Team Impulse's mid laner, Yu "XiaoWeiXiao" Xian has been a fan favorite from virtually the moment he set foot in North America. His strong gameplay and affable personality made him instantly appealing despite a language barrier, and he's even worked hard to overcome that obstacle. By all accounts, he has been one of the most likable professional League of Legends players in the West. However, his reputation may now be taking a hit.

Yesterday, a Reddit thread appeared that seemed to supply evidence that XiaoWeiXiao was performing elo boosting for a fee, a practice which is strictly prohibited by Riot Games. If you're interested in seeing the conversation that supposedly took place, go ahead and click that link. Of course, from the outside, it's impossible for us to know if that was indeed XWX, or someone posing as him. However, it didn't look good. Today, Associate eSports Director Hunter "RiotHebble" Leigh confirmed that the player admitted wrong-doing, and is suspended pending the results of Riot's investigation.

We have spoken with XiaoWeiXiao regarding ELO boosting allegations - he has confirmed misconduct and is suspended pending investigation.

— Hunter Leigh (@RiotHebble) July 22, 2015

This is truly unfortunate, and a mar on what has otherwise been an outstanding record for XiaoWeiXiao. With Team Impulse currently in a three-way tie for 2nd place, fighting for one of the top spots for playoff positioning will be difficult without their starting mid laner. This isn't the first playoff race to be impacted by player conduct this week, and we can only hope there will be no others.