Riot just laid down the law for anyone who thinks they can get away with cheating in Riftbound. Pro player Koko Lopez has just been handed a huge two-year ban from competitions after he was caught stacking his rune deck in the Los Angeles Riftbound Regional Qualifier late last month.

The ban is extremely severe compared to what we typically see in other competitive games like Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh!, where players often get away with their actions a few times before eventually being called out and given minor suspensions. Riot is taking cheating seriously, and this massive ban should deter anyone who even considers bending or breaking the rules in competitive play.

It can't be overstated just how unprecedented this move is from Riot. Cheating has been a scourge on competitive play in TCGs for decades, and there's no shortage of YouTube videos covering some of the worst incidents and offenders of all time. The big difference between how many of those historical cases were handled and how this particular instance is being dealt with is the strict line of integrity that Riot is choosing to take.

By handing Koko Lopez what is just over a two-year ban from all organized play events at any level, Riot is unequivocally saying that cheating is not welcome in Riftbound, no matter how small or big the offense.

Koko Lopez is accused of, and has admitted to, stacking his rune deck in a way that heavily favors the archetype he was running.

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