Episodes
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Richard Lewis, Thorin, and MonteCristo are joined by journalist Kevin Hitt to discuss the state of esports journalism. Topics include the history of esports journalism, recent involvement from Saudi Arabia especially in relation to Rolling Stone and the Esports Awards, the reasons why ESPN Esports failed, how the recent Dr. Disrespect scandal was handled, Chris Greeley's subtweet on behalf of Riot Games in response to the latest Summoning Insight, and more.
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Pride month has begun and so has the corporate hypocrisy in the esports industry as Saudi money continues to increase its control over the industry with the imminent arrival of the Esports World Cup. Andrew "Zyori" Campbell, former DotA caster and esports personality, joins to discuss the corporate virtue signaling, the increasing level of sportswashing, and the cuts of caster rates for DotA 2 commentators. Our Horsemen also analyze the state of broadcasting in the industry at large and discuss the philosophical ramifications of taking money at any cost.
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Richard Lewis, Thorin, and MonteCristo are joined by retired former Challenger player Yasukeh to discuss Riot Vanguard: Riot Games's anti-cheat used for VALORANT, League of Legends, and Teamfight Tactics. Further topics include the intrusiveness levels of kernel-level anti-cheat systems, Riot's claims on why Vanguard is needed, Reddit Moderators deleting comments and threads discussing Vanguard, and more.
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Richard Lewis, Thorin, MonteCristo, and guest Phillip Aram continue the mini-series "The EG Files" by discussing Phillip's history with Evil Geniuses, the successes and struggles of their iconic DOTA team, the effects of the org splitting from Twitch and Amazon, difficulty in gaining sponsors and investment, the reasons why Peak6 was eventually chosen to support the org, and more.
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Richard Lewis, Thorin, and MonteCristo begin the mini-series "The EG Files" by discussing how Evil Geniuses was formed, the team's time in Quake, Starcraft 2, and early Counter-Strike, Alex Garfield's cut-throat rise in power, EG's spike in popularity with signing players like HuK & IdrA, their handling of media, their Twitch era, and more.
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We check in with Tomi "Lurppis" Kovanen on the status of "esports winter" as we head into the second year of budget cuts, layoffs, lack of sponsorship interest, and more. The Horsemen discuss the changes in the landscape, particularly the money flowing in from the Saudi government through ESL FACEIT Group and the surprising sticker returns from the Paris Major in Counter-Strike. They touch on the reinvention of Overwatch Esports, the struggles from the professional teams, and how the dissolution of the partnered leagues in Counter-Strike will upend the current order.
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Richard Lewis, Thorin, and MonteCristo are joined by Harris Peskin of ESG Law to discuss the lawsuit filed by H3CZ and Scump against Activision-Blizzard and their alleged monopoly of Call of Duty Competition. The discussion also delves into the past and potential future of organized esports competition, the monumental impact this case could make on U.S. law, esports and video games in general, why other game publishers, like Nintendo and Riot Games, could get involved.
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Richard Lewis, Thorin, and MonteCristo are joined by Dan "Foxdrop" Wyatt to discuss the mass layoffs at Riot Games & Activision Blizzard, the layoffs' effects on the LEC as a product, experiences working with people at Riot and Activision Blizzard, and the bleak future of working in the esports industry.
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Evil Geniuses and Golden Guardians have suddenly left the LCS, League of Legends' North American professional league, leaving only 8 team remaining out of the original 10 franchise slots. Former GM of Golden Guardians and long-time esports manager Danan Flander joins the Horsemen to discuss how we arrived at this moment and what it means in the broader context of the ongoing "esports winter." Is the LCS in a doom spiral or will this help boost interest in the league with fewer bottom-tier matches? The hosts discuss the disparate goals of EG and GGS that led to the same conclusion to leave, but with wildly different reasoning behind the decision.
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The Overwatch League suffered another wave of layoffs this week and news broke that Activision-Blizzard will pay teams $6 million to abandon their franchise slots at the end of the current season. It appears that the era of the Overwatch League has ended, so Harsha Bandi, former professional coach for the San Francisco Shock, Vancouver Titans, and Houston Outlaws, joins the show to discuss the highs and lows of OWL over the years. The Horsemen cover the ambitious goals and lavish spending that defined the first two years of OWL, followed by the sudden arrival of the COVID pandemic, which arguably extended the lifespan of the league by several years. While Overwatch League undoubtedly failed to realize its potential, it changed the esports industry forever and could have had a brighter future had it taken a more moderate approach in the early days.
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Riot has eliminated the requirement for the North American LCS teams to field amateur rosters, which left many questioning the future development of talent in the region. LCS Players' Association leader Phillip Aram joins the horsemen to discuss the group's demands to Riot and the possibility of a player walk-out at the start of the Summer Split. The discussion focuses on Riot's lies to the LCSPA about their commitment to the academy system, the best ways to support rising professional talent, and the ramifications for the future of League of Legends esports.
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Aleksandar "kassad" Trifunović, professional Counter-Strike coach and analyst, joins the Horsemen to discuss the issues with the talent announcement and the lead-up to the final CS:GO Major hosted by BLAST. They discuss the competitive integrity issues that plagues the qualifying RMRs, the lack of key historic talent at the event to close out the Global Offensive era, the puzzling addition of Jake Lucky, and more.
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Devin Nash, former CLG CEO, joins the show to discuss the onset of esports winter and the looming issues with the broader industry. The Four Horsemen trace the failures of monetization that brought us to this point, as well as the zealous over-investment that caused the esports bubble. They discuss how viewership was assumed to be exponentially increasing, the inflation of player salaries, the lack of media rights, the failure of properly serving advertisers, and more.
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Evil Geniuses' star League of Legends player Kyle "Danny" Sakamaki suffered severe stress and an inability to continue playing during EG's playoff run in the LCS in Summer Split and Worlds 2022. New reporting by Richard Lewis and Thorin reveals systemic neglect by CEO Nicole LaPointe Jameson and other members of EG's upper management. Guest horseman Richard "RichsWrath" Wells, League of Legends professional player agent, joins the show to discuss in detail the background behind Danny's troubled time with the team and his suspicious announcement about joining EG's "Creator Collective" as a streamer moving forward.
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Tomi "lurppis" Kovanen, co-managing director of Immortals Gaming Club and former professional player, joins the the Horsemen to review 2022 through the esports business lens. They discuss the imminent "esports winter," the state of sponsorships in a potential recession, the shift from franchising to the new VALORANT model, which esports are healthiest in 2023, and more.
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Rich (Rich'sWrath), player agent and founder of H2K, joins the the Horsemen to review 2022 in LoL esports, discuss the effects of the recent FTX debacle, possible reasoning behind the LCS 2023 schedule, updates for the LEC format, the status of player welfare, wishes for 2023, and more.
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Janko "YNk" Paunović, broadcast analyst and coach, joins the the Horsemen to review 2022 in CS:GO esports, discuss the current meta issues with the game, whether Counter-Strike should eliminate pistol rounds and move to MR12, the ESIC controversies, the purchase of ESL and Faceit by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, changes that need to be made to the competitive calendar, wishes for 2023, and more.
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Lauren Flanagan, agent from OneTeam Partners, joins the show to discuss Carlos from G2's party with Andrew Tate, the esports industry's reaction to the tweets, the ramifications of the posts on the G2 org, the major ethical issues that continue to plague the industry, the lack of ethical money in the space, and more.
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Mitch "Uber" Leslie, Overwatch League caster, joins the show to discuss the surprising casting resignation of veteran commentators Sean Gares and DDK, the state of VALORANT casting as a whole, why casters feel that no esport offers career advancement, what companies need to do to retain casters, and more.
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Barry Lee, former agent and current advisor to Evolved Talent, joins the show to discuss the allegations against TSM coach Peter Zhang, the role of player agents in the broader League of Legends and esports ecosystems, conflicts of interest in esports, and more.
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