New LoL ban wave proves that cheaters are no longer safe

While the League of Legends community stands divided regarding the new anti-cheat system, the latest LoL ban wave proves Vanguard is the most effective tool yet. 

The head of Riot’s anti-cheat team Phillip Kostinas took to X to publish a graph with the approximate number of bans issued by Vanguard system in recent weeks. The figures showcase a striking increase in comparison to previous cycles.

The report was followed by additional entries from other department members who revealed more details about the ongoing anti-cheat efforts and plans regarding full hardware ID bans. 

Riot claims Vanguard is warming up with latest LoL ban wave 

In over 14 years since League of Legends was released, this is the first LoL ban wave of this magnitude.

While the original graph only outlines suspensions for scripting, additional reports confirmed that Riot’s anti-cheat is en route to banning players who use lobby reveal programs too. 

The data shows that Vanguard is already behind most bans in League of Legends, while the old Packman software is no longer in use. For reference, Riot was forced to move to a new system after hackers stole the source code of the Packman anti-cheat in early 2023. 

Riot anti-cheat expert Matt Paoletti further confirmed that Vanguard can now target a wider range of cheats that were untraceable in the past.  

Since the introduction of lobby anonymity during the pre-season stage ahead of Season 13, individuals have been using special lobby reveal programs to obtain their teammates’ names before games. Paoletti reported that Riot can now detect these attempts and will penalize players with a two-week ban.

More importantly, the latest LoL ban wave marks the first-ever hardware ID bans in League of Legends, as shown in yellow in the original graph. 

A HWID ban is the ultimate penalty for cheating players that forbids them from ever playing League of Legends from the same device. This type of ban is only possible through a kernel-level anti-cheat system like Vanguard, which operates with full permissions and monitors all activities on your hardware. 

Vanguard adds hardware bans to crack down

Riot has instituted the first hardware ID bans into the latest LoL ban wave to include bans, but fans remain divided on the kernel-level anti-cheat.

While Riot claims that Vanguard only operates while you are playing one of its games, many players disapprove. Vanguard forces players to give completeaccess to their computer at the highest privilege level.

Gameplay, Vanguard & More | Dev Update – League of Legends

The latest LoL ban wave will undoubtedly test the determination of cheaters. Hackers will now be forced to develop new advanced ways to remain undetected. For now, the Vanguard anti-cheat system shows promising results.

Will it be enough to fix the competitive integrity of League of Legends? Only time and countless banned cheaters could answer this question.