Flash Wolves Sever The Karsa And Maple Synergy To Enforce In-House Ruling

Since returning from the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational, Flash Wolves have endured a torrid start to their Summer Split. The Taiwanese squad are currently 0-4 from their first two matches and has now decided to bench their star jungler Hung “Karsa” Hau-Hsuan for a breach of in-house rules.

Karsa, renowned for his jungle to mid lane synergy with Huang “Maple” Yi-Tang, will sit on the sidelines for an unspecified amount of matches after intentionally disconnecting from a competitive LMS game.

During a match that took place between Flash Wolves and Raise Gamingon June 11th, Karsa was accused of “[violating] competition rules and sportsmanship.” The jungler has since apologised, but has been officially suspended by his organisation.

By quitting an inevitable defeat early, Karsa violated Riot Games on-stage competitive rules for intentional disconnection. Within the LMS, and indeed every major competitive region, a player should never leave a match until the victory or defeat message appears on the screen.

Flash Wolves will instead turn to Chen “Refrain” Kuan-Ting from J Team to fill their vacant jungle slot. Refrain is understood to be joining Flash Wolves on an emergency loan and will return to J Team once Karsa’s suspension is over.

Source: Riot Games Flickr

Karsa has been an iconic and influential member of the Flash Wolves since joining the team in 2015. The jungler has won three consecutive LMS titles and has consistently performed well on the international stage. FW most recently finished 3rd/4th at MSI 2017, losing to eventual champions SK Telecom T1 in the semi-finals.

The team’s sloppy start to the LMS Summer Split is certainly uncharacteristic, dropping their two opening matches against Raise Gaming and WAYI SPIDER, series Flash Wolves would normally have considered a formality.

Karsa will now take a seat on the sidelines, with his team sitting in fifth place without a win. The jungler’s absence is unlikely to improve the team’s hopes of a turnaround.

Flash Wolves have put the team’s code of conduct ahead of their chances of an immediate recovery. All eyes will be on the LMS’ reigning champions to see whether the move will dent the hopes of World Championship qualification, or refocus the lineup for an end of split push.

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