Riot takes toxicity seriously, and they are especially serious about it within their own organization. Employees at Riot are even under stricter guidelines than normal players to uphold the summoner’s code and to behave themselves. It is no surprise then that when a professional player is out of line, Riot is quick to look into it. This is exactly what happened with Echo Fox’s Damonte.

In 2017, it was discovered the Damonte had been flagged for toxicity in what Riot calls “routine toxicity checks” on pro players. Before any major split, Riot investigates their professionals to ensure they are up to standards, and it was then that Damonte was first identified as acting out of line.

Since Damonte played for the academy team and was not on the starting roster for Echo Fox, nothing was done immediately. The season kicked off on January 20, and it wasn’t until January 29 that Riot reached out to Echo Fox to notify them of his behavior. Damonte was warned, and his account was put on a year-long probation. Essentially, Riot would be constantly checking in on Damonte to see if he slipped up again, and they would review his account continuously throughout the split.

Fortunately, Damonte stayed out of trouble, and Echo Fox’s academy team even made it to the academy finals. However, after the Spring split, Echo Fox headed to Korea for bootcamp. While here, the entire Echo Fox team was given pro accounts in which to compete at the highest levels, and they also signed an agreement to play nice while on the Korean servers. There was a zero tolerance policy enacted as the players were considered guests of the LCK and ambassadors from the NA LCS.

Unfortunately, on May 24, chat logs were submitted showing “highly toxic behavior” from Damonte during the bootcamp. After the report, Damonte’s Korean account was revoked and Echo Fox was notified that a penalty would follow soon. Damonte was then charged with “Profanity and Hate Speech” with a sentence of being ineligible to play in the first five games of the NA LCS.

Being that Damonte is not on the starting lineup for Echo Fox anyway, this is still a slap on the wrist and little else. No fines have been doled out, and for now, Echo Fox is simply being told about his behavior. His punishment for now hasn’t affected the team whatsoever.

However, it is a blackeye for the organization. Already, many were skeptical about Echo Fox’s ability to play nice when they recruited Dardoch as their primary jungler. Dardoch’s history, unlike Damonte’s, has been more about his poor treatment of teammates. He was a central figure in the Team Liquid documentary, Breaking Point, and became a polarizing figure afterward. When he joined CLG, his time on the team was extremely short-lived before his contract was terminated and he was released. CLG cited several reasons for the departure, namely:

Supposedly, Rick Fox worked with Dardoch personally to instill a sense of camaraderie with Echo Fox, and it has seemed to be largely successful. Dardoch has appeared as a much more humble member of the Echo Fox team, and he has brushed off many of the past accusations of toxicity. Damonte’s recent slide into toxicity – especially in Korea – has undermined the work that has gone into making them a solid team. Hopefully, this will be his last brush with toxicity.