Travis already getting interviews with Riot shill Mark "corporate slug" Z and keeping his feet to the fire! Love the transparency and communication. It's a breath of fresh air and I'm so happy as a fan of LCS, Travis, and Alienware that we're getting such amazing content even before the season starts.
it's great that their close relationship means that Travis can really grill him more than he could with other commissioners, where he had to be more diplomatic.
I honestly always felt secondhand awkwardness when I saw him criticize higher-ups at riot and then go do an inteview with them shortly after. I know it's just kind of the nature of the game, but I'd still feel awkward talking about how riots fucking everything up so much and then just going and doing a regular interview like I'd never said any of it. I imagine Mark being where he is will alleviate some of that, hahaha
I fw this so hard. Felt like Travis didn't hold back and Mark was able to take the questions in stride. Gotta say, it felt worlds apart compared to the interviews with John Needham.
I'm actually psyched for Fearless Draft in NACL this year. I'm glad they're not trying it in LCS at this point for a bunch of reasons. Mark's comments around 15:42 are a great reason I hadn't thought of: a surprise pick that works out can really affect a best-of-multiple series. That actually works *great* combined *with* Fearless at the Tier 2 level: newer players forced to work in Fearless as they come up will presumably end up with broader champ pools, making the surprise pick more likely in top-level competitions. Won't happen overnight, of course, but it has real potential.
I'm glad you pointed this out, I really loved his points about Tier 1 and Tier 2 and Traditional vs Fearless Draft as well. Way to go Mark Slug Z!!! Doing great already. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I'd be excited to watch BO3s in the LCS again, now that there are only 8 teams it feels even more achievable. I don't expect the format to change, and no I don't think it would make a huge difference internationally either. In a double round robin you see only 2 games of C9 vs TL for example, and I just want to watch more of that. Yes that would mean more DIG vs IMT too but I'm not watching those games too often anyways.
On the question about the 2 week gap in the middle of the split I am actually so hyped specifically for the gap. You get 4 weeks to see how the rankings shake up and then you get those 2 weeks to speculate where teams might improve or end up by the end of the season. Then week 5 hits and all the teams have had this opportunity to hone their team play and skills. Sounds pretty hype to me.
Wow, this was a hard hitting interview actually. It feels like Travis felt comfortable to push Mark hard and so we got some really good discussion. So far doing great Mark, fingers crossed for you in the new role
Thank you Travis for upholding journalistic integrity even when interviewing your friend who is new in his role. Best of luck to the both of you this year, keep fighting the good fight!
I think the biggest thing for conversations like this is that there's years of trust between Mark and Travis that they both just want what's best for the league - it's not about getting "gotchas" from Travis or PR whitewashing from Mark. Really enables a fresh conversation.
Mark is going to make me watch the LCS again.. I only watched a handful of games last year and wasn't planning to watch any this year after watching it previously for 10+ years. I just wish he would have become commissioner a few years ago. Now he is going to have to spend a lot of time trying to unwind all the damage done over the past few years.
While Mark is being humble and saying that the teams are the ones doing the heavy lifting for a lot of the stuff he gets to claim credit for, he is doing an amazing job of highlighting how the changes can be good for viewership and that viewer concerns are being heard even if they are not chosen. People are good at identifying problems but bad at coming up with solutions, so at least feeling like suggestions and issues are being heard is amazing.
The main thing I want changed. Is make the vods longer. So accidentally touching the mouse doesn’t tell exactly how long it is. Also makes it awful to rewind, when watching for the first time. Can legit just leave the thanks for watching screen for 20 min at the end.
I think this is the healthiest banter and most in depth interview between a journalist and an LCS commissioner. It’s a breath of fresh air. We get the real answers and the corporate answers. Also I hope we get to point where Travis and answer a question and Mark can just feel comfortable enough saying “I can’t talk about that at the moment” like in the last question. Slug mode.
I see you rocking the Pixel 8 Pro. They've been pretty aggressive with their ads in the NBA. Maybe you can get a piece of that sponsor cake for e sports?
Markz genuinely seemed semi depressed not being involved in the league scene as much as he wanted before, it’s awesome to see him now full of energy and ideas!
Yup. I'd think RIOT wants the percentage of hours watched to go up and adding BO3's doesn't change that. They'd probably love more watch hours and higher viewers during the 2-3 hour block where C9 and NRG are playing, but they'd also probably hate the near zero viewership when Immortals plays Dignitas or Shopify. They're trying to find ways to get consistent viewership and then increase from there.
Immortals question getting handwaived because the players are receptive to doing content is a bad answer. If the org is replaced, and has those same players on the team, those players can still do content, with an org that demonstrably shows competitiveness within the league. Its sidesteps the org question entirely because the players happen to be good at their role, the players arent the org, what is the orgs role, and are they fulfilling that role to the best of their ability? Thats the question. And it has a pretty clear answer.
If we really want to bring BO3s back we should change super weeks to BO3 weeks where the teams play their closest rival in the standings. 1-2, 3-4, etc. Call it rivals week. Every team gets a point per win. So 2-1 is 2 points to the winner and 1 to the loser. Would love to see this in LCS and is not overwhelming like it used to be.
Would the LCS ever consider testing out having coaches as a spectator in game to help with communication? They'd only have friendly vision and could help with macro ideas as the game went on.
15:44 it's a decent argument but does this really ever still happen? It was like 1 time 6 years ago and we're going to hold onto it forever. It was a cool moment but I think fearless has the potential to create this kind of legendary moment even more often. Imagine if T1 3-0s G2 by picking Garen top, Teemo support, Annie Mid, Morgana Jg. Imagine Worlds finals going to 2-2 and your only top laner left in the pool is Illaoi and you shrug and lock it in
I love how since they’re friends mark isn’t like “we’re not ready to comment on that at this time” he’s just all like 5:43 “I’m not gonna tell you 🤨” LOLL
After the recorded draft will the players/coaches be allowed to talk about the draft and strategies or will it be "pause" rules? From Mark's answer to Fearless draft it seems like they can strategies after draft.
Pour one out for Mark, we've lost him. Also, it would have been way better to get rid of the super weeks and start the split a week later rather than a random 2 week break in the middle.
Zero reason for a 2 week gap when u lose 2 teams in the league as the cause. The other 8 teams should be playing more games to fill in the loss of teams
Hey markz I think LCS should do something special the week after break like a special show, event, or teaser. Like how primetime league used to be. Or the pool party events and give a cool teaser about it too and LCS.
I agree that BO3s may be a bad idea, just because of the sheer number of games that would have to be played for a (until recently, hopefully) dwindling audience. That's why B02s are the best option. The only argument I've seen is that people won't like ties or whatever, but if the biggest sport in the world can have ties in playoffs and it causes no issues, lcs will be just fine with teams sometimes tying in a near-meaningless game in the middle of the regular season. BO1 wins mean almost nothing anyway; a tie would honestly tell us more about the level the two teams playing at than one team winning anyway. If you lose interest in the regular season because somebody might not "win the day" or whatever, you just didn't care about lcs much to begin with. All that being said, I'd still prefer BO3 over BO1. Shit, at least switch to a triple round robin now that there are fewer teams and weeks of playing.
I think they should make early fighting more attractive to the players. How 🤔 ❓️ Remove first blood after 5 minutes? Lower firsts blood prize, but give it to all kills in the first 5 minutes? Anything to make them want to fight more 🎉 Give a prizes to most early kill, team/ player
Man they have such a great dynamic between them. It really shows after having worked with each other for so long. It's awesome that they can still leverage that even though Mark is officially with Riot now
MarkZ please eliminate the import rule altogether. Maybe one or two splits where things are extreme but the scene will balance out and ultimately help LCS be more diverse and competitive.
I hope the interviews w the comish keeps being as fun to watch, its not travis trying to get answer from an awkward top lol esport executive anymore, its travis trying to get answer from his best friend who is now in the awkward position of being a top lol esport executive.
Normally I disagree with the Bo3 sentiment, but I could get down with something like this, that includes BOTH. I think that's a really fun and cool idea that doesn't jeopardize traditional LoL *too* much!
Great for lcs to get mark, however the key thing missing here and no one talks about is personality. When you think of personality in lcs who is even interesting? Dl and bjergs massive pull are now gone. Theres no hype, no guys ti actually cheer for. None of them have brands
Losing the shock value of a pocket pick that isn't seen often isn't really a downside of Fearless though. When you're so bored of seeing the same champions over and over again. Even a brief flicker of a new champion is hard to appreciate. Because you know that most of the other games you'll be watching are going to be the same boring old meta drafts.
@Markz's comment about playing MF into Xayah (he said Zyra but I think he meant Xayah) as a counter... If they picked Xayah game 1 and you pick MF game 1... Neither team can play either champion in game 2, so it's a moot point. I think as a supporting example to what Mark is referring to is actually if you pull out a crazy pick like Naut mid a few seasons ago and you crush the enemy team with it, the enemy team doesn't have to worry about burning a ban on it in the next game. I still think the benefits of fearless outweigh that, and I'm excited to see it in action. I intend to try and catch a few tier 2 games this year which of yesteryear I didn't invest any time in.
No, Zyra is correct. At the time zyra support was mega broken and hard to counter. Rox tigers found that MF support worked really well into it because you can shit on zyra plants with mf e and q . At the time this was a crazy pick and ended up netting them 2 wins before it was banned. The reason it was brought up as a point against fearless draft is that it shows how drafts evolve as the teams try to respond to each other. In fearless draft there is no response, it is 3-5 distinct drafts. Personally I think that comes with its own interesting thought processes (like how you have to think ahead more and ensure you can still put together strong drafts down the line). But Marks point is that it takes out evolution aspect we have with current series.
Looks like someone didn't watch one of the best series ever. Also no the benefits doesn't not outweigh it, especially for the players. imagine building a counter strategy for a bo5, you spend one whole week to preparing it and you can only use it once? That's really stupid. I should be able to keep using a pick that I kicked their ass with it. It's like you can only play your main champion once per day in solo q. At that point what's the point of practice and prepping anything when every team is just gonna have to eventually play something random.
@TravisGafford your probably one of the few people who know how close the LCS was to folding. If more teams accepted Riots offer an opted out, would the League even exist??
What's funny is that the lcs is the only league that makes these sweeping format/viewing and schedule changes. And is the only league with a downward trending viewership.. how about you stop doing what you are and go back to what the global broadcasting teams do.....
What's funny is that PEOPLE FUCKING HATED IT, when they did what global broadcasting did. LCS was the standard way of broadcast bro, everyone copied it. Were you living under a rock for the past three years? These changes are happening cuz people have been crying about the standard global way for fucking years.
I am very skeptical to the extent of power that Mark actually has to implement changes and make n impact as commissioner. Knowing RIOTs history as a company, I feel Mark was put into this position as more of a figurehead and as someone who will go along with what RIOT wants to do and not push back. I don't believe RIOT placed him there because they thought he was the best man for the job or that he would be able to change the direction of LCS. The answers he gave in this interview has me feeling that he is just going to be another spokesperson for RIOT, afraid to pushback and talk about or implement meaningful change going against Riots status quo.
I will never be happy with the LCS until Bo3s are implemented. It is impossible for the LCS, or the LEC, to find international success just doing Bo1s. Theyre just worthless
Honestly, that was like one of the worst interviews you've had. There is basically no productive dialogue. I'm a little disappointed Mark can't provide more
I cannot understand how the 2 most successful leagues in the world do Bo3, and Mark and Travis REFUSE to acknowledge it. Not to mention it’s the normal thing for Valorant matches that take just as long if not longer.
Best of 3s won't magically make the LCS better and people with more than one braincell not only understand that but also understand that from a broadcast perspective never made sense (it makes significantly more sense now with only 8 teams honestly)
@@YOxITSxKENNYx719 So ur saying that if LCK and LPL went to best of 1s that broadcast and viewership would be way better? and that they’d be even more dominant internationally? Bo3 undoubtedly makes better storylines, better overall games, more niche picks, and way less volatility going into playoffs. And lastly that Valorant should just play one 30 minute map for league matches instead of Bo5? And Valorant would be way more hype?
@@YOxITSxKENNYx719 anyone with more than one brain cell can understand learning from and taking inspiration from those producing a better product and consistently growing the most in your exact same market, let alone same company.
MarkZ being commissioner was actually an inside job for Travis to be set with content for esports winter
The man has the inside scoop haha
Markz won’t be on hotline league this prob hurts Travis more than helps
Damn I didn’t even consider it!!
Travis applied 3 times as a red herring all to create false scarcity so that mark would for SURE get it out of any other candidate
Mark will be on Hotline League tonight at 7 PM Pacific! His first episode as a guest.
Wow! That's kind of cool
Ez content farm.
Already?
Can’t wait to watch the upload!
Travis already getting interviews with Riot shill Mark "corporate slug" Z and keeping his feet to the fire! Love the transparency and communication. It's a breath of fresh air and I'm so happy as a fan of LCS, Travis, and Alienware that we're getting such amazing content even before the season starts.
it's great that their close relationship means that Travis can really grill him more than he could with other commissioners, where he had to be more diplomatic.
I honestly always felt secondhand awkwardness when I saw him criticize higher-ups at riot and then go do an inteview with them shortly after. I know it's just kind of the nature of the game, but I'd still feel awkward talking about how riots fucking everything up so much and then just going and doing a regular interview like I'd never said any of it. I imagine Mark being where he is will alleviate some of that, hahaha
@@fullmetal929and Mark isn’t so ingrained in corporate culture that he’s lost his snarky inner gamer
I fw this so hard. Felt like Travis didn't hold back and Mark was able to take the questions in stride. Gotta say, it felt worlds apart compared to the interviews with John Needham.
Having Mark as commissioner can only be a good thing. Time will tell if he is successful on his vision.
Dudes basically already successful with the changes he helped push through.
Thanks for doing this Travis, I hope you've been well! You're an amazing person
Dang, Travis going hard on his former partner; a 300 episode break-up can be tough
Dude travis you’re the goat. Honesty so nice that you’re in the scene and so invested in this. We don’t deserve you but god are we lucky
In MarkZ we trust 🙏
I'm actually psyched for Fearless Draft in NACL this year. I'm glad they're not trying it in LCS at this point for a bunch of reasons. Mark's comments around 15:42 are a great reason I hadn't thought of: a surprise pick that works out can really affect a best-of-multiple series. That actually works *great* combined *with* Fearless at the Tier 2 level: newer players forced to work in Fearless as they come up will presumably end up with broader champ pools, making the surprise pick more likely in top-level competitions. Won't happen overnight, of course, but it has real potential.
I'm glad you pointed this out, I really loved his points about Tier 1 and Tier 2 and Traditional vs Fearless Draft as well. Way to go Mark Slug Z!!! Doing great already. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I'd be excited to watch BO3s in the LCS again, now that there are only 8 teams it feels even more achievable. I don't expect the format to change, and no I don't think it would make a huge difference internationally either. In a double round robin you see only 2 games of C9 vs TL for example, and I just want to watch more of that. Yes that would mean more DIG vs IMT too but I'm not watching those games too often anyways.
Would love to see some more "content" style interviews - hot ones style - or some type of competition while interviewing?
Wao I didnt know you were into league.. so thats what all the keyboards are for 😂😊
@@StarVarianth He built some board for Huhi
Jimmy Fallon ruined the world.
Thanks to both Travis & Mark for this video, super grateful for this content.
On the question about the 2 week gap in the middle of the split I am actually so hyped specifically for the gap. You get 4 weeks to see how the rankings shake up and then you get those 2 weeks to speculate where teams might improve or end up by the end of the season. Then week 5 hits and all the teams have had this opportunity to hone their team play and skills. Sounds pretty hype to me.
Y'all's chemistry is still so perfect, great interview!
Hope we keep getting this much communication going forward!
Wow, this was a hard hitting interview actually. It feels like Travis felt comfortable to push Mark hard and so we got some really good discussion. So far doing great Mark, fingers crossed for you in the new role
During the 2 week break they should have some show matches where the players get to just have fun and the fans don't miss out on weeks of NALCS.
Isn’t that champions queue?
This interview hit so hard I want to buy a Kia!!!
I'm buying two of them right now using my Alienware laptop!
I own a kia. And unironically it's because of the LCS
Thank you Travis for upholding journalistic integrity even when interviewing your friend who is new in his role. Best of luck to the both of you this year, keep fighting the good fight!
I think the biggest thing for conversations like this is that there's years of trust between Mark and Travis that they both just want what's best for the league - it's not about getting "gotchas" from Travis or PR whitewashing from Mark. Really enables a fresh conversation.
24:27 If you're looking for "Probably not" (and question).
im actively excited for this split of the LCS to see what mark changes.
Mark is going to make me watch the LCS again.. I only watched a handful of games last year and wasn't planning to watch any this year after watching it previously for 10+ years. I just wish he would have become commissioner a few years ago. Now he is going to have to spend a lot of time trying to unwind all the damage done over the past few years.
While Mark is being humble and saying that the teams are the ones doing the heavy lifting for a lot of the stuff he gets to claim credit for, he is doing an amazing job of highlighting how the changes can be good for viewership and that viewer concerns are being heard even if they are not chosen. People are good at identifying problems but bad at coming up with solutions, so at least feeling like suggestions and issues are being heard is amazing.
24:27 Omg, there it is! They said The thing! 🎉🎉🎉
I just want Mark Z to achieve all his commissioner dreams. Please
man... this content recently has been fucking great. I'm so happy
DUDE TRAVIS WITH THE FUCKING RAPID FIRE BANGER CONTENT IN 2024
The main thing I want changed. Is make the vods longer. So accidentally touching the mouse doesn’t tell exactly how long it is. Also makes it awful to rewind, when watching for the first time. Can legit just leave the thanks for watching screen for 20 min at the end.
The Brandon Sanderson question with the off screen laugh was HILARIOUS
looking forward to the next year of content!
I think this is the healthiest banter and most in depth interview between a journalist and an LCS commissioner.
It’s a breath of fresh air. We get the real answers and the corporate answers.
Also I hope we get to point where Travis and answer a question and Mark can just feel comfortable enough saying “I can’t talk about that at the moment” like in the last question. Slug mode.
I see you rocking the Pixel 8 Pro. They've been pretty aggressive with their ads in the NBA. Maybe you can get a piece of that sponsor cake for e sports?
Markz genuinely seemed semi depressed not being involved in the league scene as much as he wanted before, it’s awesome to see him now full of energy and ideas!
For the 2 weeks break you could do some role vs like LCK did, would be fun to see players out of their comfort zone just for the loles
Everyone wants BO3 format until Immortals step on the stage
Yup. I'd think RIOT wants the percentage of hours watched to go up and adding BO3's doesn't change that. They'd probably love more watch hours and higher viewers during the 2-3 hour block where C9 and NRG are playing, but they'd also probably hate the near zero viewership when Immortals plays Dignitas or Shopify. They're trying to find ways to get consistent viewership and then increase from there.
Immortals question getting handwaived because the players are receptive to doing content is a bad answer. If the org is replaced, and has those same players on the team, those players can still do content, with an org that demonstrably shows competitiveness within the league. Its sidesteps the org question entirely because the players happen to be good at their role, the players arent the org, what is the orgs role, and are they fulfilling that role to the best of their ability? Thats the question. And it has a pretty clear answer.
2 week gap? Didn't know that. Would be cool to have team captains draft a streamer teams to fill the 2 weeks with a2week streamer team tournament
If we really want to bring BO3s back we should change super weeks to BO3 weeks where the teams play their closest rival in the standings. 1-2, 3-4, etc. Call it rivals week. Every team gets a point per win. So 2-1 is 2 points to the winner and 1 to the loser. Would love to see this in LCS and is not overwhelming like it used to be.
That's actually a really good bo3 idea.
Would the LCS ever consider testing out having coaches as a spectator in game to help with communication? They'd only have friendly vision and could help with macro ideas as the game went on.
15:44 it's a decent argument but does this really ever still happen? It was like 1 time 6 years ago and we're going to hold onto it forever. It was a cool moment but I think fearless has the potential to create this kind of legendary moment even more often. Imagine if T1 3-0s G2 by picking Garen top, Teemo support, Annie Mid, Morgana Jg. Imagine Worlds finals going to 2-2 and your only top laner left in the pool is Illaoi and you shrug and lock it in
I love how since they’re friends mark isn’t like “we’re not ready to comment on that at this time” he’s just all like 5:43 “I’m not gonna tell you 🤨” LOLL
great interview. Mid-season follow-up video?
After the recorded draft will the players/coaches be allowed to talk about the draft and strategies or will it be "pause" rules? From Mark's answer to Fearless draft it seems like they can strategies after draft.
Great transparency
Pour one out for Mark, we've lost him. Also, it would have been way better to get rid of the super weeks and start the split a week later rather than a random 2 week break in the middle.
Zero reason for a 2 week gap when u lose 2 teams in the league as the cause. The other 8 teams should be playing more games to fill in the loss of teams
I don’t like the buddy-buddyness of this. There will be consequences of trying to get Mark to let his guard down, I assure you
Hey markz I think LCS should do something special the week after break like a special show, event, or teaser. Like how primetime league used to be. Or the pool party events and give a cool teaser about it too and LCS.
Great interview!
Mark has changed
"Youre not gonna take any of my suggestions, are you?"
"Probably not."
So youre telling me that nothing has really changed between them
The LCS should have cheap tickets and cheap beer
Honestly, I am shocked that Mark is doing so well already. I am very curious if his personality is suited for long term success.
That twas a good interview!
I agree that BO3s may be a bad idea, just because of the sheer number of games that would have to be played for a (until recently, hopefully) dwindling audience. That's why B02s are the best option. The only argument I've seen is that people won't like ties or whatever, but if the biggest sport in the world can have ties in playoffs and it causes no issues, lcs will be just fine with teams sometimes tying in a near-meaningless game in the middle of the regular season. BO1 wins mean almost nothing anyway; a tie would honestly tell us more about the level the two teams playing at than one team winning anyway. If you lose interest in the regular season because somebody might not "win the day" or whatever, you just didn't care about lcs much to begin with. All that being said, I'd still prefer BO3 over BO1. Shit, at least switch to a triple round robin now that there are fewer teams and weeks of playing.
You don't have to give me what I want as a fan. Just half, and something I didn't know I needed.😅
I think they should make early fighting more attractive to the players. How 🤔 ❓️
Remove first blood after 5 minutes?
Lower firsts blood prize, but give it to all kills in the first 5 minutes?
Anything to make them want to fight more 🎉
Give a prizes to most early kill, team/ player
Man they have such a great dynamic between them. It really shows after having worked with each other for so long. It's awesome that they can still leverage that even though Mark is officially with Riot now
MarkZ please eliminate the import rule altogether. Maybe one or two splits where things are extreme but the scene will balance out and ultimately help LCS be more diverse and competitive.
Woo, HTL spoilers, looking forward to monday
I hope the interviews w the comish keeps being as fun to watch, its not travis trying to get answer from an awkward top lol esport executive anymore, its travis trying to get answer from his best friend who is now in the awkward position of being a top lol esport executive.
Fearless draft is ridiculous. Dont do it Mark!
Double round robin regular season: first round robin is bo1, second is bo3
Normally I disagree with the Bo3 sentiment, but I could get down with something like this, that includes BOTH. I think that's a really fun and cool idea that doesn't jeopardize traditional LoL *too* much!
Great for lcs to get mark, however the key thing missing here and no one talks about is personality. When you think of personality in lcs who is even interesting? Dl and bjergs massive pull are now gone. Theres no hype, no guys ti actually cheer for. None of them have brands
The LCS Commissioner calling pros OTPs... MAD respect for Mark holy based
Losing the shock value of a pocket pick that isn't seen often isn't really a downside of Fearless though. When you're so bored of seeing the same champions over and over again. Even a brief flicker of a new champion is hard to appreciate. Because you know that most of the other games you'll be watching are going to be the same boring old meta drafts.
Best of 3 upvote button
Show matches in the gap!
Mark rules!
🔥
Make LCS great again. Or great. For the first time.
First time? Yk LCS was once the most popular league despite international failures for a while.
@@Darkstormsun9865 No. I did not know that. What seasons were those?
I wish the LCS would get out California
:( please markz idc if you don’t control it bring a finals to Denver
I want fearless draft in all playoff/tournament bo3/bo5s
That's dumb and boring. Ur gonna be bored of it after seeing two months of it.
Hey wassup TGI
Chapters?
MarkZ dude you crack me up😆
@Markz's comment about playing MF into Xayah (he said Zyra but I think he meant Xayah) as a counter... If they picked Xayah game 1 and you pick MF game 1... Neither team can play either champion in game 2, so it's a moot point.
I think as a supporting example to what Mark is referring to is actually if you pull out a crazy pick like Naut mid a few seasons ago and you crush the enemy team with it, the enemy team doesn't have to worry about burning a ban on it in the next game.
I still think the benefits of fearless outweigh that, and I'm excited to see it in action. I intend to try and catch a few tier 2 games this year which of yesteryear I didn't invest any time in.
In some fearless drafts it can only be not played by you if you win with it
No, Zyra is correct. At the time zyra support was mega broken and hard to counter. Rox tigers found that MF support worked really well into it because you can shit on zyra plants with mf e and q . At the time this was a crazy pick and ended up netting them 2 wins before it was banned. The reason it was brought up as a point against fearless draft is that it shows how drafts evolve as the teams try to respond to each other. In fearless draft there is no response, it is 3-5 distinct drafts. Personally I think that comes with its own interesting thought processes (like how you have to think ahead more and ensure you can still put together strong drafts down the line). But Marks point is that it takes out evolution aspect we have with current series.
Looks like someone didn't watch one of the best series ever. Also no the benefits doesn't not outweigh it, especially for the players. imagine building a counter strategy for a bo5, you spend one whole week to preparing it and you can only use it once?
That's really stupid. I should be able to keep using a pick that I kicked their ass with it. It's like you can only play your main champion once per day in solo q. At that point what's the point of practice and prepping anything when every team is just gonna have to eventually play something random.
Last year's cinematic 💀 riot learned their lesson
Leave Mark alone!
I just want to let the universe know I bought an Alienware monitor because they sponsor TGI and HLL. That is all.
Down with VCT! LoL forever! ;)
I feel like Travis was unnecessarily aggressive in some moments
OH SO MARK IS TOO BIG FOR HOTLINE NOW HUH. =p. lets gooooooooooooo mark.
The best of 2 will be better
If Immortals were to be kicked, would the LCS even exist?? Strange of Travis to push this issue when two teams just left.
Yeah there's definitely no solutions to one team leaving. Like every other time a team left before EG/GG.
@TravisGafford your probably one of the few people who know how close the LCS was to folding. If more teams accepted Riots offer an opted out, would the League even exist??
What's funny is that the lcs is the only league that makes these sweeping format/viewing and schedule changes. And is the only league with a downward trending viewership.. how about you stop doing what you are and go back to what the global broadcasting teams do.....
What's funny is that PEOPLE FUCKING HATED IT, when they did what global broadcasting did. LCS was the standard way of broadcast bro, everyone copied it. Were you living under a rock for the past three years? These changes are happening cuz people have been crying about the standard global way for fucking years.
I am very skeptical to the extent of power that Mark actually has to implement changes and make n impact as commissioner. Knowing RIOTs history as a company, I feel Mark was put into this position as more of a figurehead and as someone who will go along with what RIOT wants to do and not push back. I don't believe RIOT placed him there because they thought he was the best man for the job or that he would be able to change the direction of LCS. The answers he gave in this interview has me feeling that he is just going to be another spokesperson for RIOT, afraid to pushback and talk about or implement meaningful change going against Riots status quo.
I will never be happy with the LCS until Bo3s are implemented. It is impossible for the LCS, or the LEC, to find international success just doing Bo1s. Theyre just worthless
What's league's 3-pt line? Lol
Mark has become extremely evil
bro this is one of the funniest interviews @travisgafford has ever done lolol. constant banter
I’m not entertained by draft. Put in fearless draft. I want to see different champs so the games look different.
hes already a shill😭😭😭
Travis must be fuming having asked for the job himself lmao.
If this is more fan focused why is there less games for fans to watch? I get that not everyone watched all the teams but there’s less teams now too.
Cuz having 90 games doesn't get fans to suddenly care
Honestly, that was like one of the worst interviews you've had.
There is basically no productive dialogue. I'm a little disappointed Mark can't provide more
How is it any worst than other corporate slug interviews?
I cannot understand how the 2 most successful leagues in the world do Bo3, and Mark and Travis REFUSE to acknowledge it. Not to mention it’s the normal thing for Valorant matches that take just as long if not longer.
Best of 3s won't magically make the LCS better and people with more than one braincell not only understand that but also understand that from a broadcast perspective never made sense (it makes significantly more sense now with only 8 teams honestly)
@@YOxITSxKENNYx719 So ur saying that if LCK and LPL went to best of 1s that broadcast and viewership would be way better? and that they’d be even more dominant internationally? Bo3 undoubtedly makes better storylines, better overall games, more niche picks, and way less volatility going into playoffs.
And lastly that Valorant should just play one 30 minute map for league matches instead of Bo5? And Valorant would be way more hype?
@mithrilblue I didn't say any of that but ok 😅 absolutely impossible to have discussions with people like you
@mithrilblue and FYI if they DID go to Bo1s instead as far as competition goes yes they would STILL be just as much better than us as they are now
@@YOxITSxKENNYx719 anyone with more than one brain cell can understand learning from and taking inspiration from those producing a better product and consistently growing the most in your exact same market, let alone same company.