This off-season continues to be filled with shake up from around the world. Europe's number 1 Fanatic has lost three plays so far. This week brings even more news on the Korean scene. I'm considering having a page dedicated to the LCK due to all the crazy changes. I prefer to only use official announcements but I can't really read them for the LCK. Still, here is a run down of all the changes so far about the LCK.
NaJin has disbanded. I do not know if NaJin is getting a brand new roster or if they are leaving the League of Legend scene but that does mean the old roster of veterans are now free agents. If it is the latter then I wonder how the replacement team will be pick. Personally I hope it would be Ever considering their recent run in the KeSPA Cup which allowed them to play in IEM Cologne. KT has shed a lot of its old roster as well as sign new players. KT's new lineup is Ssumday, Score, Fly, Arrow and Ignar. Then you have TrAce, Chaser and Cpt Jack all leaving Jin Air. Jin Air started with a roster large enough that they still have a full lineup. Samsung Galaxy lost 4 of its players while signing CJ's Ambition and Core JJ. That leaves Samsung current lineup as CuVee, Ambition, Crown, Core JJ and Wraith. Luna was a good support but I've been a Wraith fan since he was on SKT. If this Samsung lineup stands, then we should see a lot more Wraith next season which will make me happy. He hard carry his team to victory in one game with a Syndra support! And then there is CJ. The before mention Ambition as well as Coco and Space have left the team. Reach and Cain has joined CJ as coaches so it will be interesting where CJ goes from here.
There is also a lot of news and rumors going on about Korean broadcasting. As the story seem to still be involving I will just give a rundown of what I know so far. Once things get iron out I will update what the final decision is and my thoughts on it. OnGameNet or OGN is the company that help promote and broadcast Korean League of Legends online and on TV I believe. They have both a Korean and English language broadcast and they broadcast every major Korean tournament except for the recent KeSPA Cup. Now KeSPA and/or Riot Korea are thinking about splitting the broadcasting rights between OGN and SpoTV. A normal LCK evening has two best of three matches. The idea is to have OGN broadcast one of those games in their studio and SpoTV will broadcast the other at their own studio. Riot Korea mention three reason why they want to do this. 1. The matches will have a more reliable start time. This has to do with the fact if you only wanted to watch the second match, with the current system you had no idea when those games would start. If the first set was a two game stomp, then your wait could be a little over an hour. If the first set was a close and full three NaJin style 50+ minutes games then you are looking at a three and half hour wait. 2. It would address scheduling problems the current system have with the live crowds. 3. Competition between OGN and SpoTV will force both to increase the quality of their broadcast. I personal think some of the issues they are trying to solve are valid but their answers could create even more problems. However this isn't the end of it. On Reddit I read a translated responds Riot Korea did to an OGN announcement. I do not know what OGN said as it wasn't translated but judging from Riot's tone, OGN wasn't happy. Riot said they want to discuss the matter with all parties and deliver their official position as soon as possible. So depending on what happens with that meeting is what I will comment on in the future.
Lastly, I want to talk more about Easyhoon. I mention that I was glad he was gone because I thought it would be better for him and his career in terms of playing more and making a name for himself. I had no idea how right I was. Being in Faker's shadow was far darker and more oppressive than even I had imagine. Easyhoon explained in an interview why he is leaving SKT and Korea to go play for Vici Gaming in China. It was a very informative and depressing interview. The things he talks about didn't surprise me but I fail to realize the human cost of them. For example I can not imagine playing on the biggest stage of your career and not only winning but also producing a great performance. And then get subbed out! On top of that, on your way to the back the auditorium erupts with cheers for the person who is replacing you. That has to be soul crushing. And that is with a good performance! If Faker had a bad game people would just say that means he's mortal and that stuff can happen. But if Easyhoon had a bad game fans would be complaining why they didn't put Faker in! Easyhoon can't win in this situation. He didn't mention it but I can imagine fans ignoring or pushing him out the way to get a chance to see Faker. It seems he had a good relationship with the rest of the team and the coaching staff. He does say that he thinks if he was younger he would stay in Korea so he could face off against Faker. In the end I think he had to go to China to get away from the fans and Faker's aura. After reading the interview I can certainly understand why he is moving to China. I wish him well. If you want to read the translated interview for yourself, go here: http://barontimer.tumblr.com/post/134330802231/vg-easyhoons-confessions-why-hes-leaving-korea.
PS: Since this posting Monte Cristo, one of the casters for OGN made a 45 minute youtube video explaining the history of the OGN, Riot Korea and KeSPA conflict. For a more complete version of what's going on in Korea go to his video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27j039F8-F4
Friday, December 4, 2015
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Thoughts on MaRin, Tom and Easyhoon leaving SKT
Earlier this week we learn MaRin, Tom and Easyhoon left SKT. As SK Telecom T1 is my favorite team world wide (I was a fan after they won Season 3 worlds and I was still a fan when they wasn't that good in Season 4) I want to give my thoughts on this significant change to the team.
Of the three Easyhoon was the least surprising to me and I'm glad he is gone. That is not to say I dislike Easyhoon or think he is a bad player. Far from it. I did dislike how he played when he was on SKT T1 S. I found his games to be extremely slow, boring, not very good and they put me to sleep. However his games this season on the unified SK Telecom team were spectacular and exciting. One of his plays literally woke me up! The LCK starts around 3 am where I am. I'm usually fine watching most of the first match but then exhaustion sets in. I hate not watching games live as there might be technical problems watching the videos later, I get spoiled on the results or I get so busy I am unable to get around to finish watching it. I tried to watch all the SKT games live and on this particular game exhaustion got the better of me. As I was reaching to paused the video so I could go to bed, Easyhoon perform such an amazing play that I leap out of my seat. And from the sound of the caster, they did too. I believe it was a flash multi man Cassiopeia ult from a bush. I had so much adrenaline in me that I had no problem stay awake for the rest of that game. As great as he was, I did not want to see him play. That is because he shared his position with Faker, the League of Legends greatest player in the world. SKT is much weaker overall without Easyhoon. Not only does Easyhoon and Faker plays the game differently, but how the team works together and how other team react to them are all very different. This allowed SKT to have much deeper strategies than other teams. Nevertheless personally I always want to see Faker playing and now that he is off the team, Easyhoon is now able to leave from being under Faker's shadow and prove how great he is. Being able to see more of Faker and Easyhoon play is a win in my book. I just hope he stays in Korea.
Tom leaving is somewhat surprising but understandable as he did not play much since he joined. I was really excited about him joining because I thought SKT needed new blood at the time. Before Tom join, Bengi play ranged from mediocre to decent. So I figure Tom would be a long term investment, molding a new player to be a great jungler to replace Bengi. But then Bengi started playing like he activated 'Super Bengi Mode!' When he was on, Bengi was the best jungler in Korea. He didn't play this well in ALL his games, but he did in the vast majority of them. It is hard to justify subbing in Tom when Bengi is playing so phenomenal. I don't have much more to say about Tom because he only played 5 or 6 or so games. His early games were decent but he got caught out a lot. He did play in the Spring Finals 3-0 victory against the KOO Tigers but that was more of the entire team doing well. I wish him well and I'm curious to see what he can do on his new team.
Now MaRin leaving is just shocking. Faker is the face of SK Telecom but MaRin has been the heart of the team in my opinion. This year Worlds had a top lane meta and MaRin proved himself to be the best of the best top laners. When Faker plays the other team usually focus as much attention on him as possible which leave MaRin free to be a monster in the game. As the team captain and the shot caller losing MaRin is going to hurt SKT a lot. Trying to find a new top laner that is even near MaRin in quality is nearly impossible as is, SKT need to find a top laner that is also really aggressive if they want a similar team dynamic as they used to have. And there is the problem of who will be the shot caller. I have no knowledge on what the interpersonal relationship in the team was like. Assuming that was not the reason for him leaving, I only see two reason why MaRin would leave. One would be if he wanted to test himself and try to recreate SKT's success on a different team, or another organization offered him a lot of money. I have a feeling it was the second. I would prefer he stayed in Korea but if he does leave the country please let it not be China that he goes to. I wish him well and no matter where he goes I will probably watch him play.
I am worried about SK Telecom T1 in season 6. The last time SKT was on top of the world and had a slight roster change, their performance took a nosedive. I suppose this would make next season more competitive which is a good thing. I just wish Korea becomes more competitive by the other teams stepping up their games as oppose to the top dog just getting weaker. There is a slim chance SKT comes out of this even stronger. I doubt it, at least at first but time will tell.
Of the three Easyhoon was the least surprising to me and I'm glad he is gone. That is not to say I dislike Easyhoon or think he is a bad player. Far from it. I did dislike how he played when he was on SKT T1 S. I found his games to be extremely slow, boring, not very good and they put me to sleep. However his games this season on the unified SK Telecom team were spectacular and exciting. One of his plays literally woke me up! The LCK starts around 3 am where I am. I'm usually fine watching most of the first match but then exhaustion sets in. I hate not watching games live as there might be technical problems watching the videos later, I get spoiled on the results or I get so busy I am unable to get around to finish watching it. I tried to watch all the SKT games live and on this particular game exhaustion got the better of me. As I was reaching to paused the video so I could go to bed, Easyhoon perform such an amazing play that I leap out of my seat. And from the sound of the caster, they did too. I believe it was a flash multi man Cassiopeia ult from a bush. I had so much adrenaline in me that I had no problem stay awake for the rest of that game. As great as he was, I did not want to see him play. That is because he shared his position with Faker, the League of Legends greatest player in the world. SKT is much weaker overall without Easyhoon. Not only does Easyhoon and Faker plays the game differently, but how the team works together and how other team react to them are all very different. This allowed SKT to have much deeper strategies than other teams. Nevertheless personally I always want to see Faker playing and now that he is off the team, Easyhoon is now able to leave from being under Faker's shadow and prove how great he is. Being able to see more of Faker and Easyhoon play is a win in my book. I just hope he stays in Korea.
Tom leaving is somewhat surprising but understandable as he did not play much since he joined. I was really excited about him joining because I thought SKT needed new blood at the time. Before Tom join, Bengi play ranged from mediocre to decent. So I figure Tom would be a long term investment, molding a new player to be a great jungler to replace Bengi. But then Bengi started playing like he activated 'Super Bengi Mode!' When he was on, Bengi was the best jungler in Korea. He didn't play this well in ALL his games, but he did in the vast majority of them. It is hard to justify subbing in Tom when Bengi is playing so phenomenal. I don't have much more to say about Tom because he only played 5 or 6 or so games. His early games were decent but he got caught out a lot. He did play in the Spring Finals 3-0 victory against the KOO Tigers but that was more of the entire team doing well. I wish him well and I'm curious to see what he can do on his new team.
Now MaRin leaving is just shocking. Faker is the face of SK Telecom but MaRin has been the heart of the team in my opinion. This year Worlds had a top lane meta and MaRin proved himself to be the best of the best top laners. When Faker plays the other team usually focus as much attention on him as possible which leave MaRin free to be a monster in the game. As the team captain and the shot caller losing MaRin is going to hurt SKT a lot. Trying to find a new top laner that is even near MaRin in quality is nearly impossible as is, SKT need to find a top laner that is also really aggressive if they want a similar team dynamic as they used to have. And there is the problem of who will be the shot caller. I have no knowledge on what the interpersonal relationship in the team was like. Assuming that was not the reason for him leaving, I only see two reason why MaRin would leave. One would be if he wanted to test himself and try to recreate SKT's success on a different team, or another organization offered him a lot of money. I have a feeling it was the second. I would prefer he stayed in Korea but if he does leave the country please let it not be China that he goes to. I wish him well and no matter where he goes I will probably watch him play.
I am worried about SK Telecom T1 in season 6. The last time SKT was on top of the world and had a slight roster change, their performance took a nosedive. I suppose this would make next season more competitive which is a good thing. I just wish Korea becomes more competitive by the other teams stepping up their games as oppose to the top dog just getting weaker. There is a slim chance SKT comes out of this even stronger. I doubt it, at least at first but time will tell.
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Introduction
Hello! This is the sister site my Chaos Magic blog. This is a place where I can write down my thoughts on League of Legends. I'm not a great player but I have put many hours into it. I also closely follow the pro scene, especially the North American and Korea leagues. And I correctly predicted the second half of Season 5 Worlds (quarters, semi-finals and finals). I think I've seen and played enough of the game to have a respectable opinion. The thoughts here are my own. I don't not represent Riot Games nor any particular player, caster or team organization.
I have no doubt what I have in mind for this blog will change over time. For now I will start with an article on my thoughts on the new Quinn and have a page dedicate to having the latest news about Spring North America scene. I hope I can provide something people will enjoy. Play the game, have fun and don't be toxic!
I have no doubt what I have in mind for this blog will change over time. For now I will start with an article on my thoughts on the new Quinn and have a page dedicate to having the latest news about Spring North America scene. I hope I can provide something people will enjoy. Play the game, have fun and don't be toxic!
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