From being ID-banned in League of Legends to becoming a Twitch star: Exploring Tyler1's streaming career

Tracing the origins of Tyler1
Tracing the growth of Tyler1's streaming career (Image via Sportskeeda)

Internet sensation Tyler "Tyler1" is a Twitch streamer who is best known for his League of Legends content. He has played and streamed the MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) for over 10,700 hours on his channel, with an average of 13k viewers tuning in daily.

However, it wasn't always smooth sailing, as he was widely regarded as one of the most toxic League of Legends players during the early days of his online career. Due to his in-game behavior, Riot Games even suspended Tyler indefinitely and issued an ID ban.

He was unbanned two years later and hosted one of his biggest gaming livestreams on Twitch when he returned to playing the game.

In this article, we'll take a look at Tyler1's streaming career and how he transitioned from a toxic gamer to a top personality on the Amazon-owned livestreaming platform.


Exploring Tyler1's streaming career

The origins: Tyler1's infamous "toxic League of Legends phase"

According to the Twitch statistics website TwitchTracker, Tyler joined the livestreaming platform in 2013 and began streaming full-time in 2016.

He rose to prominence as a high-ranking Challenger player with an extensive skill set that focused on Draven, the ADC (Attack Damage Carry) champion.

However, he was also known for being a toxic player who would intentionally feed in-game and get into some heated arguments in the game's chat.

Tyler1 was also notorious for keeping a notes document called the "Int List," in which he would add the names of other high-ranking players with whom he had ongoing feuds. He would then troll the game whenever he matched with any of the players on the list.

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In one of the most viral League of Legends clips, Tyler1 voiced his opinions on his teammates, saying:

"I don't give a f**k who s**t talks me! These are all f***ing garbage! Not to mention, tilting harder than I've ever f***ing tilted in my life! So AIDS! Like literally, every time I hit Masters on this account, I've tilted. I've literally won three games after I've hit Masters. I've lost like eight."

After several top-ranked League of Legends players and professional players petitioned Riot Games to take action against Tyler, they published a statement (on April 30, 2016), revealing that the streamer would be indefinitely banned from playing the game:

Riot Games stated that they had imposed an ID ban on Tyler. An excerpt from the official statement read:

"Because of a well-documented history of account bans for verbal abuse, intentional feeding, as well as account sharing/purchasing, evasion of sportsmanship systems, and player harassment, we will not allow Tyler1 to hold a League of Legends account, indefinitely. Any account definitively used by him will be banned immediately upon identification."

Riot Games also claimed that the ban was long overdue:

"We know we’re not perfect, and this dragged on too long, but we want you to know when the rare player comes along who’s a genuine jerk, we’ve still got your back."

Tyler reacted to his indefinite ban during a livestream on the same day, stating:

"Not going to lie it, boys. We all saw it coming. Me, you, Twitch, Riot, my family, my dog. I can't stream League anymore, guys. I'll be banned as soon as they see my account. Now well, will I quit playing League? No, I won't quit playing League. But I won't be able to stream it."
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Post-League of Legends indefinite ban: Tyler1 becomes a variety streamer

Tyler could no longer play his favorite game during livestreams after the indefinite suspension.

This resulted in the content creator's "variety streamer arc," in which he began playing a wide range of games. Over the course of two years, the Missouri native played some of the most popular titles, including ARMA 3, Z1: Battle Royale, Dark Souls 3, Minecraft, and more.


Tyler1's League of Legends unban: The streamer becomes the top content creator on Twitch

Tyler announces that he'll return to playing the game on stream (Image via Twitter)
Tyler announces that he'll return to playing the game on stream (Image via Twitter)

On January 5, 2018, Tyler1 took to Twitter to announce that he had been unbanned from League of Legends after 613 days. His viral tweet read:

"After 613 days of intense rehab, I am finally unbanned from League of Legends."
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Tyler1 hosted one of his most successful livestreams, The Return, on January 8, 2018, with a peak viewership of 368,484 fans. The ten-hour stream was viewed by over two million community members, and he gained a whopping 124,867 followers that day.


Tyler1 has also made several appearances at official Riot Games events since then.

The 27-year-old surprised the streaming and gaming community earlier this year (on April 25, 2022) by presenting the opening ceremony of the League Championship Series (LCS) Spring Split finals.

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