In the last few days, our mid laner XiaoWeiXiao has recently come under accusations of ELO boosting. The situation has since been under investigation by Riot Games. During this time, XiaoWeiXiao has been suspended. Effective immediately, Gate will substitute as our starting mid laner, with Adrian returning as support. As Hunter Leigh (@RiotHebble) has announced, XWX has indeed confirmed this misconduct and we, Team Impulse, are writing this statement to inform the community of the event that has transpired, and to also offer a sincere apology to our fans, our team, and to Riot Games.
XiaoWeiXiao would like to issue an apology first and foremost to Riot Games for taking part in conduct that can actively undermine the integrity of professional and competitive gaming. He has since taken full responsibility for his actions. He still wants, more than anything, to play for his team in NA LCS to go to Worlds, but understands that the severity of this situation may not allow him to do so. For that, he is sorry to his team and his fans. He wanted the opportunity to address the issue personally, and has provided us with a direct response to the community.
Yu “XiaoWeiXiao” Xian—
大家好，我是TiP的小微笑，非常对不起大家。因为我的无知，并没有意识到代练是一件非常严重的事情，导致了这件事情的发生。我向大家保证，这是我第一次也是最后一次发生这样的事情。这里向广大粉丝，我的队友以及Riot表示深深的歉意。对不起大家让大家失望了。
Translation—
Hi, I’m TiP XiaoWeiXiao, I feel very sorry to everyone. Because of my ignorance, I did not realize ELO boosting is a such severe incident, so it happened. I assure you guys, this was the first time and last time I would ever do such thing. I sincerely apologize to all of our fans, Riot Games, and mostly my teammates. Sorry, I didn't live up to your expectations.
To our knowledge, this is XWX's first and last offense—this was an isolated incident that neither the players, management, nor the organization as a whole were aware of or involved in.
Alex Gu, General Manager of Team Impulse, would like to stress that our organization takes ELO boosting and other misconducts seriously, and that our staff will make sure this scenario is never repeated in the future. We will make certain of this by continuing to educate and monitor our players closely, routinely ensuring that our players are in full understanding of the code of conduct Riot Games has provided, as well as our own organizational policies. Acknowledging the severity of XWX's actions, we are considering our own punishment. However, as always, we will remain a support system to our players through this process.
We would like to thank our fans for their continued support, and we hope that this incident will serve as an example for not only our players to operate in a more professional manner, but also continue a larger conversation of what should and should not be done in a competitive environment, on or off the stage.
–Team Impulse