Was Imaqtpie’s League of Legends Champions Queue Application Rejected?

Legendary attack-damage carry (ADC) and former pro player Yiliang Peter "Doublelift" Peng released yet another episode of his podcast titled “Trash Talk.” The episode “VOYBOY HAS BEEN WHERE?!” featured some of the veteran players of League of Legends from North America (NA) including Brandon "Saintvicious" DiMarco, Joedat "Voyboy" Esfahani, William "scarra" Li, and Danny "Shiphtur" Le.

The episode was filled with nostalgic moments with the former pros reminiscing about the early days of League of Legends Esports and talking about the shift to Valorant and Teamfight Tactics.

Voyboy also addressed how most of the old players played a key part in growing the League of Legends ecosystem by creating content and how Riot Games doubled down on the esports scene after that.

Imaqtpie was reportedly given no reason for Champions Queue rejection

While talking about Champions Queue, scarra said, “All I am saying is the fact that QT [Michael "Imaqtpie" Santana] was not allowed in Champions Queue is a tragedy. He would still be playing League if he was [and] now he’s on Valorant.” Voyboy stated that it was unfair and hoped that Riot would not repeat it again. Scarra also added that he does not know if Imaqtpie was given a reason for the rejection and said that he chose not to address it further.

Sharing his thoughts on the matter, Doublelift said both Imaqtpie and Shiphtur should be on the League of Legends Champions Queue given their credibility.

On a Reddit thread about Imaqtpie’s rejection, one user pondered who decides the candidates for Champions Queue. Responding to this, League of Legends Championship Series Player Association (LCSPA) Executive Director Phil Aram wrote, “LCSPA Executive Director here. The gameplay team at Riot controls who is allowed to play in CQ. The PA and LCS teams both want all qualified players in for the same reasons you do, and we advocate for more slots, but it is not our decision ultimately. The gameplay team weighs the impact on SoloQ when determining expansion, which is at their sole discretion.”

Another user pointed out that there was a point in time when Riot Games was actively trying to rope in Imaqtpie to create content for it. They added, “When qt made his return to League and was grinding out challenger, his stream was on track to averaging 10K viewers. His playing CQ would have funneled a ton of people into the game and improved the population health of SoloQ at all levels. Now that bridge is burned, he won't be playing League anytime soon, and now both CQ and SoloQ are worse off for it. Mission accomplished?”

Imaqtpie is one of the most famous players who was a part of the early LoL Esports ecosystem. He was a strong attack damage carry (ADC) and was even better known for his streaming personality which attracted tens of thousands of viewers. Notably, The Rolling Stones called him the “World’s Biggest League of Legends (LOL) Streamer.”