Natus Vincere’s Jack “Doki” Robertson has been suspended from playing in the Rainbow Six Siege Pro League following a manual Toxic Behavior Ban this past week. The suspension comes at an inopportune time for the fourth-ranked European division squad.
Broadcaster Ghassan “Milosh” Finge revealed just ahead of the match between Na’Vi and PENTA that Doki would be suspended from the Pro League for at least today’s matchup. The suspension is a manual ban, according to Milosh, which means that the complaints against Doki’s account were investigated and found to contain bannable offenses.
Doki was banned mid-stream on Oct. 1 when a message popped up on his screen that said “You have been permanently suspended due to Toxic Behavior.” Players who are familiar with the ban message will undoubtedly recognize it as similar to the text that pops up when the ban hammer strikes. Given that the ban message mentioned Toxic Behavior, it’s fair to assume that Doki wasn’t banned for cheating, which makes his suspension from the Pro League a bit odd.
An eagle-eyed fellow competitive player, Dearly, pointed out that the ESL Rainbow Six Pro League rulebook says that bans regarding behavior shouldn’t result in a ban from the Pro League. But this point was later contradicted by another Twitter user who said that ESL reserves the right to ban or suspend players on the basis of a game publisher ban. Regardless of whether the latter argument is true, the rulebook clearly says that insults are included under the umbrella of unlikely, but viable reasons for an ESL ban.
While fans don’t know much else about Doki’s ban, it comes at an odd time for the fourth-ranked squad. They’re facing off against PENTA with a player known as Pyee. This matchup will dictate whether Na’Vi are able to close the gap between themselves and the second-place teams, Team Empire and G2 Esports.
There’s no word yet on when or if Doki will return and whether ESL is taking further action against Doki. ESL does have a Rehabilitation Program for cheating, but that wouldn’t appropriately fit with Doki’s ban, according to the information that’s available. The final days of season 10 are quickly approaching and Doki’s personality will undoubtedly be missed by his fans.
The European division of the Rainbow Six Pro League returns on Monday, Oct. 7. Fans can find the official broadcast here.
