Do like me and get into eSports because that's how American gridiron football dies

TSM
C9
NRG
REN
FOX

Watching the new ADC + Support lanes is going to be entertaining, I think. I see your point re: TSM but I think they're going to just steamroll folks until people figure out their number, and at some point they'll implode, but that might not even happen until after this split

Sunday:

REN
CLG
TSM
C9
IMT

NA LCS Week 1 Day 2
REN vs. NRG
DIG vs. CLG
TSM vs. TL
FOX vs. C9
IMT vs. TIP
mostly good team vs bad team on Sunday, REN/NRG is the only one that's close on paper

TSM usually doesn't implode until worlds, NA finals last year being an exception. i think there's a good chance they'll dominate NA LCS into the foreseeable future with yellowstar shot calling, but that depends on their roster having good chemistry. svenskeren is a big question mark for me.

first day of NA LCS coverage starting now if any of the uninitiated want to see what this crap is all about http://www.twitch.tv/riotgames

Did not see that CLG win coming.
Or that REN-TL would take a full hour! holy smokes

ok what I said about TSM I meant Immortals

immortals vs tsm is next saturday, that'll be the big test

that 2v4 w/ pobelter + huni was brilliant. perfect game in 18 minutes O_O

sorry i just realized we might be doing no-spoilers here?

imo spoilers are fine, treat this like any other sports thread, it's interesting how that's even a concept for esports though as very few people watch stuff like football etc after-the-fact

pretty much every other pro sport intentionally makes it a pain in the ass to watch anything but highlights after the game

And yes, treat as any other sports thread, if you haven't seen the matches you're interested in, avoid

Saturday 1/23:

TIP C9
TSM IMT
TL CLG
DIG REN
NRG FOX

Sunday 1/24:

TSM DIG
NRG IMT
CLG C9
FOX TL
REN TIP

looks about right to me, idk what to make of TL's new roster yet though

like were they actually playing well last week or is TSM just shit rn

so is IMT the favorites at this pt? they just look so good but i haven't watched many of the other matches so far so i don't know how they compare to the rest of the field

They're definitely the favorites now, their roster is almost as good as TSM's and they look way crisper as a team already. Also have shown an ability to close out winning games quickly which has been an issue for NA teams other than CLG for a long time

Week 2
Day 1: C9, IMT, CLG, DIG, NRG
Day 2: DIG, IMT, CLG, TL, REN

the most interesting NA storylines rn are how will TSM evolve as a roster and how high is the ceiling for IMT. on paper TSM has a higher ceiling, but IMT came together very quickly and there might be some magic there, it could be the team pobelter has been waiting for. i don't have the faith in CLG that ciderpress does, i see zion and aphro as being the co-captains of that team and both of them are inconsistent, especially under pressure.

ahem, Zion is Darshan now

apologies, he is serious eSports athelete. i wish the casters would go by their real names. or at least the guy who calls himself 'pyrotechnics'

Echo Fox has failed to submit an eligible roster for Saturday’s game and will forfeit that game. Despite multiple deadline extensions, they were unable to field a roster.

wut
did one of their players quit on them or something

visa problems maybe

ah yeah sounds like they were fielding people with unresolved visa status

TIP threatening an upset

man i don't understand how Cloud 9 turns back into a pumpkin every time they try to play without Hai. dude is some sort of insane mastermind of LoL

and against the team IMT steamrolled

seraph is a big upgrade in the top lane though for TIP, he's a good player. not sure if they've just got him on loan as a sub or if he's a permanent addition

"poppy everywhere"

Actually amazed how good the Twitch stream looks on my television

watching my first LoL game, here goes

twitch stream went down, youtube still up

can heroes buyback from death in league? TSMs base got thrashed after that bad baron fight where in dota they'd buy back on some heroes to defend

nah, if you're dead you're dead

yeah there's no buyback in LoL

is remi the only woman in the tournament?

ctrl+f this thread shows me that u said above she's the first in the tournament cool

Actually op... its gay

wow

So the meta-meta for this split is "how long can Immortals keep this up"

NRG misplayed their poke comp horribly, one mistake that massive and it's the end of the game. NA teams constantly throwing games back and forth throughout the season holds the whole region back when it comes to international tournaments.

are there any esports type games where you can play FFA but then create alliances after the game has already started?

many hours were spent in college playing starcraft with my roommates in the same room, and we'd join a ffa game only to ally once one of us started getting attacked, or at the last minute before stomping everyone else, to much swearing and aggravation on the part of internet randos

pretty much all esports are team vs team or 1 vs 1, i don't think anyone's found a way to make free-for-all game modes hold up under the scrutiny of competitive play. it's an interesting thought experiment though.

the only comparable thing i can think of that has a esports-esque devoted following is grand strategy games, but those aren't played as esports to my knowledge

they are played multiplayer; it doesn't work as realtime broadcasting (obv) but the write-ups/discussions are great. i wish i could remember enough about this one game i read for either civ 4 or civ 5 to google it up. there was a guy who [for one of 4/5] wrote a bunch of guides and iirc had great let's plays and he had a personal civ page. i think it was one of his multiplayer games.

i don't think there is professional play tho

ok how about games that let you do what I said, whether or not they're used competitively. changing alliances, etc

I guess EVE and games of that nature have alliances that can be broken and large economies but that's a bit more of an investment than I'm willing to make right now

televised/streamed grand strategy games would take longer than old school cricket