How Much Should Riot be Involved in Team Conduct?

by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos 

The recent controversy regarding MYM and their mid laner, Marcin “Kori" Wolski, has brought the dark side of LoL esports into the light. One of the main questions raised by the situation is just how involved should Riot be in the goings-on of each team?

We've hit a stage where we can no longer use the excuse of  “growth.” Yes, the scene is still growing, but far too many teams are allowed to fly under the banner of Riot and the LCS while going unchecked in terms of conduct. The LMQ saga, the business with Lemondogs and NiP, it seems like not enough organisations are taking the scene seriously and respecting it and its rules, not to mention simply taking advantage of their own players and staff. As the organizers of the LCS, Riot should be well in-the-know of what goes on within each team.

While I’m not suggesting a full-on big brother like grip, it's concerning that on a few occasions it seems like Riot hasn't been fully in the loop with what goes on with their teams. This is worrying because the players and even some of the staff are still quite young and for many, this is their first experience in a job like environment. It's Riots responsibility to ensure that in some way or another, teams are regularly checked up on and to first and foremost protect their players.

Be it a union or a set group of Riot employees, someone should be involved in making sure players and staff are paid on time rather than waiting on empty promises. Players and staff should know where to go if they’re threatened in any way and they should be assured that something will be done as soon as the problem is reported. Players shouldn't be used as placeholders, than swept off their job after two or three weeks of play, nor should they be blackmailed or manipulated by contractual affairs they’re likely not used to. While Nick Allen and his team do a great job, these things are still happening, so something needs to change. It's events like these that provide crucial building blocks for an organisation to improve itself.

The last thing anyone wants is the LoL professional scene to gain the reputation of a backstreet mafia where shady characters rule. The uproar and backlash of young people being blackmailed and exploited is unforgivable. This isn't something that can slide.

I personally think it would be shameful to allow Meet Your Makers to continue to exist within the LCS. Riot have shown effective disciplinary action against shady actions from organisations in the past, a memorable one for EU being the banning of Lemondogs. I believe MYM should be given the Lemondogs' treatment and also be banned from the scene, especially considering the difference in magnitude of the two offences. If they can force Alliance and Evil Geniuses to rebrand, they can surely do the same for the MYM players, but it would be a dark shadow over the LCS to allow the players to continue under a brand that has pretty much tainted its reputation. In some situations, sorry just isn't enough. The removal of Falli from the MYM squad is a good step by them but it doesn't make everything okay.

Seeing as there hasn't been a situation that is quite like this one before, the decision here will live on as precedent and can either act effectively as a deterrent for it ever happening again or not set the right example and become problematic in the future. With power comes responsibility. MYM have grossly neglected theirs, so Riot needs to appropriately administer theirs and ensure something like this never happens again.

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by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos 

OGN Recap Week 5 : Coco Breaks World CS Record!

by Pieter "antdriote" Cnudde

Week 5 of OGN had only four series and were all one-sided but still exciting to watch. Short version: Faker’s Ezreal dumpsters Samsung, giving Xerath to GBM should be illegal, the Najin brawl match went to GE and IM keeps climbing the ranks. Kalista finally gets good quality showing in Korea and RobertxLee lost his CS record to Coco. My name is antdrioite and I’ll go over the highs and lows of this weeks' OGN Champions.

The Xerath hype toned down a little bit this week but he was still picked or banned in 6 out of the 8 games. At least SKT stopped first picking it for Faker and he could show his skill on Ezreal, totally dominating Samsung. He survived many times on near to no health and his skillshot timing and accuracy was as expected, godlike. Samsung tried throwing another curveball by going Morgana mid and Rengar top. CuVee got an early kill but went full tank Rengar and could not pressure Marin enough to shut him down. Samsung got a dragon and gold lead, even picking up an early baron. Marin and Faker were too big, however, and cleaned up all the fights after the baron, resulting in a quick 32 minute game.

Game 2 was overall better for SKT. They had good dragon control and got an early lead with a turret and cs advantage. In spite of that, they still had issues closing out the game even, with the baron buff. Samsung was able to win some teamfights and even take an inhibitor. The next baron became the end of Samsung, Fury stole it but SKT won the fight 3 for 0 and ended the game after that. Cuvee didn't even die in that game and Samsung showed they can fight with a standard comp, although their strategy is still lacking to take a win off the other teams. SKT should be glad with the win but not really with their performance. They still need to improve on their midgame play. At least their P/B phase was better this week. (Please use Faker more.)

Friday had only one series but it was the most hyped one of the week. Four ex-Najin players against the current Najin lineup. Duke had already trash talked GE the week before so the expectations were high. GE Tigers responded with bunny ears and pinks costumes during the series. Najin wants to keep me happy by putting in Ohq and Cain in Game 1. But even if they do well, they're still put on the bench afterwards, because they think Zefa and Pure will magically make Najin win.

Game 1 started poorly for the Najin botlane with Cain giving up two easy kills to Gorilla. The game was quiet in the early game with GE being in control over the objectives and getting a small gold lead with turrets, some kills and CS. They were able to pick up a baron after getting a double kill on Ggoong and Watch. Sieging up with baron it seemed like the Tigers would close out the game but a good bubble on Kuro and Ohq getting reset after reset got Najin an ace and some room to breath. GE Tigers’ lead was too big however and with no additional catches, closed out the game with the next baron buff. One poor fight but overall a very clean game from the GE tigers. Ohq played very well that game not even dying once but it wasn't enough to win the game or avoid the bench.

Game 2 was a perfect stomp, Najin was able to get some kills early but they never got a lead. GE only lost one turret and dragon and snowballed great with Kassadin and using Kalista to get an early baron. The game ended at 32 mins after two aces and a second baron. GE showed great strategic play and that they have a big champion pool on all roles (except jungle cus jungle). Najin showed that Ohq and Cain still perform better than Zefa and Pure. GE won the grudge match in a dominating fashion.

Saturday was a long day even with only four games. I’m convinced CJ didn't care much about Jin Air or the coaches are completely oblivious how to do P/B. Jin Air is the one team you never want to give Xerath so if you don’t want to play it just ban it. Shy’s inability to play Gnar is also costing them a lot. 

Jin Air started the game a bit ahead with 2 early dragons and some turrets but the game swung rapidly after the third dragon. Ambition got the dragon and CJ was able to get a baron afterwards as well. Their gold lead grew rapidly with continuous tower destruction and kills. CJ tried to break down the inhibitor line with their 2nd baron but GBM’s poke and Captain Jack’s Kalista thought otherwise. Jin Air held CJ off and were able to take an inhibitor in response. After that CJ was never able to get back into the game. Even with a lead they were incapable to pressure Jin Air hard enough. GBM had flawless positioning and Coco could not trade with him in poke on Jayce. Jin Air eventually won after a 79 minute game with Coco breaking the world CS record.

The teamfight impact of Gnar and GBM’s Xerath play were too impactful for CJ and that should be blamed on their P/B phase. Coco is a great Jayce player but he got nerfed recently and he isn't a great matchup against Xerath. What surprised me the most in Game 2 was CJ’s unwillingness to adapt. They let the same picks through and only banned the Gnar. They picked up the Jayce again, let GBM have Xerath and Cpt Jack got Kalista again after his great Game 1.

That is pretty much all I want to say about the second game. Coco was useless in all the fights and Jin Air stomped CJ in a “quick” 47 min game. Shy was good on Mundo but not gamebreaking. TrAce's Rumble survived laning phase and did so much work in teamfights with the Equalizer, zoning out Coco and dealing massive damage on all of CJ.

KT vs IM had the same issues in P/B. IM nearly gets a perfect Game 1 against KT only losing a few turrets and one dragon because of a steal. They get an ace in return though and snowball the game to a great ending. Arrow never got a kill on Draven just like the rest of his team. Then we get to Game 2 and KT just picks the same things, except a Vayne, and they switched junglers with IM. I don’t get why they think it would change anything?

Two series in a row the losing team failed to see the weakness in their comps and just didn't adapt. And again the losing team loses even harder in Game 2. KT is really falling down and is the 2nd worst team in OGN at the moment after Samsung. Their lack of playmaking and understanding the meta is really hurting them as a team. IM had a funny BM with ZZ’rot portal Thresh but they aren’t at the top yet. They look better but I need to see good results against top teams before I’m sold on them.

Thanks for reading if you have questions or comments leave them below or on twitter.

 by Pieter "antdriote" Cnudde 

Dignitas Capitalizes on Liquid's Mistakes

Review : Dignitas vs Team Liquid W3D2

by Chris "Aaro" Mouton

     Team Liquid faced off against an almost entirely revamped Dignitas last Sunday in what was one of the most intense showdowns of the week. Liquid had started off the split with an incredibly strong 2-0 record despite having KEITHMCBRIEF filling in for former world champion, Piglet. Since Piglet’s return, however, Team Liquid has struggled, not showing much signs of synergy or high-level decision making. Dignitas started off this split with a disappointing 0-2 and they were 1-4 coming into this matchup. Longstanding jungler, Crumbz, had just stepped down and was being temporarily replaced by CloudNguyen.

     Before we jump into the actual gameplay, I’d like to take a moment to talk about these team comps because they played a large role in the outcome of this game. Team Liquid ran a double AD carry composition sporting Maokai in the top lane, Vi in the jungle, Ezreal in the midlane, Vayne in the traditional ADC role, and Annie for support. This composition had a massive mid-game power spike. Around the time that Vayne finished her Botrk and Ezreal finished his Manamune and Triforce, they were putting out an incredible amount of damage.

     Dignitas had one of the most mobile comps to play in the LCS this split. Rumble in the top lane, Jarvan in the jungle, Ahri in mid (this is 5.2, Ahri does have the movement speed bonus on her Q), Sivir ADC, and Morgana Support. The team comp was incredibly well made. They had excellent pick potential thanks to J4, Ahri, and Morgana, as well as Sivir’s ultimate which allowed them to chase down their enemies. They also had the ability to blow through the Maokai and Vi and focus the majority of their damage onto those squishy carries.

     The game started with Team Liquid searching for a lane swap because Sivir/Morgana is an annoying lane. Relentless harass eventually kept Piglet shoved under his tower, which resulted in quite the CS discrepancy. This was a tragedy for Piglet's Vayne, who really needed items to be a threat early on. In fact, Vayne fell so far behind that after the first recall, Team Liquid chose to send Piglet back into the top lane, essentially gifting a free dragon to Dignitas. Then, after seeing that Dignitas kept their duo botlane after dragon, Liquid decided to match it with their duo lane again, instead of just leaving Piglet top to take this free tower. It’s almost as though they didn't realize that Piglet and Xpecial were unable to trade and were, in fact, losing the lane.

     Liquid was able to secure the second dragon despite having blown the Tibbers ultimate moments before in a trade in the bottom lane. This second dragon was right in Team Liquid's power spike so they were looking for a fight, but the lack of Tibbers really prevented them from running away with the game. They were able to trade Quas for two kills and a dragon, but Dignitas was clumped perfectly for a 5-man Tibbers while they were trying to back away. That sort of lock down and ace would have allowed Liquid to secure some additional towers, really allowing them to snowball this game while their comp was hitting hard.

     The game remained relatively even until Liquid blew a teamfight in the enemy jungle allowing Dignitas to snowball the game. Team Liquid was aggressively invading the jungle, attempting to get vision control in what I assumed would be an early baron attempt with their double AD comp. However, they played out the teamfight horribly. Gamsu was completely split from the rest of Dignitas on his Rumble and Liquid committed so much time to him. They threw down Tibbers, which he flashed out of, and then they decided to continue chasing him through the jungle. This set up a beautiful equalizer for Gamsu and allowed the rest of Dignitas to strategically flank. They were able to quickly blow up Maokai and expose the squishy carries of Team Liquid. Dignitas chased down the rest of Team Liquid with only Piglet escaping, and was able to secure the baron buff.

     Consider for a moment just how truly terrifying that situation was for Team Liquid. They had absolutely no wave clear. They had Ezreal's ultimate for one wave and they had only auto attacks and Mystic Shot to try and clear the rest of those baroned up minions. Liquid decide not to even try and defend, instead sending four people to the top lane to pick off Gamsu, resulting in the loss of two of their towers and most of the health on their bottom inhib tower. Dignitas then made one of the best tactical moves I've seen from them. They recalled and gave Team Liquid a free dragon. Liquid spent the next thirty seconds at dragon while Dignitas was able to get complete vision control of baron. What really makes me question Team Liquid as a top team is what they did next. They already took the dragon, they knew baron was up, and they knew that Dig was missing from the map. Their decision was to steal Dig’s blue buff. They invest six green wards and a pink on the bottom side of Dignitas’ jungle. There’s no dragon for six minutes and a blue buff really isn't worth that much effort. Why they think that this is where they should be investing their vision, I just can’t comprehend.

     Meanwhile, Dignitas had multiple pinks circling the baron area and had swept every other bush, and so with this incredible pick composition, they waited. And they caught a Maokai, which you think would be the last person they'd want to catch, but Dignitas was able to blow up Quas in under two seconds. Then they ran back to set the same trap again in a different bush. And they waited. Team Liquid almost looked like they were going to just push down mid and trade towers instead of attempting to contest this baron 4v5, and with all my heart I was hoping that they would. But they don’t. They face check the river bush Dignitas has been waiting in, and Dig is able to pick up two more kills and a baron. Team Liquid decided to go and push while Dig took the baron, at least getting a bottom inner tower in return. In reality, that should have been the decision ever since Quas was picked off.

     So now we’re back in this terrifying situation for Team Liquid. Zero wave clear, baroned up Dignitas and minions, and a dangerously low-health inhibitor tower that they are forced to defend. Sounds like the start of a horror story. Luckily for Team Liquid, Dignitas makes the mistake of diving this tower. Why they would dive when they have no one who’s exceptionally tanky and Team Liquid has no way to stop them from sieging it other than engaging out of tower range and forcing a fight, I have no idea. They end up trading 1 for 1. Dig takes the tower but is forced to retreat, helping themselves to dragon on the way out.

     Dig continue their exceptional vision control on their way back to siege the inhibitor tower. It’s not even exaggerating to say that they pinked or swept every single bush that they walked through. And what they do next is also quite impressive. They continue sieging bottom until about 30 seconds - when baron is up. But they don’t even try to take the inhibitor. They don’t force the fight. All they’re doing is keeping Team Liquid bottled up in their base for the next two minutes until baron spawns so that there is absolutely no time for Team Liquid to get any vision on it. Have I mentioned how incredible Dignitas’ vision control has been this game yet? Because it really is beautiful.

     Team Liquid group up as five and attempt to get vision control of this baron before they give a third dragon over to Dignitas. Fenix spots Gamsu on Rumble, and because Liquid has no other vision, they think that Rumble is alone. Fenix makes the final mistake of the game and arcane shifts forward, attempting to burst down Rumble while the rest of Team Liquid follow up. Gamsu lays down the red carpet for a completely grouped up Team Liquid and Dignitas is able to immediately follow with their extremely mobile comp. Fenix flashes back into the team, but it doesn't even matter. Ezreal and Vi are both dead before Team Liquid even has a moment to react, essentially making this a 3v5. Dig is able to quickly clean up the rest of Team Liquid, excluding Piglet who escapes, and they close out the game.

     In my book, this was the best game of the split. Coming from a 1-4 team, this level of coordination, vision control, and even awareness to pick such a good team comp and then to play out their win conditions so perfectly is just inspiring. It also makes me worry for Team Liquid. They seemed to make a lot of very fundamental mistakes, such as using six green wards and a pink on the exact wrong side of the map while their team is setting up to make baron plays. If Team Liquid wants to be a contender this split, they’ll have to seriously step up in their shot calling.

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by Chris "Aaro" Mouton

What to Watch For: NA LCS Week 3 Preview

             

By Matt “It’s Pure Luck” Lee

So who didn't predict that after two weeks the LCS would have these current story lines: Team Gravity is in a three way tie for first, upstart Team 8 would be in a four way tie for fourth at 2-2 and Cloud 9 would sit in last place.

I admit I can’t raise my hand and say I saw this coming, but I’d argue that outside of the players on those teams, nobody really saw a start like this happening in the spring split. While I like to preach patience and a “wait and see” approach with teams like Cloud 9 (who frankly have earned benefit of the doubt with past performances), keep in mind that after this week the season will already be one third of the way through.

While I fully believe Cloud 9 can turn this around and Team 8 could plummet in the standings (the difference between 4th and last is only one game after all), the clock is starting to tick on teams like C9 and Coast who are in desperate need of at least one win this week. These games are SO crucial with the new format.

With that said, let’s take a look at three key points to look after in this upcoming set of games!

Can Hai step up for Cloud 9? – To be blunt, it has been an utterly dismal start to the season for Hai. The oft maligned midlaner for C9 must pick it up for this team to rediscover the magic it had in the past three LCS splits. The surprising factor here is that C9 looked very solid just over one month ago back at IEM San Jose. All that is forgotten now as they look completely lost. Being the main shotcaller for this team, Hai’s mental state is crucial to Cloud 9. If he can avoid tilting and keep himself calm, this NA juggernaut should be able to right the ship. C9 has two winnable games this weekend (Coast, T8) and I’d argue only winning one would be a disappointment to them.

Will the real Team Liquid Please Stand Up? – It was a great start to the season for Liquid. They managed to go 2-0 even with the absence of Piglet as IWillDominate had a masterful Week 1. Week 2 was a bit of a different story. They lost to Cloud 9 and Team SoloMid and weren't competitive in either game (they failed to pick up a kill vs TSM). I think that IWillDominate himself said it best; Liquid perhaps isn't as amazing as they played in Week 1, nor are they as poor as they played in Week 2. Now that they have had a set of real matches to play on the LCS stage with the entire roster, it will be interesting to see how Liquid try and bounce back when they take on a desperate Team Coast and a reeling Dignitas. If C9 has trouble getting their act together, I believe this is the team to beat in North America.

Always Winning Until They Lose: Can Team Coast Recover? – Since EG rebranded and multiple members of the team departed, somebody in the NA LCS had to take up the crown of “losing games that are in our grasp in painstakingly heartbreaking ways.” Team Coast have more than obliged that as they have started off this season 1-3 but I don’t think they have really played that poorly at all. In fact this is a team that is just a couple of bad decisions away from being 3-1 (one being the atrocious Baron call in the game vs Dignitas.) Yes, decision making is a crucial part of this game, but it just felt like they had all of those losses in their favor while watching. Unfortunately for Coast, it won’t get any easier this week. They take on Team Liquid in their first game and have a very crucial match against Cloud 9 on day two. 1-1 would likely be a more than acceptable result for this team this week but it’s a tough task. Maybe it’s time for a few breaks to fall in favor of this team who has played better than their record would show.

Enjoy the games this weekend everybody!

Welcome to the Jungle - An Interview with Santorin

Welcome to the Jungle

Getting to know Lucas “Santorin” Larsen

by Sandie "moondove" Gade

This season, TSM acquired another Danish guy to come and play for them. After Amazing left to go back to EU there was a lot of chatter about who the new jungler would be, and when the announcement came that it would be Santorin, a lot of people were saying “who is this guy anyway?” Well, we've gotten to see him play and heard from him on the analyst desk after a TSM win, but I thought it would be nice to dig a little deeper and get to know him better.

First, let me say that apart from being a damn good jungler, he is also a really nice guy and he was more than happy to share his thoughts with me no matter how trivial the questions. Stuff like his favorite color (black; he must be happy rocking that TSM jacket), his favorite dish (his parent’s homemade lasagna) and his favorite type of music (rock). He answered it all without hesitation and was very kind about it.

I also found out that while he doesn't have a whole lot of time for hobbies (no big surprise), one of his favorite shows at the moment is The Blacklist, and he is REALLY into fitness and has a special diet and work-out routine that he follows.

So what else is there to know about this young blond jungle god? Well, a lot really, and since we are all fans of this wonderful game we call League of Legends, I thought it might be nice to also ask him about that. If you want to get to know Lucas “Santorin” Larsen better and find out what goes on in that pretty little head of his, here is your chance.

Your full name is Lucas Tao Kilmer Larsen. That doesn’t sound fully Danish. Can you tell me about the background there?

My name is not 100% Danish, you are quite right! In Latin, Lucas means "The luminous one" and Tao means "the path," and put together it means “the luminous path,” and therefore my parents chose to give me the middle name Tao.

Tell me a little about your path to pro.

The road to where I am today started with me just playing League of Legends for fun, 3v3 normals mostly. When I hit level 30 I began playing the 5v5 map, because I had to play ranked now.

During the first two months I went from unranked to #1 on EUNE and that was when I slowly started to realize that I had a talent for this game. The season after, I moved to EUW seeing as this was where all the famous players and great talents played.

I quickly found a fully Danish team to play with and played LAN tournaments like DreamHack and the 2013 IESF World Championships. From thereon, I got a lot of offers and when I turned 17, I decided to take the offer from Coast and move to America. I chose to move to America because I wanted to experience something new, and if I didn't manage to go pro in this game, then at least I would have had a good experience. I took a year's leave from my high school, that way I knew I could just go back to school if it all failed. It was hard to say goodbye to my family and friends, so it was probably the biggest decision I've made in my life.

What teams did you play for before TSM?

Before TSM, I played for Intellectual Playground (fully Danish team), The Fox Sound (European team who tried to get into Coke Zero, but failed), and a lot of other teams including full Russian and Polish teams where I was the only one from another country.

What was your initial reaction when TSM first contacted you about replacing Amazing?

I was incredibly surprised. I had obviously heard rumors that he was planning to return to Europe, but I had not thought of the possibility that they would ask me. Of course I was surprised but also very happy. It felt a little surreal, but after I talked with them, I slowly realized that this was in fact "real life."

Describe a typical day in the TSM house for you?

My day usually starts with me getting up at 8am, I take a shower and then I start playing soloQ. We scrim from noon until 3pm. Then we have a two-hour break where we can do what we want; usually we eat and play soloQ. Then we have scrims from 5-8 pm and after that it’s back to soloQ again. Sometimes we also have sponsor things to do and we do those at the times where we would have normally played soloQ.

Were you a natural at the game from the beginning or did it take a while before you starting thinking of yourself as good?

I felt, as I said before, that I had a "natural talent" for League of Legends. Like I mentioned earlier, I was #1 on EUNE within two months. But it’s not just League of Legends I was good at from the start, I've always felt like I was good at computer games in general, World Of Warcraft and Counter Strike to name a few.

Of course, even if you have "natural talent," you should still put a lot of hours into the game to get really good at it. So I played at least 2-4 hours a day when I started out.

What is your favorite role after jungle and what do you like about it?

When I'm not playing jungle I usually play support. I think it's fun to play support because in a lot of ways it’s like jungle. You ward, roam/gank, but the obvious difference is that you are in the botlane and play 2v2 at the start of the game. But I just really like to roam around the map and make "plays" here and there.

What is your least favorite role and why?

The role I probably like least is ADC. I like to start the fight and be frontline/tank, so when I play ADC I usually go to the frontline, die immediately and lose the game for my team. I’m not very good at playing the lanes, since I don’t normally "outplay" someone when I play jungle; I just kill monsters and gank here and there.

What is your favorite jungle champ?

My favorite champion is without a doubt Lee Sin. I've played him since he was released and he has always been a meta pick. If I have to choose a champion that I can carry best with, then it would be him. People say that a dog is man's best friend, but in my case it’s Lee Sin.

What is your favorite non-jungle champ and what do you like about it?

My favorite non-jungle champion is actually Annie Support. I love to roam around with her and gank the other lanes. She has incredible damage and a really nice stun. And the further into the game you get, the more damage she gets and eventually you reach the point where you can solo kill your opponent even though you’re a support, just because she deals so much damage.

What do you think about the new jungle changes?

I think the jungle changes are a little annoying to be honest. I don’t like having to recall so early because I have no hp left. But I'm happy about the new patch where you get more gold from each camp, because previously you only had as much gold as a support. I think I adapted fairly quickly since the top jungle champions at the moment are Jarvan, Rek'sai and Lee Sin. Seeing as I already played a lot of Lee Sin and Jarvan since I started playing a couple of years ago, it was not hard to play these champions again. And while Rek'sai is wildly strong right now, her kit is not too difficult to learn, so I feel that it’s no problem to play in this jungle patch.

But I was a little disappointed by the new jungle because in the beginning I thought that I would be able to play all jungle champs and that my champion pool could be larger. I don’t like playing only a few champions, but unfortunately it did not last long. There were a few weeks where you could play anything from Jarvan, Warwick and Xin Zhao, but then they quickly nerfed some items and made some changes and now we are back to a few champions in the jungle again unfortunately.

What is your reaction when people on your stream chat say that you are hot or want you to stream shirtless or something like that?

When people write on my stream that I’m hot, or that they want me to do shirtless stream I am both flattered but I also think it's funny. Firstly, I think that it's funny, because we all know that it’s not allowed to do shirtless streams on Twitch, you get banned if you do. But I am also flattered because I obviously think it's nice that there are people who like me.

How does flaming affect you? Does it make it different or more personal when you are in the public eye?

Everyone gets flamed in League of Legends once in a while, but if you get flamed on twitter or stream it obviously becomes more personal because they know who you are and do it on purpose to get you to feel bad. But I don’t take hate seriously, so it just kind of bounces off me. With fans come haters and you just need to be sure that you can separate haters from the sweet fans. Haters just try to make your life worse, so just shut them out. Sometimes it seems impossible to shut them out and ignore them, as we have seen in cases where people start to believe the haters and therefore begin to feel insecure about themselves and think that they play bad. This kind of thing should never be allowed to happen, because in the worst case scenario they may stop playing because they simply can’t cope with being hated on anymore.

Let’s move on to the competitive scene. So far you’ve played IEM and you’ve started the LCS. How have these experiences been for you and are you satisfied with your own performance?

IEM was the first tournament I played in America and it was a great experience for me as it was also the first tournament with TSM. Unfortunately, we lost our first two matches and were out of the tournament very fast due to the fact that we hadn’t had enough time to practice together. But it was a great experience and I was surprised at how many fans cheered on TSM.

LCS is going very well for us, so far. I feel like I’ve performed very well, but at IEM we didn’t really have the synergy down yet, so I don’t feel like I contributed much there. However, I feel that we're going to be #1 in NA at the end of this split, since our performance is really good at the moment and we are doing well as a team, both in the game and outside of the game.

What team has surprised you the most in the LCS so far and who do you feel your biggest competitor will be?

At the moment I’m very surprised by Gravity. They were one of the last teams who entered the LCS through the challenger series, and they were labeled as big underdogs along with Coast and Team8, but after Week 2 they shared first place with us (TSM) and CLG, which is nicely done by them.

As things are now I feel that our main competitor is CLG. We scrimmed them and they played very well and they also have a good performance in the LCS, so I am looking forward to playing against them there.

What AD-carries do you see dominating the LCS in the spring split? Both EU and NA.

In the spring split, I feel that the most dominant adc's from NA will be Wildturtle, Sneaky and DoubleLift, and in EU, I think it will be Forg1ven and Rekkles.

What are your views on support staff? Do you feel coaches and analysts move the scene forward?

I feel that coaches/analysts are a BIG part of the pro-scene. They help us to be better; they help us find the strong picks and teach us how to play the different comps. Not only does our coach help us with the game, he also helps us with individual problems if we come to him. Coaches are also a much larger part of the pro-scene now due to the fact that they are allowed on the stage to help in the pick/ban phase, which means that it’s much easier for us players to get a good start to the game. 

Thank you so much for your time Lucas and good luck to you in the LCS. In closing, do you have something you want to say to all the fans out there supporting you and cheering you on? Both you personally and TSM as a team.

I would like to say thank you to all the fans out there that support me. It means a lot to me to know that there is always someone out there who expects something from me. It motivates me to train more and play better. TSM has one of the largest and best fan bases and I'm very happy to be a part of that!

For more updates and thoughts, follow Santorin on social media:

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 by Sandie "moondove" Gade