LPL playoffs have reached the double-elimination stage and fans are being treated to some of the best League of Legends in the world. JDG looks to defend their title and seem like the heavy favorites, but can LNG, BLG, or TOP put up a fight and steal the crown? In spite of better-than-expected play from Excel, G2 still should comfortably win the LEC with some adjustments to their strategy, which Monte breaks down. KT vanquishes GenG to claim the number one position in the LCK rankings as they lo...
Jul 27, 2023•3 hr 1 min•Ep. 29
The LCK announces new salary restrictions on players/teams, a luxury tax, and exemptions for former champions, which means that Thorin and Monte are here to discuss the details. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 20, 2023•3 hr 35 min•Ep. 28
What does it mean for Faker's legacy after seeing T1 play without him? Is the collapse of his team indicative of the essential strength of his leadership in game or a lack of motivation from his teammates given the circumstances. Substitute players abound with Bible, Spirax, and APA coming in for Dplus KIA, FlyQuest, and Team Liquid, and Monte and Thorin are here to discuss the impacts of these roster moves. The guys also chat about the upcoming LEC group stage and a random Apex Legends' caster'...
Jul 13, 2023•2 hr 57 min•Ep. 27
T1 announced that Faker will sit out for at least two weeks with an arm injury, but how much will that affect his team's performance before LCK playoffs? The LPL displays a dazzling level of mechanical talent, which Riot has slowly optimized the game toward with new champions and patches, leading the right into China's wheelhouse as they look poised to dominate a weak field at Worlds. LCS viewership was lower than Brazil's CBLOL in the Spring Split and the gulf appears to be widening for Summer,...
Jul 06, 2023•2 hr 43 min•Ep. 26
Rumors swirl that all major regions, LCS, LCK, and LPL, will be changing their formats next year to accommodate an additional international event, which sounds like a return to the League of Legends circuit from ten years ago. Fnatic's additions of Trymbi and Noah seem to have helped with the longstanding synergy issues between Humanoid and Razork, but will this new bot lane allow them to take the LEC title? JDG is a juggernaut and should be the favorites to win Worlds in almost any scenario, es...
Jun 29, 2023•2 hr 51 min•Ep. 25
All the major regions in League of Legends are up and running, so it's time to check in on the general level of play at the start of summer with LPL as the clear leader. Teams in LCS and LEC look poor at the moment and the LCS' viewership is hitting an all-time low, so it may be a rough Worlds for the West in 2023. Monte and Thorin chat about the upcoming telecom war in LCK and why fans should have hope that KT can finally beat T1, as well as the possibility of an upset by Dplus over GenG. They ...
Jun 22, 2023•3 hr 10 min•Ep. 24
Harris Peskin, attorney at ESG Law, comes on the show to finalize the discussion of the LCS player walk-out and debate whether the players themselves have taken too much money to make the league sustainable. They also discuss the possibility of unionization and salary caps for the professional players, which may be the only path forward to responsibly continue the LCS. The teams appear to have received the worst pain from the bursting of the esports bubble, so what will they need to do to surviv...
Jun 15, 2023•3 hr 42 min•Ep. 23
Richard "RichsWrath" Wells joins the show to discuss the ongoing walk-out saga from the LCS Players' Association and the current financial realities of player salaries within the League of Legends ecosystem. They dive into Doublelift's on-stream responses to the player walkout and his potential sabotage of the collective negotiating efforts. Other topics of discussion include Sjokz's surprise announcement that she'll be taking a break from the LEC broadcast for the Summer Split, the staleness of...
Jun 07, 2023•3 hr 2 min•Ep. 22
Monte and Thorin are joined by eight classic Summoning Insight guests to share memories of League of Legends esports as a celebration of 200 episodes of the show! Taking turns on the podcast are Edward "Edward" Abgaryan, Nick "LS" De Cesare, Jakob "YamatoCannon" Mebdi, Maurice "Amazing" Stückenschneider, Yoon-seop "Locodoco" Choi, Erik "DoA" Lonnquist, Will "Chobra" Cho, and Christoph "nRated" Seitz. Learn the truth behind the Gambit Pringles sponsorship, the definition of a toxic cesspool of ne...
May 31, 2023•4 hr 30 min•Ep. 21
MSI ends with an all-LPL final and a convincing win for the JDG super team, and Summoning Insight is here to break down all the details. What went wrong for T1 and Gen.G? TSM announces their departure from the LCS for another region, which ends the TSM holy war in a final victory for Monte and Thorin. The North American academy system is in trouble as the teams vote to end the challenger team requirement and the players' association makes demands, but does this make sense financially in League o...
May 24, 2023•2 hr 29 min•Ep. 20
T1, JDG, and Gen.G all have strong claims to become the next MSI champion, but who do Thorin and Monte predict will claim the title? Spanish and French fans are crossing a line with player criticism and deserve to be called out, even though player performance from Europe has not been up to its usual international standards. T1 roars back after losing their Korean crown to GenG and we're here to break down why fortunes reversed and the teams evolved since their last best-of-five showdown in the L...
May 15, 2023•2 hr 41 min•Ep. 19
On the cusp of MSI playoffs, Thorin and Monte preview each match and discuss why the Western teams have slim odds of an upset and how each team matches up stylistically with their opponents. MAD Lions and Golden Guardians have been borrowing strategies from T1 and GenG, but how can they win as they face the real thing? G2's wacky team compositions won't be enough to topple the macro gods of GenG, especially if they continue to play without a teleport in top lane. Analysts have been talking a big...
May 08, 2023•2 hr 45 min•Ep. 18
MSI is almost upon us! Monte and Thorin are very excited about the format and chat about their expectations for the teams as they head to London. They recap the LEC finals and celebrate MAD Lions' epic run through the lower bracket while remaining a bit wary about their tendency to throw. Evil Geniuses appear to be cutting their budget and releasing their player, but why not fire the management as well? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Apr 26, 2023•2 hr 17 min•Ep. 17
Riot's global head of esports, John Needham, wrote a blog post and conducted an interview with Travis Gafford outlining Riot's future plans for esports given the industry's current crisis and the financial struggles of many of the teams. Monte and Thorin react to Riot's plans and pierce through the PR veneer to get to the core issues and evaluate whether the changes to the LoL ecosystem can be successful. Leaks have sprouted around Riot's plans to allow teams to field up to three imported player...
Apr 21, 2023•3 hr 16 min•Ep. 16
This week marks Faker's 10th anniversary as a professional player, with Monte reminiscing about casting his debut game and Thorin contextualizing his career in the context of the greater esports ecosystem. The discussion turns to GenG's surprising victory over T1 and how Chovy's squad was able to conquer their rivals to win back-to-back titles. Cloud9 wins as expected in LCS, but how much did FlyQuest underperform compared to Golden Guardians' overperformance to make the finals? Learn more about...
Apr 12, 2023•3 hr 16 min•Ep. 15
CLG gets sold and TSM is on the auction block: is this the true start of esports winter and what does it mean for the LCS and the broader industry? T1 defeats GenG to set up a titillating match between GenG and KT, which is the true gift of LCK's first double-elimination playoffs. The discussion continues around the LCS playoffs and the surprising upset of Evil Geniuses by Golden Guardians, as well as FlyQuest's chances in a rematch against Cloud9. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcast...
Apr 05, 2023•3 hr 10 min•Ep. 14
Dan "Aux" Harrison, LCK analyst, joins the show this week to discuss his recent move to Korea and the exciting start to the playoffs, including the thrilling duel between T1 and KT. They preview each of the remaining teams, focusing on the promising performance of rookie ADC Peyz and the rest of GenG while also lamenting the early exit of Dplus KIA. After a chat about LCS playoffs and the resurgence of Evil Geniuses, attention turns to the surprising Spring Split performance of BDS and Astralis ...
Mar 29, 2023•3 hr 5 min•Ep. 13
LCS playoffs are looming, but first an MVP must be crowned and the decision is a difficult one: should it be Berserker or Prince? 100 Thieves are ramping up before playoffs, but their specific playstyle causes concerns when they have to play FlyQuest in the first round. Excel finally announce that they will swap Vetheo for Abbedagge, but it might be too late to save their Spring Split already. The surprising issues with KOI are dissected, while Fnatic and G2 close the LEC conversation. Finally, ...
Mar 22, 2023•3 hr 3 min•Ep. 12
The LEC ramps back up with the start of the Spring Split, but fnatic somehow looks even worse than before! Thorin and MonteCristo discuss the cascading series of decisions about fnatic's roster that led them to this moment and the little hope the team should have moving forward in 2023. KT Rolster has dramatically improved over the past couple of weeks by adding more pick compositions and stellar performances from Bdd. Over in the LPL, LNG have proved they should be considered among the world's ...
Mar 15, 2023•3 hr 1 min•Ep. 11
New information on the Danny situation with EG emerges and Thorin and Monte add their final thoughts to the situation until Riot makes further announcements. The LCS continues with C9 and FlyQuest convincingly leading the league, while 100 Thieves struggles to find an identity. Dplus KIA rises through the ranks in Korea as KT has a bounce-back week, but T1 continues to dominate the world meta and the eye-test. Over in LPL, EDG and LNG appear to be shocking upstarts among the super teams of JDG, ...
Mar 08, 2023•3 hr 13 min•Ep. 10
Summoning Insight kicks off with discussing the complex issue surrounding Danny's treatment on EG and the possible unethical actions of team management in handling him as a player. The news of Upset to Vitality breaks as the show is happening, so Monte and Thorin discuss if this is finally the roster move that sends Vitality to the top. They recap G2's dominant victory in the LEC Winter Split and then discuss the recent results from the best teams in the LPL and LCK, including JDG, TOP, T1, and ...
Mar 01, 2023•2 hr 58 min•Ep. 9
The LEC playoffs begin with G2's victory victory over KOI, which Monte argues was more one-sided than many believe. Vitality's elimination receives further scrutiny, with discussion focusing on whether or not the bot lane of Neon and Kaiser needs to be changed before the LEC Spring Split. A quick chat about the LPL's best teams such as JDG and TOP moves into conversation about the issues with Dplus KIA and the big match between T1 and GenG. Monte and Thorin finish the show with a conversation on...
Feb 22, 2023•2 hr 52 min•Ep. 8
The first weekend of the LEC Winter Split groups is complete, with G2 moving on to the playoff bracket and Vitality unexpectedly upset by KOI. The European LoL discussion focuses around each of the remaining teams and the overall strength of the region alongside the options that Excel have as they await their next shot in the Spring split. The conversation turns to Asia as Thorin and Monte highlight the strengths and weaknesses of some of the world's best teams: T1, GenG, JDG, Top, and Weibo. Ho...
Feb 15, 2023•2 hr 36 min•Ep. 7
Chris "PapaSmithy" Smith, President of FlyQuest, joins the show to discuss his new role with the team, the process of building the LCS roster, the organization's plans for content, and the team's hot start to the Spring Split. Monte and Thorin dive into the drama with the LCS's segment on TSM vs 100 Thieves, the production's responsibility for the tone of the segment, DoubleLift and Leena's inappropriate responses to LeTigress, and more. They also chat about the current state of the LCK and whet...
Feb 08, 2023•3 hr 8 min•Ep. 6
This week the show starts with the LEC: Excel's surprisingly poor performance, Vitality's status as the number one team after two weeks, SK's surge up the standings, and Fnatic's fall. The first week of the LCS is complete with FlyQuest a clear frontrunner thanks to Prince and Vicla's supreme performance. Can Evil Geniuses, CLG, or 100 Thieves hope to catch up? The discussion shifts to the new aspects of the LCS production and if they've been successful in their attempt to woo new viewers. Final...
Feb 01, 2023•3 hr 27 min•Ep. 5
Join MonteCristo and Thorin as they rank discuss the start of the LEC and LCK regular seasons, the dominating debut of G2, Vitality living up to the early hype, how T1 and Dplus should vie for the title in Korea, the announced changes to the upcoming LCS broadcast, how most teams are playing through bot lane, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jan 25, 2023•2 hr 51 min•Ep. 4
Join MonteCristo and Thorin as they rank teams from 1-10 in LEC, LCK, and LCS for the Spring Split in 2023. They also discuss the LEC talent announcement, the changing start time of the LCS, channel updates for Last Free Nation, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jan 18, 2023•3 hr 19 min•Ep. 3
Join MonteCristo and Thorin with guest Christian "IWillDominate" Rivera, as they rank every team that has won the League of Legends World Championship from 2012-2022, why Fnatic doesn't count as a Worlds winner, which teams were patch dependent, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jan 12, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 2
Join MonteCristo and Thorin as they discuss Riot's changes to the Worlds and MSI formats, why the Swiss system mirroring the CS:GO Major presents new problems, how Riot is being dishonest about their format reasoning, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jan 11, 2023•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 1
Join MonteCristo and Thorin as they discuss the confirmed and rumored roster moves around the League of Legends world, the massive shake-up of players in the LCK, what Viper and Ruler changing leagues means, the huge number of free agents in the LPL, the ceiling of JDG's alleged new lineup, giving away our Big D Energy trophies for Worlds performances/Esporstbet wagers, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Nov 29, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 33
