EU LCS Mid-season madness

With the midpoint of the summer split having just passed, we have to take a look at the current standings and see which teams have surprised us, both impressively and disappointingly. First, let's take a look at the standings.
We have:
1. FNC at 10 - 0
2. OG at 8 - 2
3. H2K at 7 - 3
4. GIA at 5 - 5
5. EL at 4 - 6
6. ROC at 4 - 6
7. UOL at 4 - 6
8. GMB at 3 - 7
9. SK at 3 - 7
10. CW at 2 - 8

 Let's start at the top of the table, where Fnatic have successfully beaten their own win streak record set in the summer of 2013, a record which three other teams have fallen short of. Those teams, being Gambit in spring 2014, Alliance in summer 2014 and SK in spring 2015, were at their very peak when they got to the edge of beating that record, and the same could be said for Fnatic right now, although it seems that they are having a very easy time beating everyone else in Europe. So what does this say about the roster following the return of Rekkles? Having had what can only be described as a slump during his time on Elements, most people had low expectations upon his return to Fnatic. I think it is safe to say he has surpassed those expectation several times over, with his return to the high ranks on the top performers leaderboards. It is also safe to assume this roster is more powerful than last year's with the victory over Origen further proving that point. Interestingly, Fnatic have almost secured themselves a guaranteed playoff position.

Taking a look at second and third, where Origen and H2K have been in a fierce battle for the second place spot, the skill difference is almost invisible. Both of these teams are incredible and despite Origen being the newcomers this split, they have shot straight to the top. H2K look to be at the same level they ended last split on, and it will be very difficult to tell who will take second place. However, Origen have beaten H2K already and that may be the deciding factor going into the second half of the split.

Sitting at fourth is Giants. Narrowly avoiding autorelegation in the spring split, nobody expected anything much from Giants. But with the addition of their new support, G0DFRED, the team seems to have turned around. While they do sit two wins below H2K and only one above the mad scramble for fifth place, they seem to be one of the better teams this split. I think there's a trend here. H2K went ham once Kasing joined, MYM nearly avoided autorelegation when Noxiak joined, Element's playstyle and mentality improved when Krepo arrived and now last split's 9th place team is fourth after G0DFRED joined. Jokes aside, Giants look much more like a team and less like five high elo players. Pepiinero no longer has to constantly 1v9 and they no longer play like a worse version of last split's Elements. While it's true that the members may not have the best mechanical skill, their decision making is solid and that has net them the 50% winrate they currently hold.

This then brings us to the fifth place spot, where Elements, Roccat and Unicorns of Love are desperately trying to claim that 5th place spot for themselves. However, there seems to be a gap in skill. Elements and Roccat look to be improving while the Unicorns seem to be on a decline. This may be because of the return of Nyph to Elements' roster and the replacement of Woolite by MrRalleZ. These swaps have breathed new life into these teams, with Elements having their first 2-0 week for a long while. It has still yet to be seen whether or not Nyph can uphold both a coaching and a starting position, and it is heavily suspected that PuSH is paid to stand there in a suit and pretend to be helping with picks and bans.

Tied for eigth we have Gambit and SK, who ironically have caused problems for each other. SK have dropped after losing FORG1VENGRE to Gambit, with Gambit being there themselves due to not being able to harness FORG1VEN's raw mechanical skill. The two teams just do not seem to be able to win games through strategy or outplays, which is unfortunate since there are some very good players on both of those teams. And finally, in 10th place we have the Copenhagen Wolves. Not an unusual sight, with last split being the only time they avoided relegation. The ban of Dentist seems to have had more of an effect on the team than anticipated, and they can only hope to avoid autorelegation moving into the second half of the split.

 As always, I am Metis Lee, feedback is appreciated and if you enjoyed this post, a follow on twitter @Metis_Lee would be nice and plus, you get updates from me, which is always good. Well, most of the time... Ok, only sometimes, but it's still a good idea.

The cultural development of Esports - where the money is

Since the beginning of video games, we have been warned off them by many, with investing a significant amount of time into gaming being frowned upon. However, this is beginning to change now. With the current young generation of people being raised with access to the digital world, people's opinions of the internet, computers and games are rapidly changing. To this, we have the rise of Esports and competitive gaming to thank.

A few years ago, if someone were to say they could earn a living from playing video games, they would be called an idiot and told to go back to work, whereas now, professional gaming is a viable, although ill-advised, career choice, no offence to our current pros. But then we have to ask, why has Esports had this effect? My opinion is that Esports has developed a cultural aspect, meaning that it is more than just 10 people in a room playing each other for a few dollars. Instead, what it has turned into is a source of entertainment in itself aside from the game, with hundreds of teams, millions of fans and billions of dollars involved. But what has really driven it to success isn't the money involved, but the people around it, people who are passionate about the game and care about making entertainment for others, starting with the fans themselves spreading spoken word, then writers and Youtubers like me and of course the players and organisations who make it all possible. It could be argued that these people could have made it just as enjoyable with a tenth of the money that they are working with right now.

Let me remind you that Esports has been to some of the biggest venues in the world, including Spodek Arena (Poland), Wembley Arena (UK), the Seoul World Cup Stadium (South Korea), the Staples Centre (USA) and in a few months, ESL One Cologne in the Lanxess Arena (Germany). Each of these places have had massive audience participation with thousands of attendees each time. So what does this lead to? Esports is now treated like a real sport in terms of participation and press, and that is what has allowed it to grow culturally, because it has been given the audience needed to make it succeed.

Now, there are cases where the growth and size of Esports are exaggerated, as demonstrated in Thooorin's recent video, but it is undeniable that there is significant bank in the venture. Valve's The International 5 has amassed a prize pool of over 12.5 million USD, with almost 10 million being contributions from the playerbase. Even the online ESL ESEA Pro League has a total pool of 500,000 USD, twice that of the last CS:GO major, ESL One Katowice. So, now we have to see what impact this has had on the everyday gamer. Nearly everyone in League of Legends knows about the LCS and everyone in CS:GO knows who Pasha, KennyS and GeT_RiGhT are, showing just how much the professional scene has spread throughout the regular playerbase. And what does this mean for the general public? Many more young people have heard about Insomnia or GamesCom and even if they don't follow the scene, the knowledge is still there.

In conclusion, the growth of Esports into everyday community and culture has been prevalent. Maybe it isn't quite as big as what people make it out to be, but it is still there, and it is down to all of the people involved to allow it to continue to grow.

Thank you for reading, and please, if you liked this article, please comment, share, tweet and follow me on Twitter @Metis_Lee.