Getting back into watching esports

A lazy Hydreigon·Mar 26, 2017·1 votes·447 views

So..I haven't played the game since season 4 pretty much, and I haven't kept up to date with the pro scene either. I want to get back into watching the NA LCS, maybe start watching the OPL. But, I don't want to jump in at week 9, have no idea how the meta has changed over time and who the people and teams are. But at the same time..if I want to start from the beginning of the season..I could be watching for a month straight and not catch up.

So..any recommendations on what I do here?

3 Comments

GeminiRuneMar 26, 20174 votes

There's a couple of people who can tell you all kinds of recommendations. Personally I've been following the League eSports scene on a much closer level this season particularly (but was quite dedicated during Seasons 5 and 6, getting deeper into it with time). Honestly, if you were to start from the beginning, that would be quite some time before you really catch up to speed. I believe that you came back at a good time for playoff runs, which are what usually matter for the upcoming MSI at the end of April. I would suggest to get a rough understanding of what's new in the scene and the game in general. Allow me to do my best to give a lightning round of sorts for the competitive league...starting with the general stuff.

The Competitive League now plays on a 10-ban system as of this season. If you know how DOTA's snake drafting is, that's pretty much how it is. This has improved diversity and strategy even by a bit following the previous season's very stagnant meta of same bans, same picks 24/7
Also as of this season, all regions from around the world will be acknowledged and competing at the Mid Season Invitational and Worlds events. This includes Minor/Wildcard regions (IWC tournaments are gone). This gives a bit of encouragement to keep an eye on OPL if that interests you.
Korean teams still rule the world. This is a sad but true fact. And specifically teams! Because you know...there's teams like Team Envy...this for some reason had to be added to general stuff.

As for the NA LCS as that is one of your main mentions on the topic:

The split is coming to an end tomorrow and there's A LOT that is still on the line going into the playoffs. The competitive degree of the split has probably been one of the highest it's ever been (the last place team is in 1st in first turrets taken for crying out loud). But do NOT get this mixed up with competition being mechanically profound because it sure wasn't about half the time.
TSM and C9, like back in Season 4, still reign as the powerhouse teams in NA. This split however saw a handful of stories across every team on the split. One of the biggest stories was Doublelift having been on TSM at the time took a brief split retirement which was cut short following long stay LCS team, Team Liquid, and their near relegation struggle. Yes, Doublelift left CLG and went to TSM and is now on TL with intent to return to TSM in the summer even though TL just beat TSM yesterday. Basically there's a bunch of stories that are pretty long winded and would take meme amounts of manifestos to go through them all
Like I said above, with the 10-ban system in competitive play, champion diversity has increased slightly at the very least. The current competitive meta reflects around a steady assortment of picks, pokes, and comfortable teamfighting. NALCS Newcomer team FlyQuest (Formerly C9 Challenger) have been strong innovators of new and crafty picks and team comps...which were somewhat successful. Each region has its own claim to flavor at least. You can expect just a bit of difference from at least one team in each region.

Okay that was a lot more than I thought. And unfortunately I haven't watched as much OPL as I should have been outside of the Tainted Minds issues. But I do know I'll put some attention to it next week.

A lazy HydreigonMar 26, 20171 votes

Thanks, that was a huge help. The only reason I'm considering OPL is because I'm Australian, and I know in games like this, the meta is always more aggressive and as such, much more enjoyable to watch. We love a bit of a fight down under. I've been watching the first week of the spring split, and the game is just so..different. The map has undergone even more changes, and bottom lane is utterly confusing with combinations. MF support for example. I hear talk about items and I'm just sitting here like.."what do they do again?"

I'm still waiting for a Dignitas Cinderella story though, I have been a huge fan since season 2 when they pretty much created the lane swap meta. It is nice seeing a lot more variety though, it makes me really want to play on summoner's rift but..I don't think 40 minutes of toxcidity is really worth it..and I don't really have an urge to play specific champions..so because of this, I'm lacking the understanding of the map that I once had. I mean damn..back in the day I knew everything (I sucked but I knew a lot), and I followed both NA and EU lcs religiously..I miss those days.

GeminiRuneMar 26, 20172 votes

Glad I could help. Like I said, it'd be maddening to give you the full summary of all you've missed in the game from S4 to S7. It's a lot of differences: Marksman Update, Mage Update, Assassin Update, a couple of reworks, Support Itemization Update, Jungle Update, No Mana Potions, Elemental Dragons, The Rift Herald nobody cares about, heck there were even turret lasers last season for inhib and nexus turrets which got removed this season. Anything else I missed, I'm sorry.

All of that has been met with increased flexibility such as the MF Support, which became a viable thing specifically into Zyra and later Malzahar due to the increased range of her Make It Rain (E) back from the Marksman Update. It was played by Samsung Galaxy's CoreJJ at Worlds last year (formerly Dignitas Bot Lane player moved to Support when moving back to Korea). Ever since, the idea behind it really clicked and was a common pickup for at least the first couple of weeks globally before Zyra and Malzahar both took some nerfs and the counterplay to MF became aware. Another one you wouldn't expect is Ziggs in the Bot Lane, primarily due to his Mage Update which provided his Satchel Charge (W) an ability to instantly execute turrets when low enough (something around 30%) making him a dangerous siege champion when ahead.

If it's not all too hard, I would give watching the last day of NA LCS regular split a go. All 4 matches today have playoff and/or relegation implications on the line. It's almost can't miss.