MonteCristo and Thorin discuss League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics being a part of the Esports World Cup (backed by the government of Saudi Arabia), controversy surrounding a strategic coach before the LCS Finals, why Coach Spawn deserves a lot of the credit for Team Liquid's victory at the LCS Finals, the upcoming banger matches in the LCK Playoffs, G2 looking dominant again in LEC, the ongoing LPL Playoffs, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Apr 02, 2024•3 hr 10 min•Ep. 14
MonteCristo and Thorin discuss the LCK All-Pro voting, preview the LCS and LCK Playoffs, Cloud9's disappointing games, KC and Rogue finishing 9th and 10th again in LEC, G2's spot on global power rankings, milkyway continuing to impress, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 26, 2024•3 hr 2 min•Ep. 13
MonteCristo and Thorin discuss Quickshot exiting Riot Games and LEC, Cloud9 returning to form in the LCS Playoffs, HLE defeating T1, results from LEC, Riot's update to the esports franchise model, the VCS match fixing scandal, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 19, 2024•3 hr 42 min•Ep. 12
MonteCristo and Thorin discuss the latest drama featuring Doublelift and Dodo, milkyway's continued masterful performance in the LPL, the T1 vs Gen.G match, global power rankings, the start of the LEC split, Smolder in pro play, the latest from the Saudi Esports World Cup, a story about Kameto and KC, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 12, 2024•3 hr 25 min•Ep. 11
MonteCristo and Thorin discuss the LCS matches that were played in a smaller, grungier studio, Tyler 1 vs Corejj drama, big roster moves at Heretics, Cloud9's 2-0 weekend, an update on the LCK DDoS saga, milkyway and FPX's plot armor, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mar 05, 2024•3 hr 16 min•Ep. 10
MonteCristo and Thorin discuss the DDOS attacks on the LCK, T1 and Faker's current dominance over the league, TSM stories involving Bjergsen and Reginald, updates from the LPL, why FPX jungler milkyway is the player to watch this split, LCS Spring Finals once again being placed on Easter Sunday, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 29, 2024•2 hr 29 min•Ep. 9
MonteCristo and Thorin discuss the drama involving BDS Adam, Wooloo's decision-making in reporting on certain stories, the LEC Winter Playoffs, T1 fans malding over Monte's power rankings, updates from the LCK, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 20, 2024•3 hr 29 min•Ep. 8
MonteCristo and Thorin discuss LCS viewership and Commissioner MarkZ's recent series of tweets on the topic, G2 once again rising to the top of the LEC power rankings, Hylissang's history of both strong and questionable plays, the strengths of MAD Lions KOI, the levels of play of the LEC and LCS, new information regarding the recent layoffs at Riot Games, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Feb 13, 2024•3 hr 21 min•Ep. 7
MonteCristo and Thorin discuss KC benching Yamato and whether the action was deserved, the Cloud9 losing streak and questionable drafts, problems with the LCS, LEC, LCK, and LPL broadcasts, BDS's and their T1 style of play, Team Heretics' chances to win against SK, KDF's rise in power, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Feb 06, 2024•2 hr 58 min•Ep. 6
MonteCristo and Thorin discuss Riot Games's poor handling of LEC layoffs, Riot's cancelled streaming service, news out of TSM, the end of the split of Karmine Corps, Elyoya's decent performance as captain of Mad Lions KOI, BLG potentially stepping up to be what JDG was last year, Zeka's level of play on HLE, the messy game between CLoud9 and Shopify Rebellion, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Jan 30, 2024•2 hr 55 min•Ep. 5
MonteCristo and Thorin discuss mass layoffs at Riot Games, the joint letter by the LCK teams + Joe Marsh's dissent, Karmine Corp's weak start in the LEC, the LCS's declining viewership, blue side dominance in Asian leagues, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jan 23, 2024•3 hr 35 min•Ep. 4
MonteCristo and Thorin discuss week 1 of the LEC, Ibai and MAD KOI vs Yamato and Karmine Corp, whether MarkZ's ideas can save the LCS, take stock of the LEC rosters, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jan 16, 2024•2 hr 44 min•Ep. 3
Disquieting news settled on the League of Legends esports world this week with new from Jacob Wolf that the Saudi Arabian government would be including League of Legends in their Esports World Cup in July, 2024. MonteCristo and Thorin discuss the history of the Saudi esports initiatives, including this past year's Gamers8 event, and what it means to have Riot approval for competition. Our hosts also unpack the latest LEC talent announcements, the changes to the Worlds seeding and format, the del...
Jan 10, 2024•3 hr 51 min•Ep. 2
We circle back on some old news that we have yet to discuss: long-time analyst and coach Mark "MarkZ" Zimmerman has been named the new commissioner of the LCS. Thorin and Monte give their takes on the news as well as examining the extent to which he can effect real change in the floundering North American league. Travis Gafford unexpectedly entered the conversation surrounding the commissioner role, which leads to quite a few laughs about the ridiculous situation. T1 fans are also compared to th...
Jan 03, 2024•1 hr 53 min•Ep. 1
Christian "IWillDominate" Rivera joins the Summoning Insight season finale to discuss the greatest teams of all-time in the history of League of Legends. They discuss over a decades' worth of competitive League of Legends to identify and celebrate the best teams in LoL. Our hosts evaluate teams that peaked at an extraordinary level, such as Samsung White and Invictus Gaming, while also examining the teams that almost managed to walk the Golden Road, including JDG, SKT T1, RNG, and G2. Join us to...
Dec 23, 2023•2 hr 42 min•Ep. 45
After touching on this year's rostermania in the LCK and LEC, this week Thorin and Monte turn their discussions to North America and Europe. With Cloud9's acquisition of Jojopyun, will they be the presumptive title favorites in the LCS? Over in China, Knight has announced his move to BLG, Weiwei signs with LNG, and OMG topside moves to NiP to play alongside Rookie. Riot finally steps in to takeover the LPL English broadcast as well, but it comes at the cost of downsizing the already meager casti...
Dec 13, 2023•2 hr 40 min•Ep. 44
Jakob "YamatoCannon" Mebdi is back on Summoning Insight to discuss the LEC and LCK rosters for the upcoming 2024 season of League of Legends! They also discuss what he would do in a theoretical universe where he's the head coach of Karmine Corp and his speculations about the team's roster and coaching staff construction. Doublelift announced his retirement (again), so Monte and Thorin discuss what it says about the health of the LCS and the success of his lengthy esports career. Learn more about...
Dec 06, 2023•3 hr 31 min•Ep. 43
The 2023 League of Legends World Championship has ended with T1 and Faker's fourth title by beating a lifeless Weibo Gaming. Considering that Zeus, Keria, and Gumayusi are now free agents, what is the legacy of this iteration of T1's roster from their past two years of play together? Evil Geniuses and Golden Guardians suddenly exited the LCS, leaving the league with 8 teams for next season. Thorin and Monte discuss the ramifications on the LoL and broader esports ecosystem as a result of these m...
Nov 22, 2023•3 hr 44 min•Ep. 42
The show begins with reactions to the semi-final matches and an in-depth breakdown of the high-level series played between T1 and JDG, ending the latter team's attempt at completing the first Golden Road in League of Legends history. Thorin and Monte preview the finals and discuss how Weibo might hope to defeat the T1 juggernaut in a meta the Korean team has defined, but the opportunity appears slim. They chat about the variety of roster moves rumored for LCS and LEC teams, including G2's former...
Nov 14, 2023•3 hr 25 min•Ep. 41
This week, we break down all four of the quarter-final match-ups at the LoL World Championship and debate T1's chances at ending JDG's bid to complete their journey on the Golden Road. BLG should easily beat Weibo en-route to a berth in the finals, but if the series is close does this spell doom for an exciting end to the tournament? The question of the Dade Award looms as Tarzen turns in an unforgiveable performance, and Monte and Thorin contemplate if there should be a winner this year. With a...
Nov 08, 2023•2 hr 54 min•Ep. 40
Worlds playoffs have arrived with the quarterfinal match-ups starting this week and you've got Monte and Thorin to preview each of the four match-ups. Fans have worked themselves into a tizzy about the performance of G2 and NRG, so it's time to bust some myths concocted on social media and address logical fallacies about these two teams' tournament runs. G2 released their entire year of scrim results, but it this a good look for the org? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com...
Nov 02, 2023•1 hr 54 min•Ep. 39
We've got a few bangers to start off the second stage of the Swiss at the World Championship, particularly KT vs LNG and T1 vs BLG. JDG's performance has been marvelous, but has LNG shown the glimmers of how to beat them in their three recent, close series? Team Liquid's uniquely tragic performance underscores a disappointing Worlds run for Western teams, but thanks to the Swiss format we might still see one of Fnatic, Cloud9, or NRG qualify for the bracket stage. G2 has proven their mettle and ...
Oct 26, 2023•3 hr 12 min•Ep. 38
The new format for Worlds Play-Ins has already delivered a much more exciting and robust competition in the early stages of League of Legends' marquee event, but Monte and Thorin still dread the upcoming Swiss format due to poor seeding and unavoidably wacky results. Our hosts discuss each of the match-ups from the first round of Swiss, and what fans can reasonably expect from the performance of each of the 16 teams. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Oct 17, 2023•2 hr 38 min•Ep. 37
This year's MEGA PREVIEW episode of Summoning Insight has landed! Guests galore join the show to talk about all major regions and many of the minor ones, making sure you'll be informed heading into the 2023 World Championship in League of Legends. Our featured guests are: Max "Atlus" Anderson (LCK caster), Alex "Nymaera" Hapgood (LPL analyst and LJL expert), Tom "Carix" Newing (VCS caster), Lucas "Maestro" Pierre (Furia head coach), Thomas "Thinkcard" Slotkin (NRG head coach, and Dylan Falco (G2...
Oct 03, 2023•4 hr 36 min•Ep. 36
The LEC season is finally over after a slow, extended grind through the season finals and, surprise, G2 lifts the European trophy once again. Monte and Thorin discuss their expected victory as well as Fnatic's surprising resurgence with Wunder coming in as a last-minute substitute. The LEC appears to be raising the minimum age of players to 18, but why? Does this mean that they have secured new betting or alcohol sponsors? After many promises from Riot about using Dash for content and VALORANT h...
Sep 12, 2023•3 hr 26 min•Ep. 35
Evil Geniuses' embattled CEO Nicole Lapointe Jameson steps down from her position after months of controversy surrounding her handling of Danny's mental health crisis and numerous articles revealing her incompetence in a leadership position. Monte and Thorin discuss the amusing email sent to all EG staff members at her departure, including an outrageous line that she is the "Warren Buffett of esports." LEC finalizes the teams that will be sent to the World Championship with BDS tagging along to ...
Sep 04, 2023•2 hr 3 min•Ep. 34
Famous streamer Ibai might be paying 3 million Euros for player salaries and other costs to prop up KOI, whose ownership is struggling to make payments to staff and Riot for their franchise slot. Gabby Durden announces that she will not participate in the LCS next year, to a mixed reaction from fans who enjoyed her interviews and hosting but criticized her casting. The LCS leadership engaged in a bizarre interview with Travis Gafford in which they revealed they reveal their ridiculous goal is to...
Aug 31, 2023•3 hr 17 min•Ep. 33
LCK playoffs have become surprisingly exciting with the resurgence of T1, and now it feels like anyone's bracket between T1, Gen.G, and KT. Can any of the Korean teams counter JDG's style at Worlds? Monte and Thorin discuss the reasons that JDG has yet to drop a single bo5 this year and theorize how the pre-tournament favorites might be toppled. The LCS playoffs have exposed numerous flaws in North America's play, leading our hosts to ask when we last saw a playoffs this bad considering the numb...
Aug 17, 2023•3 hr 15 min•Ep. 32
A healthy roasting of Summoning Insight's nemeses kicks off this week's episode, with more hilarious social media hijinks from Evil Geniuses' staff drawing continued attention on Danny's disappearance. LPL crowned JDG as back-to-back champions in 2023 and the rest of the Chinese Worlds contenders have been decided, so Monte and Thorin break down the teams who will compete in Korea in October. TSM has allegedly played their last game in LCS and somehow Summoning Insight managed to outlast the onc...
Aug 10, 2023•3 hr 18 min•Ep. 31
With the end of the LEC's Summer Split and the upcoming Season Finals, Thorin and Monte dive into whether this year's new format has been a success and the changes that need to be made before 2024. The LCK off-season looks insane this year, with players such as Kiin, Canyon, Showmaker, Chovy, and many more stars with their contracts expiring. What super team rosters will be possible to assemble next year in Korea. The LPL playoffs have reached the finals and JDG looks like a lock to win, but the...
Aug 03, 2023•3 hr 39 min•Ep. 30
