one more amazing bo3 (with the stage setup issues rectified of course) than have five teams disqualified and a flaccid end to the tournament.

The issue isn't that the screens could be seen. That's actually irrelevant. The players were so dishonorable that they chose to cheat. Eliminating the possibility of cheating isn't the point. Personally I would leave that availability just to see what teams have absolutely no honor and respect for the game by taking advantage of something they KNEW was wrong.

Cheating is bad especially when it's rewarded by allowing the cheaters to move forward. I don't care who cheated, weighing your response on how much it affected the game is irrelevant. Cheating should be handled the same across the board and should be given more than a slap on the wrist.

Are you kidding me two times rule violators go into the finals? After the first incident there should have been a I dunno some sort of watcher, observer or referee like character standing over them looking at them but I guess we can't find those around and the second time they should have just been booted from the tournament. As the other post sad yes it is maybe like looking at other person's test in college and guess what if you get caught doing that you get 0 score and booted, best of luck next year.

Professionally handled, past that blipup right at the start trying to keep the furor down while investigating. Good Job, Riot eSports (and the rest of you too).

Since cheating is both allowed and deemed acceptable at the highest level of play, I believe the Tribunal should be disbanded and all reporting removed from the game. Since only Intentionally Feeding has any "impact" on the game, those players should only then receive a 20% penalty in IP for that game.

Congratulations on the hypocrisy - welcome to the 21st century of Western philosophy.