During the LEC 2023 Winter Split, why is Team Vitality penalised?

HIGHLIGHTS -

1. League of Legends Esports and the LEC fined Team Vitality.

2. This occurred after Ryze was shut in by Vitality's Perkz using the waterwalking rune, which is apparently forbidden in professional play.

On January 21, the LEC 2023 Winter Split began, and spectators were treated to thrilling best-of-one (BO1) games starring the finest players in Europe. However, the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) officials fined Team Vitality on the opening day of the tournament. Notably, Team Vitality defeated Fnatic in their clash on January 21. Director of League of Legends Esports EMEA Maximilian Peter Schmidt announced on Twitter that Team Vitality will pay a fine because the team's mid-laner chose a specific rune on Ryze.

Who chose the rune for Team Vitality Perkz?

Luka "Perkz" Perkovi of Team Vitality chose to play Ryze with the Waterwalking rune in the first game against Fnatic. Notably, the Waterwalking rune can be found in the Sorcery tree. When this is equipped, players can walk through rivers and increase their movement speed, ability power (AP), attack damage (AD), and adaptive power.

Schmidt penned the following on January 22nd: "You may have noted that Perkz chose Waterwalking on Ryze yesterday, which is presently forbidden in professional play. According to our Competitive Operations team, Perkz did not significantly benefit from the rune. According to previous practice, Vitality will be penalised."

The squad received a fine even though the LEC officials determined that Perkz didn't significantly benefit from using the Waterwalking rune. Due to a game-breaking bug, the rune is presently prohibited from use while playing Ryze in professional play.

The interplay between Ryze's Arcane Mastery passive and the Waterwalking rune results in this problem. Arcane Mastery raises Ryze's total mana by 10% per 100 AP, which also influences his current mana pool and maximum mana. Players should be aware of this.

Because the champion and the Waterwalking rune's passive are both activated when a player with Waterwalking enters and exits the river close to the midlane, they can fast regain mana.

Since more than a year ago, there has been a Ryze-Waterwalking glitch in the game. The bug allows Ryze, who has waterwalking equipped, to spam his abilities continuously during the laning phase without running out of mana. This Ryze-Waterwalking rune combo has been forbidden by Riot Games because it has the potential to significantly alter the course of the game.

However, Riot Games has been under fire from fans for failing to patch the flaw and for punishing Team Vitality instead.

Currently in the first week of the LEC 2023 Winter Split, Team Vitality is leading 2-0.