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TSM, Riot's Brand

Lord Yunii·4/17/2016, 7:33:17 PM·4 votes·1,140 views

Think about it. They've been around from the beginning, make Riot lots of $$$, and bring lots of people to LoL.

2016: A chance for a new beginning. TSM acquire 4 new players who are all really good/the best in their roles. Another team is created: Team 8 is redeemed and Immortals is born. IMT is almost literally immortal. They crush almost everything. TSM doesn't look so hot and I'm sure that everyone bets against them in the semi finals vs IMT. TSM 'show up' and beat them 3-0. Guess who reaps the $$$ benefits? There are so many problems with this (also with the c9 vs tsm game because c9 didn't adapt at all. Very uncharacteristic of them). TSM have 2 weeks to pull their crap together. How does that happen? How do they beat IMT 3-0 when they couldn't beat them once out of 9 weeks?

Because TSM is Riot's brand they can NEVER be irrelevant. They must always stay relevant so Riot can make money off of them. That's not a conspiracy that's a fact. LCS has become a popularity contest as well (downvote as much as you want but it doesn't change anything). All the "TSM TSM TSM" chants and hype. How can Riot afford not to keep them relevant? It's just smart business. That combined with the fact that Regi (even tho he's a jerk) is a super smart entrepreneur, is a logical 'partnership'. Everyone thinks IMT will win and so you buy them off/contract them to lose to TSM. Everyone bets on Immortals to win except for Regi/Riot employees who bet on TSM. Who makes all the $$$? I'm not saying this is what happened there is no way to confirm it, but I wouldn't doubt it at all.

Then you have the classic match-up/rivalry between TSM and CLG. That appears to once again to be setup indeed to make more money off its hype.

LoL and E-sports in general need more accountability.

11 Comments

Mokkun4/17/2016, 7:46:12 PM3 votes

Tinfoil hat much dude?

TSM remains relevant because it continues to have good(for NA) players on it.

As for setting up the matchup... either TSM vs CLG, or TSM vs Immortals would have been good storylines. And from a general perspective, having TSM not in the finals would have been a storyline of its own. People were prepped and ready for that version this year.

I think you overestimate the value of TSM in the current era to Riot. NA isn't their highest revenue source anymore, and haven't been for years. The fact that you live here, doesn't make us important.

Lord Yunii4/17/2016, 7:54:17 PM1 votes

I predict TSM will win to keep the rivalry and TSM/CLG hype going. Let's see what happens...

Pyke Pony4/17/2016, 9:58:00 PM1 votes

I'm a CLG fan and I have to say that the rivalry between these teams is pretty well-deserved and it makes sense that TSM wins this time just to keep it going. Cinderella stories are everywhere, and they bring in the big $$$ sometimes to the people hiding behind them (yeah, I'm talking about conspiracies). But lets be honest, TSM, CLG, C9 and this time IMT win the majority of games they play because they deserve it. And well, TSM 3-0 IMT wasn't quite expected but it was about time for TSM's explosive line-up to do what they were supposed to. As of CLG, they are supposed to be in the final, they simply deserve it.

tl;dr: It could be a conspiracy, but I'm highly doubting it... And I think you should as well.

crabface54/17/2016, 10:06:06 PM1 votes

I would feel that I have to agree with this except for that fact that, along with CLG and TL (Formerly Curse), they have a long history and track record of excellent staffing and players. TSM has set high standards thanks to Regi, who really does care about his team (Just like Rick Fox, new this year, slow early b/c of visas but great late split surge), CLG has had several great players (Aphromoo, dexter, Scarra, Hotshotgg, Doublelift (CLG Doublelift, not TSM Doublelift (Both are jerky and willing to trash talk, but just hearing TSM Doublelift just makes my eye twitch))), and TL has had luck picking up good players in and out of NA (Piglet, Fenix, Quas, Xpecial (ex-TSM), Voyboy, Cop). Dignitas just usually ended up with the short end of the stick, but put up a good fight. TSM and CLG just happen to have a long standing rivalry because they are both historically good teams, along with a different, volatile personalities. Just like in the NFL, the older teams do seem to have an edge over newer teams (Example: Packers, Patriots, Broncos rather than Jaguars, Texans, Falcons). IMT, I will admit, does have amazing staffing and players, but they got overconfident and pretty much just threw it because... Huni overconfidence, tilt, predictable drafting, etc. The TSM vs CLG finals shouldn't surprise me, but it did because I forgot about TSM's and CLG's smart, adaptive staff and players. Little mad that TL or IMT didn't make it into the finals, but whatever. Just my thoughts

Lord Yunii4/17/2016, 11:06:22 PM1 votes

Jatt: "It feels scripted." That's one step closer to becoming WE and admitting its fake, lol.

Lord Yunii4/18/2016, 12:49:20 AM1 votes

CLG Win. So happy to be wrong about my TSM prediction.