AnimeSuki Forums

Last Sinner · 2016-08-18, 10:32

You take issue with the fact that he's been doing it for over a decade, gets invited to the CS:Go events to commentate, League events to cover, that pros like doing stuff with him and Fnatic really wanted him to be their coach in 2014?

You don't have to like the guy. But don't go telling other people what to think solely because you're miffed he doesn't like your favourite team or you don't like the fact he's older than you.

Eragon · 2016-08-18, 11:07

Lol its not about me being a TSM fan (I'm not) its about him spouting shit that he refuses to back up with anything and constantly mocking people who have said nothing to him.

He may be much more knowledgeable about CS:GO but, he can't substantiate shit when it comes to League.

Also, I never even stated how people should feel about him. I just expressed my incredulity.

Last Sinner · 2016-08-18, 11:24

You're comparing him to Tyler1....

Nice attempt at flamebait.

Eisdrache · 2016-08-18, 17:15

That fact still remains that he uses a highly aggressive way to communicate his arguments. He primarily wants to attack something or someone, offering criticism is secondary and being constructive is only tertiary.

Kotohono · 2016-08-20, 18:17

Spoiler for ROX vs. KT - LCK Finals:

IceHism · 2016-08-20, 20:48

i don't have much to say.
but

Spoiler for c9 vs imt:

Eragon · 2016-08-22, 13:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kotohono

Spoiler for ROX vs. KT - LCK Finals:

Score's gonna have PTSD after that game 5.

Eisdrache · 2016-08-22, 13:09

Spoiler for TSM vs CLG:

Eragon · 2016-08-22, 13:14

Spoiler for TSM vs CLG:

Kafriel · 2016-08-22, 16:08

Quote:

At the end of the day this whole industry exists to entertain and watching Gragas vs. Rek'Sai in 90% of the matches does little to help with that.

QFT. Regardless of balance patches and team synergy, there are so many champions in the League right now that I doubt people can't find different team comps, or at the very least play other junglers - it's the most independent role after top, but Gragas and Rek'Sai are the sure picks/bans, with a lot of failed Nidalee on the side. Gone are the days of Elise/Evelynn/Lee Sin/Jarvan IV/Vi/Shaco/Udyr, even if some clear faster and engage harder than those two...and I don't think I saw a single match of people jungling Illaoi, she's a beast. What gives?

IceHism · 2016-08-22, 17:35

If they copy DotA there will be more diversity. Bump bans up to 4 or 5 and then copy Dota's captain's draft or as riot likes to call it "snake draft". I heard that this is the intended plan for season 7 currently on reddit so I hope they go through with it. They just can't argue with the 106/110 heroes picked / banned in the international 6.

I mean its so bad right now that H2K vs splyce only picked/banned 17 champs in 5 games

Also, I have a lot of problems with the recent mages and adc rework. I felt like they were both suppose to add more specialization but they basically nerfed everything in them over time and haven't dealt with the aftermath. I hope the assassin rework doesn't go the same way

Eisdrache · 2016-08-22, 18:44

Viewership is doing better than ever before according to scarra.

Illaoi has worse ganks than Shyvana. Just play her top lane. As for the others there is no reason to pick any of them (with the exception of Elise). Gragas/Reksai might falls short in one aspect but are equal or better in everything else.

As for updates, the specialization is definitely there even if they nerfed the numbers over time. ADs are all different and so are mages, at least those who were part of the update.

That said I definitely want to see more variety. I don't have the statistics so I am purely guessing but out of currently 132 champions more than half have no or very few games. Certain champions will always be more popular than others but if some of them have 0% pick/ban or close to it then something is wrong. Ideally 100% of champions would have an almost equal amount of games but that will be forever a dream.

DragoonKain3 · 2016-08-22, 21:09

Hmm... Hotshot said that CLG got beaten fair and square? How admirable of him, even though it's said through clenched teeth. I gotta say, he's improved more this year than all the other years combined. Maybe I don't hate CLG as much anymore...

Still, I personally thought it was bullshit that Sol got banned. Free ban for TSM, as I'm sure they would have banned Sol next game. I wanted them to have more practice against Sol for Worlds, because I've seen it here and there in other leagues, and I don't want Sol to be new Cass that leaves them tilted for the rest of the tournament. If it's played in LCK finals, it's going to see play in worlds unless Riot is real lazy not fixing that bug. Oh well, at least they swept CLG, so there's at least some thing going for them.

Does that mean am I happy with TSM? FUCK NO! Their strategy this patch is to outfarm the enemy just because they have better laners? This is the best they can come up with this major patch? It might be enough against CLG, or even enough to take the crown in NA, but they're so gonna get smashed in worlds if that's their plan going in.

Still, some part in me wants to root for C9. Part of it is because I don't want CLG to be auto-qualified, part of it is because that means TSM would automatically dodge SKT T1 in groups, but mostly because it would force TSM to really re-evaluate the way they play the game. I'm not sure if I can actually do that live though, as watching TSM in the finals here in Canada is probably a once in a lifetime event, especially not with friends who are mostly TSM fans as well. XD

Kafriel · 2016-08-23, 00:04

Quote:

Illaoi has worse ganks than Shyvana. Just play her top lane. As for the others there is no reason to pick any of them (with the exception of Elise). Gragas/Reksai might falls short in one aspect but are equal or better in everything else.

She has safer ganks and gets more recalls off a lane if you proc E. I'd rank them equally in TFs. Jungle is one of the areas I've played the most, and honestly, I don't see it. Lee, Vi and J4 gank pre-6, clear fast and do so with a lot of HP left. Post-6, their ultimates offer both damage and utility and their base ability damage is high enough to go offtank with nothing to worry about. I personally detest full-tank junglers, but Rek'Sai and Gragas are usually played just like that...but putting that aside, they both require a lot of skill to use in TFs, especially Gragas, which is why I am honestly surprised at how much attention he has gotten (I'd rather mid than jungle with him). I haven't played a lot of Rek'Sai, but besides the healing and fast moving around, I don't see anything great about her.

Eisdrache · 2016-08-23, 05:38

If she misses her E her gank basically failed and even if she does she still has to kill the spirit to proc the slow. Also her main contribution in team fights is damage but junglers tend to get less farm and thus hampering her ability to contribute even more.

Lee always had the problem of having to make his first ganks count or fall behind. Vi is heavily dependant on her ult to gank. J4 clear speed is atrocious compared to everyone else. Meanwhile both Reksai and Gragas can farm fast, have inbuilt sustain, don't run out of mana or don't use it to begin with, offer reliable cc, are tanky, have decent team fight presence, technically global presence (Reksai), can gank anytime and have a gap closer.

I like J4 and would love to see him played more (or others not named Reksai/Gragas) but right now these two are clearly above the others.

Kafriel · 2016-08-23, 05:58

Gragas ult affects everyone, that alone makes him a liability. Rek'Sai has 2 movement skills, which leaves her far behind in damage (even more so for burst damage). Vi can gank as easily as Rek'Sai, provided her vaulter lands, much like how Rek'Sai depends on burrow - the ult is there for TF disruption, much like Gragas' ult, except it is a lot safer and unstoppable. Illaoi is not item dependent, as long as she doesn't fall behind in levels, her kit offers considerable damage and she has a powerful built-in heal that truly shines in skirmishes.

I'm not denying Rek'Sai's presence and map control, but Gragas is not strong, he's just plain convenient, because he can heal, dash and throw a barrel. I am genuinely surprised by how much backing he's seen through the years, I'd rather jungle Trundle or bring back Sejuani.

EDIT: J4 clears at 4:10 with 80% HP remaining, how is that atrocious? As far as I can remember, my very best clear time was 3:30 on Udyr, but he's meant to be the fastest jungler. Everyone else makes a round at about 4 minutes too.

frivolity · 2016-08-23, 06:27

Riot really needs to step up their game after Valve pulled off the absolute best esports tournament BY FAR in TI6.

Last game of the finals:

Notice within the first minute that the stage is setup in the shape of a Dota map, along with the virtual characters being shown during the pick/ban phase. Importantly, the stage is in the centre of the stadium with the spectators surrounding it on all sides.

You can see and hear Chinese drums being beaten by live performers around 8 minutes in, which adds to the atmosphere, and this also occurs during high-tension moments of the game, particularly during the skirmishes that occur when the teams posture for position before a teamfight is about to happen, or when one team has used the Smoke of Deceit in preparation of a gank.

The skylights above the stage change at around 9:39, lighting the Radiant side of the stage green and the Dire side of the stage red. The flares are fired at 51:05 when the game ends, and the fans cheer with the paraphernalia of their favourite team.

The gameplay is important as well. Throughout the four game series, the winning team played SEVENTEEN different heroes out of a possible twenty, while the losing team played SIXTEEN. Across both teams, a total of THIRTY heroes were played and FORTY-ONE were either picked or banned. Throughout the tournament, 105/110 heroes were picked or banned.

And of course, let's not forget the prize pool. Ti6 had a total prize pool of USD 20.7 million, of which Valve contributed USD 1.6 million while the remainder was crowdfunded through the sale of Compendiums. The winning team walked away with USD 9.1 million.

Riot needs to really make improvements to the way they run their tournaments, as well as improving the champion diversity in the game, otherwise even Worlds will eventually start to fall into irrelevance when people get tired of always seeing the same few champions and strategies being played in every game.

Kafriel · 2016-08-23, 06:51

I kind of doubt they can do it. LoL's strong suit is the art department - they make skins, rework character models and release new champions, but the gameplay doesn't see much change. I've been playing from S1 and the most notable difference is the jungle changes. Putting that aside, Riot has simply been changing around the item shop a bit, but to little visible results (greatest thing I can remember is removing dodge from everything but Jax). The game's meta has remained the same: farm until power spike, rush objectives and win the game on ace. Even in the most violent LoL matches, this mentality takes over after the first 10 deaths, because players automatically become more cautious and reserved in their actions. Heavy snowballing is the only exception to this IIRC.

That being said, I just can't get into DotA 2, even if I started LoL after a lot of DotA. Until I give it a chance in the future, LoL has enough charm to keep me interested.

Last Sinner · 2016-08-23, 12:11

I don't think any of the above are the biggest issue.

The true issue is that Korea utterly dominates in League. They've won the last 3 Worlds and were 2nd in the first year they participated. They've won 2 of the last 3 MSIs. They've won 3 of the last 4 IEM championships (TSM being very lucky that GE (now ROX) had an utter flop that weekend). They have the top players in the world for each role. Their e-sports infrastructure, coaches and talent pools are bigger.

Yet for other e-sports that are notable aka Dota2, CS: Go, Hearthstone and Overwatch - the rest of the world has a more competitive part and usually beats the Asians/Koreans.

If people are going to continue giving a damn about Worlds, some region/team has to lift their game. Otherwise the only question every year will be which Korean team wins Worlds this time.

PS. Europe won't get past the quarters. If a European team actually gets out of groups, that is. The way G2 and Splyce played in their semis was a joke. Cloud 9 crawled over the line against floppers - beneficiaries of a region that has only ever had 3 consistent organisations. TSM may have a 'bit' of a chance since they have learnt to be more objective focused and upped macro play, but they have had no significant competition this split and haven't been exposed to the real dangers lurking in Korea and China.

#MakeWorldsInteresting - That's the message for this year. Because right now, any of the 3 teams that will qualify from Korea could win it all. However, I'm leaning a bit towards the ROX Tigers. They have the best of the world in 3 slots (Top, Jungler and ADC) and they have that persistent/comeback quality that SK Telecom is fabled for.

For the player not into the e-sports/region pride aspect of the game, the stupidity of the chest system is a real issue. Most chests will give utter junk. The rare good ones will give you a mere fragment of something you may want to complete. And then there's the glaring issue that you have to reach S rank level and keep doing so on increasingly more champions in a system where S rank is only obtained via utter greed or playing in dynamic queue and setting up one of your friends to reach the S rank. Okay, it's a bit better than how Team Fortress 2 did it. But compared to Overwatch which gives consistent progress regardless of win/loss or the 'glamorous' stats and gives completed rewards rather than mere fragments. One month of playing Overwatch would get you better rewards than a year's worth of League. Overwatch may have been guilty of inducing pay to 'glam win' during the Olympics period, but at least there was a slight chance of getting one of the limited time legendaries (which I fortunately did). But compared to League forcing payment for anything you're not fortunate to fluke from chests, it's bearable. And don't get me started on how utterly absurd the need for blue essence and tokens are for getting to rank 6 and 7 on champs in League.

League is one of the most guilty/ego-driven of those pressuring people to fork out. Yes, the art is good. But the system of obtaining them is a joke compared to numerous others. And prioritising individual greed over a combined team performance is sickening. The one thing I'll give it is that it's a right-side better than Dota2's utterly ghastly visuals and pathetic voice acting.

The lack of diversity in champion picks - particularly in Jungle and Top - is concerning. But hey, knowing Riot, they might just do another crazy patch for Worlds to shake things up like they did last year to induce the Fiora and Darius play. Dota2's diversity certainly sent a message. But hey, at least it's not as bad as Overwatch where most games on the pro scene are mirror matches, see virtually zero of the defense champs used, little diversity for support and attack and only the tanks getting play for all of the ones available. Not to mention the issues of sides being so utterly skewed to the attacking team and defense being nearly non-existent. Map sides mean little in League, which only really matter for the first rotation of picks. Hearthstone is more guilty of a stale meta since 4 of the 9 classes and their prevalent deck types are utterly saturating the regional qualifiers at present. One Night in Karazhan is doing little to change that. If anything, Dota2 is probably the only e-sport that has any true diversity at present. It's something the other major ones need to learn from. League moreso since it's in the same genre.

Kotohono · 2016-08-23, 15:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

Still, I personally thought it was bullshit that Sol got banned. Free ban for TSM, as I'm sure they would have banned Sol next game.

Yeah I thought was pretty bullshit especially since Sol has been played so much lately without issue, I also thought it was extra bullshit that only TSM was offered the remake and had 100% say when CLG were the ones forces to give up a champion and adjust, the riot logic of 'oh TSM was impacted in this match it's their choice'

was just pure bull.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DragoonKain3

Does that mean am I happy with TSM? FUCK NO! Their strategy this patch is to outfarm the enemy just because they have better laners? This is the best they can come up with this major patch? It might be enough against CLG, or even enough to take the crown in NA, but they're so gonna get smashed in worlds if that's their plan going in.

Their 'strategy' was utterly boring to watch and frankly if that's the best they have they have no chance at worlds, I doubt they'll clear group stages playing like that, and honestly I am disappointed CLG couldn't overcome such a pathetic excuse of a 'strategy'.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Last Sinner

If people are going to continue giving a damn about Worlds, some region/team has to lift their game. Otherwise the only question every year will be which Korean team wins Worlds this time.

#MakeWorldsInteresting - That's the message for this year. Because right now, any of the 3 teams that will qualify from Korea could win it all. However, I'm leaning a bit towards the ROX Tigers. They have the best of the world in 3 slots (Top, Jungler and ADC) and they have that persistent/comeback quality that SK Telecom is fabled for.

I'd love to see another region step up to actually change Korea for a change, but I am kinda of doubtful it will happen, though I've payed zero attention to China or the other Asian regions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Last Sinner

The lack of diversity in champion picks - particularly in Jungle and Top - is concerning. But hey, knowing Riot, they might just do another crazy patch for Worlds to shake things up like they did last year to induce the Fiora and Darius play.

Riot stated they probably won't stake up the meta as hard as this last year, but the current patch notes show some intend to adjust of the staler positions.

2016-08-18, 10:32	Link #6501
Last Sinner You're Hot, Cupcake Join Date: Aug 2008 Age: 42	You take issue with the fact that he's been doing it for over a decade, gets invited to the CS:Go events to commentate, League events to cover, that pros like doing stuff with him and Fnatic really wanted him to be their coach in 2014? You don't have to like the guy. But don't go telling other people what to think solely because you're miffed he doesn't like your favourite team or you don't like the fact he's older than you. __________________

2016-08-18, 11:07	Link #6502
Eragon Still Alive Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Somewhere far far away Age: 30	Lol its not about me being a TSM fan (I'm not) its about him spouting shit that he refuses to back up with anything and constantly mocking people who have said nothing to him. He may be much more knowledgeable about CS:GO but, he can't substantiate shit when it comes to League. Also, I never even stated how people should feel about him. I just expressed my incredulity. __________________ Signature courtesy of rikikai

2016-08-18, 11:24	Link #6503
Last Sinner You're Hot, Cupcake Join Date: Aug 2008 Age: 42	You're comparing him to Tyler1.... Nice attempt at flamebait. __________________

2016-08-20, 20:48	Link #6506
IceHism Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2014	i don't have much to say. but Spoiler for c9 vs imt: LUL HUNI, C9 is awesome. I'm glad they made it in unlike Two other teams who i was cheering for but lost. Last edited by IceHism; 2016-08-20 at 21:13.

2016-08-22, 13:09	Link #6508
Eisdrache Part-time misanthrope Join Date: Mar 2007	Spoiler for TSM vs CLG: The whole series was really boring. TSM played very well but what the heck happened to CLG? They never seemed to be able to muster any strength to fight back once they realized that TSM was playing the map better than them. Aurelion Sol being disabled was unfortunate but certainly not the reason they lost.

2016-08-18, 17:15	Link #6504
Eisdrache Part-time misanthrope Join Date: Mar 2007	That fact still remains that he uses a highly aggressive way to communicate his arguments. He primarily wants to attack something or someone, offering criticism is secondary and being constructive is only tertiary.

2016-08-22, 13:14	Link #6509
Eragon Still Alive Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Somewhere far far away Age: 30	Spoiler for TSM vs CLG: From Reddit "CLG is so bad at dragons they can't even get aurelion sol" Honestly, even that ASol game wasn't looking good for CLG since, they were 2k gold down despite being up in kills and one turret. Also, Hauntzer just took a dump all over Darshan. The Impact vs Hauntzer matchup will be pretty interesting if either jungler decides to camp for his top laner. Congrats to TSM for making every god damn final of NA LCS and also qualifying for every Worlds, holy chirst! __________________ Signature courtesy of rikikai

2016-08-22, 17:35	Link #6511
IceHism Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2014	If they copy DotA there will be more diversity. Bump bans up to 4 or 5 and then copy Dota's captain's draft or as riot likes to call it "snake draft". I heard that this is the intended plan for season 7 currently on reddit so I hope they go through with it. They just can't argue with the 106/110 heroes picked / banned in the international 6. I mean its so bad right now that H2K vs splyce only picked/banned 17 champs in 5 games Also, I have a lot of problems with the recent mages and adc rework. I felt like they were both suppose to add more specialization but they basically nerfed everything in them over time and haven't dealt with the aftermath. I hope the assassin rework doesn't go the same way

2016-08-22, 18:44	Link #6512
Eisdrache Part-time misanthrope Join Date: Mar 2007	Viewership is doing better than ever before according to scarra. Illaoi has worse ganks than Shyvana. Just play her top lane. As for the others there is no reason to pick any of them (with the exception of Elise). Gragas/Reksai might falls short in one aspect but are equal or better in everything else. As for updates, the specialization is definitely there even if they nerfed the numbers over time. ADs are all different and so are mages, at least those who were part of the update. That said I definitely want to see more variety. I don't have the statistics so I am purely guessing but out of currently 132 champions more than half have no or very few games. Certain champions will always be more popular than others but if some of them have 0% pick/ban or close to it then something is wrong. Ideally 100% of champions would have an almost equal amount of games but that will be forever a dream.

2016-08-22, 21:09	Link #6513
DragoonKain3 Osana-Najimi Shipper Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Mt. Ordeals	Hmm... Hotshot said that CLG got beaten fair and square? How admirable of him, even though it's said through clenched teeth. I gotta say, he's improved more this year than all the other years combined. Maybe I don't hate CLG as much anymore... Still, I personally thought it was bullshit that Sol got banned. Free ban for TSM, as I'm sure they would have banned Sol next game. I wanted them to have more practice against Sol for Worlds, because I've seen it here and there in other leagues, and I don't want Sol to be new Cass that leaves them tilted for the rest of the tournament. If it's played in LCK finals, it's going to see play in worlds unless Riot is real lazy not fixing that bug. Oh well, at least they swept CLG, so there's at least some thing going for them. Does that mean am I happy with TSM? FUCK NO! Their strategy this patch is to outfarm the enemy just because they have better laners? This is the best they can come up with this major patch? It might be enough against CLG, or even enough to take the crown in NA, but they're so gonna get smashed in worlds if that's their plan going in. Still, some part in me wants to root for C9. Part of it is because I don't want CLG to be auto-qualified, part of it is because that means TSM would automatically dodge SKT T1 in groups, but mostly because it would force TSM to really re-evaluate the way they play the game. I'm not sure if I can actually do that live though, as watching TSM in the finals here in Canada is probably a once in a lifetime event, especially not with friends who are mostly TSM fans as well. XD __________________ Yes its YOU childhood friend - source of BERZERKER RAGE since forever Childhood Friend couple STATISTICS(spoilers abound though)

2016-08-23, 05:38	Link #6515
Eisdrache Part-time misanthrope Join Date: Mar 2007	If she misses her E her gank basically failed and even if she does she still has to kill the spirit to proc the slow. Also her main contribution in team fights is damage but junglers tend to get less farm and thus hampering her ability to contribute even more. Lee always had the problem of having to make his first ganks count or fall behind. Vi is heavily dependant on her ult to gank. J4 clear speed is atrocious compared to everyone else. Meanwhile both Reksai and Gragas can farm fast, have inbuilt sustain, don't run out of mana or don't use it to begin with, offer reliable cc, are tanky, have decent team fight presence, technically global presence (Reksai), can gank anytime and have a gap closer. I like J4 and would love to see him played more (or others not named Reksai/Gragas) but right now these two are clearly above the others.

2016-08-23, 05:58	Link #6516
Kafriel Senior Guest Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Athens (GMT+2) Age: 35	Gragas ult affects everyone, that alone makes him a liability. Rek'Sai has 2 movement skills, which leaves her far behind in damage (even more so for burst damage). Vi can gank as easily as Rek'Sai, provided her vaulter lands, much like how Rek'Sai depends on burrow - the ult is there for TF disruption, much like Gragas' ult, except it is a lot safer and unstoppable. Illaoi is not item dependent, as long as she doesn't fall behind in levels, her kit offers considerable damage and she has a powerful built-in heal that truly shines in skirmishes. I'm not denying Rek'Sai's presence and map control, but Gragas is not strong, he's just plain convenient, because he can heal, dash and throw a barrel. I am genuinely surprised by how much backing he's seen through the years, I'd rather jungle Trundle or bring back Sejuani. EDIT: J4 clears at 4:10 with 80% HP remaining, how is that atrocious? As far as I can remember, my very best clear time was 3:30 on Udyr, but he's meant to be the fastest jungler. Everyone else makes a round at about 4 minutes too. Last edited by Kafriel; 2016-08-23 at 07:27.

2016-08-23, 06:51	Link #6518
Kafriel Senior Guest Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Athens (GMT+2) Age: 35	I kind of doubt they can do it. LoL's strong suit is the art department - they make skins, rework character models and release new champions, but the gameplay doesn't see much change. I've been playing from S1 and the most notable difference is the jungle changes. Putting that aside, Riot has simply been changing around the item shop a bit, but to little visible results (greatest thing I can remember is removing dodge from everything but Jax). The game's meta has remained the same: farm until power spike, rush objectives and win the game on ace. Even in the most violent LoL matches, this mentality takes over after the first 10 deaths, because players automatically become more cautious and reserved in their actions. Heavy snowballing is the only exception to this IIRC. That being said, I just can't get into DotA 2, even if I started LoL after a lot of DotA. Until I give it a chance in the future, LoL has enough charm to keep me interested.

2016-08-23, 12:11	Link #6519
Last Sinner You're Hot, Cupcake Join Date: Aug 2008 Age: 42	I don't think any of the above are the biggest issue. The true issue is that Korea utterly dominates in League. They've won the last 3 Worlds and were 2nd in the first year they participated. They've won 2 of the last 3 MSIs. They've won 3 of the last 4 IEM championships (TSM being very lucky that GE (now ROX) had an utter flop that weekend). They have the top players in the world for each role. Their e-sports infrastructure, coaches and talent pools are bigger. Yet for other e-sports that are notable aka Dota2, CS: Go, Hearthstone and Overwatch - the rest of the world has a more competitive part and usually beats the Asians/Koreans. If people are going to continue giving a damn about Worlds, some region/team has to lift their game. Otherwise the only question every year will be which Korean team wins Worlds this time. PS. Europe won't get past the quarters. If a European team actually gets out of groups, that is. The way G2 and Splyce played in their semis was a joke. Cloud 9 crawled over the line against floppers - beneficiaries of a region that has only ever had 3 consistent organisations. TSM may have a 'bit' of a chance since they have learnt to be more objective focused and upped macro play, but they have had no significant competition this split and haven't been exposed to the real dangers lurking in Korea and China. #MakeWorldsInteresting - That's the message for this year. Because right now, any of the 3 teams that will qualify from Korea could win it all. However, I'm leaning a bit towards the ROX Tigers. They have the best of the world in 3 slots (Top, Jungler and ADC) and they have that persistent/comeback quality that SK Telecom is fabled for. For the player not into the e-sports/region pride aspect of the game, the stupidity of the chest system is a real issue. Most chests will give utter junk. The rare good ones will give you a mere fragment of something you may want to complete. And then there's the glaring issue that you have to reach S rank level and keep doing so on increasingly more champions in a system where S rank is only obtained via utter greed or playing in dynamic queue and setting up one of your friends to reach the S rank. Okay, it's a bit better than how Team Fortress 2 did it. But compared to Overwatch which gives consistent progress regardless of win/loss or the 'glamorous' stats and gives completed rewards rather than mere fragments. One month of playing Overwatch would get you better rewards than a year's worth of League. Overwatch may have been guilty of inducing pay to 'glam win' during the Olympics period, but at least there was a slight chance of getting one of the limited time legendaries (which I fortunately did). But compared to League forcing payment for anything you're not fortunate to fluke from chests, it's bearable. And don't get me started on how utterly absurd the need for blue essence and tokens are for getting to rank 6 and 7 on champs in League. League is one of the most guilty/ego-driven of those pressuring people to fork out. Yes, the art is good. But the system of obtaining them is a joke compared to numerous others. And prioritising individual greed over a combined team performance is sickening. The one thing I'll give it is that it's a right-side better than Dota2's utterly ghastly visuals and pathetic voice acting. The lack of diversity in champion picks - particularly in Jungle and Top - is concerning. But hey, knowing Riot, they might just do another crazy patch for Worlds to shake things up like they did last year to induce the Fiora and Darius play. Dota2's diversity certainly sent a message. But hey, at least it's not as bad as Overwatch where most games on the pro scene are mirror matches, see virtually zero of the defense champs used, little diversity for support and attack and only the tanks getting play for all of the ones available. Not to mention the issues of sides being so utterly skewed to the attacking team and defense being nearly non-existent. Map sides mean little in League, which only really matter for the first rotation of picks. Hearthstone is more guilty of a stale meta since 4 of the 9 classes and their prevalent deck types are utterly saturating the regional qualifiers at present. One Night in Karazhan is doing little to change that. If anything, Dota2 is probably the only e-sport that has any true diversity at present. It's something the other major ones need to learn from. League moreso since it's in the same genre. __________________ Last edited by Last Sinner; 2016-08-23 at 12:52.