LCS orgs & players under fire after disappointing Worlds performances

North American League of Legends teams are being called out by fans and critics alike after disappointing performances at the LoL World Championships, calling the entire league into question.

On Monday, October 5, NA picked up their first Worlds map win after six attempts, with Flyquest taking down Unicorns of Love, but the region’s lack of success in the tournament so far has called into question how the league and its players operate.

While the LCS is home to some of the best-paid players in esports, the region has consistently failed to make its mark on the big stage, when they come up against the LEC, LPL and LCK — and fans have apparently had enough.

Though widely discussed, some tweets from bigger personalities have caused a multitude of discussion, including this one from FionnOnFire, saying that “all 10 NA orgs need to sit down and reassess the LCS.”

Fionn then suggested that a lot of the money could be better invested into the amateur scene — but this prompted yet another major sticking point.

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LCK caster and CLG streamer Nick ‘LS’ De Cesare was one of the respondents that caused a bigger stir, when he suggested that there are a lot of “horror stories” plaguing the LCS from its foundation up.

As an example, LS suggested that some pros refuse to scrim LCS Academy players “because it’ll make the academy players better and risk their job security,” which could prove hugely detrimental to upcoming talent who need the practice to improve.

In a similar vein, eUnited General Manager and Maryville University’s esports director Dan ‘clerkie’ Clerke said that there is some incredible talent in the amateur scene.

“NA orgs prioritize player brands over winning and it’s extremely short sighted,” he said. “We play LSPL quality teams at worlds and have placed second.”

Of course, there’s still time for things to be turned around at Worlds. The group stage is double round robin, so the LCS teams will get another go at each team in their group, but based on how it’s gone so far, it’s hard to be too optimistic.

Needless to say, fans of LCS teams will be hoping to see marked improvements from their favored organizations going forward to save more embarrassment at future international tournaments.