i'm spacing out my posts more, in an effort to let more happen so i have more to say, lets see how that worked...so the last few days, a lot of shit has gone down. hai retired - not a big surprise. for a time, he was a great "support" mid laner. when the meta started to shift, and his champs either became irrelevant or were simply banned out, his game began to suffer. when his wrist problems began to rear their ugly head, his limited game suffered even more. he couldn't practice as much as his team, he couldn't get better or deepen his pool, and C9 as an organization slowly started to dip. now, it wasn't a significant slide. it isn't like one day they were first, and the next, last. they still remain a top na team, but they got figured out and couldn't change their style enough to fix the growing issues. i'm not blaming all that on hai, but as the captain and shot caller, this is a decision that needed to be made sooner. C9 is HIS company, he started it, he should have known, the moment he couldn't put 100% effort into it, even if it is because of a medical issue, then he needed to step down. "playing through it", "toughing it out", these aren't things that a team owner should be considering, he should think "what is best for the team", and an injured player that can't deepen his champion pool is not helping the team. i like hai, and he will be missed as a personality in the scene and as a player, but this was a move that is a full split late. either way, best of luck in management, hai. i have the utmost confidence that you will succeed in this new chapter in your life.
second, and this could have been first, because its impact was felt, almost at the same time. popular (or notorious, depending on what side of the fence you're on) esports journalist, Richard Lewis was perma-banned from reddit, all of it, not just the league sub. now, while his interactions with the average reddit user/hater/troll, might not always be viewed as the most professional way to handle a community, there is no argument that his facts, his leads, his stories, they're on point and usually broken by him. he is important to this community as an unbiased voice breaking the news we want and need. the reddit mods, who, in their own right, have been marred by controversy and seem to have a bad habit of overstepping their boundaries, not following their own rules and generally making mountains out of molehills. what they apparently want is not something Richard was intending to give, mostly because of journalistic integrity. they wanted his stories before he published them, they wanted his sources, they wanted what he should never HAVE to give to a moderator of a subreddit, but they felt they were entitled. while not necessarily related to this issue, it is no a surprise to find out that the reddit mods of /r/leagueoflegends are in riot's back pocket, and there is nothing wrong with that, inherently, unless riot is making content suggestions to them, and then they are subsequently following those "requests" to stay in riot's good graces. mind you, that is all speculation, but still something to consider. either way, Richard was silenced in a blatant act of censorship with no ground to do so. he violated no rules, yet had posts deleted and was being stalked by certain mods who were constantly warning him about things he wasn't doing. ultimately, he was banned because he refused to have, what was called "a working relationship" with the moderators of the subreddit. they didn't care for him personally, and they overstepped their bounds in banning him. i have personally have correspondence with Richard, and there will be more on that when i can talk about it freely, but this is all what i know and my opinion on the matter.
lastly, the rest of the world is wrapping up their spring seasons in preparation for MSI. EDG bested LGD in a great match up of two powerhouses to decide the chinese champion. Korea got a rare treat when SKT took on CJ Entus in a match up that went the full 5 games, and if you know anything about the korean scene, you know game 5 means....BLIND PICK!!! blind pick games in a professional setting are always great, mostly because you get pro's on their top champs, which meant Faker's 11-0 LeBlanc was going to be brought out. the sad truth was, CJ Entus had to know that when they were up 2-1 and lost game 4, that their time was up, because a game 5 meant LeBlanc, and that meant they had no chance. well the game was played, Faker got LeBlanc, went 15-1-10, and SKT rolled to victory. now SKT goes on to play the GE Tigers in what may prove to be a real clash of titans and a potential look at where the world championship will have to go through.
in na and eu, relegation matches were played, personally, i was hoping to see more new blood infused into the summer split, but only one new team (outside of the challenger series winners) will be joining the ranks of the LCS as Team Dragon Knights (with Alex_Ich playing as a sub) defeated Team WinterFox in not a very close series. WinterFox never looked truly comfortable and Pobelter and Altec couldn't find their groove, and the team was bounced from the LCS. it will be interesting to see what ends up happening to the team now, will they stay and play for next season in the challenger series, will the team be dropped, what will Helios and his brother do? a lot of questions need answers, but these answers will have to come at another time, mostly because i have written a great deal here and you have a lot of reading to do. thanks so much for checking me out, keep an eye open for the next Tower Dive podcast this week and i'll see you on the rift!
Cheers,
-Hooks
Tower Dive Podcast
@Cptn_Hooks
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