Ultimately, champs are like cards in a Magic deck. And LoL players play LoL and not Magic: The Gathering:
“I think it is unreasonable to assume that MOBA players or coaches really understand how the draft works. Because it is a complicated skill to master, even in a collectible card game. Otherwise, everyone would be Mythic in Magic The Gathering or super high in Hearthstone.”
Nick “LS” De Cesare
LS states that the draft is so difficult and complex because you have to consider and weigh a variety of things simultaneously:
- What are the matchups on the lane?
- How do the champs behave towards each other?
- What are the various breaking points in the game?
- What gold thresholds must the champs reach?
- Do champs overlap unfavorably with others?
- How do the various match-ups play out at different points in the match?
- Are there different item breakpoints?
This is why professionals and coaches have no clue: For LS, the draft is an art he can talk about for hours. He says that most players and fans do not understand what is needed to win in LoL.
“Those coming from StarCraft know that you do not win just because you have more bases than the opponent, more gold or minerals. It is the same with card games – just because you are behind against an aggro player, it does not mean that they win. It is the same in LoL.”
Nick “LS” De Ceare
The level at which professionals talk about the draft seems to shock LS: “A lot of people think that coaches should be good at drafting, but it is ridiculous to expect that from them. Some people believe that the players are good at it. That is just as ridiculous. Just listen to the voice chat and how they talk about certain matchups.”
It is absurd to assume that players and coaches should be good at drafting, LS says. It is simply not a skill found in LoL.
Draft in LoL apparently needs its own specialists, who come from card games
What this is about: It is an interesting concept that LS explains here. In principle, the draft is a “game in itself” that ultimately determines how a LoL match plays out:
- In LoL, fast reactions, tactical decisions, and strong teamwork are important
- The draft calls for different skills. Here it is important to plan strategically, assess the opponent, create and execute a plan, and react quickly to the opponent’s decisions. Understanding LoL correctly and analyzing and interpreting the meta is crucial.
Ultimately, one can see from such remarks that e-sports in LoL is still relatively in its infancy. If it were up to LS, every team would have a strategist who exclusively deals with the draft. Currently, this task often falls to the coach in many LoL teams, who are frequently criticized for their draft.
LoL could undergo a development similar to that of soccer: There used to be only small coaching teams. Today, professional coaching teams in soccer are highly specialized and have a separate specialist for every aspect of the game.
According to LS, LoL teams need their own “drafting specialist,” just as soccer teams have their own goalkeeper coaches.
LS has made a name for himself as a thought leader in LoL. He became known for rejecting a certain item that many played and explaining to everyone that they should focus on another item. That has even earned him a place in LoL:
Twitch streamer cries when he sees that he is now part of LoL: “I am not a random anymore”
It is absurd to assume that players and coaches should be good at drafting, LS says. It is simply not a skill found in LoL.
Draft in LoL apparently needs its own specialists, who come from card games
What this is about: It is an interesting concept that LS explains here. In principle, the draft is a “game in itself” that ultimately determines how a LoL match plays out:
- In LoL, fast reactions, tactical decisions, and strong teamwork are important
- The draft calls for different skills. Here it is important to plan strategically, assess the opponent, create and execute a plan, and react quickly to the opponent’s decisions. Understanding LoL correctly and analyzing and interpreting the meta is crucial.
Ultimately, one can see from such remarks that e-sports in LoL is still relatively in its infancy. If it were up to LS, every team would have a strategist who exclusively deals with the draft. Currently, this task often falls to the coach in many LoL teams, who are frequently criticized for their draft.
LoL could undergo a development similar to that of soccer: There used to be only small coaching teams. Today, professional coaching teams in soccer are highly specialized and have a separate specialist for every aspect of the game.
According to LS, LoL teams need their own “drafting specialist,” just as soccer teams have their own goalkeeper coaches.
LS has made a name for himself as a thought leader in LoL. He became known for rejecting a certain item that many played and explaining to everyone that they should focus on another item. That has even earned him a place in LoL:
Twitch streamer cries when he sees that he is now part of LoL: “I am not a random anymore”
Ultimately, champs are like cards in a Magic deck. And LoL players play LoL and not Magic: The Gathering:
“I think it is unreasonable to assume that MOBA players or coaches really understand how the draft works. Because it is a complicated skill to master, even in a collectible card game. Otherwise, everyone would be Mythic in Magic The Gathering or super high in Hearthstone.”
Nick “LS” De Cesare
LS states that the draft is so difficult and complex because you have to consider and weigh a variety of things simultaneously:
- What are the matchups on the lane?
- How do the champs behave towards each other?
- What are the various breaking points in the game?
- What gold thresholds must the champs reach?
- Do champs overlap unfavorably with others?
- How do the various match-ups play out at different points in the match?
- Are there different item breakpoints?
This is why professionals and coaches have no clue: For LS, the draft is an art he can talk about for hours. He says that most players and fans do not understand what is needed to win in LoL.
“Those coming from StarCraft know that you do not win just because you have more bases than the opponent, more gold or minerals. It is the same with card games – just because you are behind against an aggro player, it does not mean that they win. It is the same in LoL.”
Nick “LS” De Ceare
The level at which professionals talk about the draft seems to shock LS: “A lot of people think that coaches should be good at drafting, but it is ridiculous to expect that from them. Some people believe that the players are good at it. That is just as ridiculous. Just listen to the voice chat and how they talk about certain matchups.”
It is absurd to assume that players and coaches should be good at drafting, LS says. It is simply not a skill found in LoL.
Draft in LoL apparently needs its own specialists, who come from card games
What this is about: It is an interesting concept that LS explains here. In principle, the draft is a “game in itself” that ultimately determines how a LoL match plays out:
- In LoL, fast reactions, tactical decisions, and strong teamwork are important
- The draft calls for different skills. Here it is important to plan strategically, assess the opponent, create and execute a plan, and react quickly to the opponent’s decisions. Understanding LoL correctly and analyzing and interpreting the meta is crucial.
Ultimately, one can see from such remarks that e-sports in LoL is still relatively in its infancy. If it were up to LS, every team would have a strategist who exclusively deals with the draft. Currently, this task often falls to the coach in many LoL teams, who are frequently criticized for their draft.
LoL could undergo a development similar to that of soccer: There used to be only small coaching teams. Today, professional coaching teams in soccer are highly specialized and have a separate specialist for every aspect of the game.
According to LS, LoL teams need their own “drafting specialist,” just as soccer teams have their own goalkeeper coaches.
LS has made a name for himself as a thought leader in LoL. He became known for rejecting a certain item that many played and explaining to everyone that they should focus on another item. That has even earned him a place in LoL:
Twitch streamer cries when he sees that he is now part of LoL: “I am not a random anymore”
The analyst Nicholas “LS” De Cesare has made a name for himself in League of Legends as a caster, coach, and strategist. He now explains that neither professionals nor coaches in LoL really understand how the crucial draft in e-sports works. Apparently, it takes strategy specialists like him.
What is the draft? LoL has 154 champions: A team can only play 5. During the draft, coaches decide which champs their players will use later in the match.
- In a normal game, it simply happens that you choose the champ you feel like playing and are comfortable with.
- At a high level, in e-sports, however, this is a science and art in itself.
The draft in LoL is a complex matter, as each team can ban 5 champions that neither they nor the opponents can play.
Moreover, it is important in which order the individual champions are selected: The teams react to what the other team does, counter certain champions, or aim to assemble a combination of heroes that they believe works particularly well together.
Ultimately, the draft decides at a high level the fate of the game, and fans often debate it heavily afterwards: When a team clearly loses, the draft is often blamed.
The draft is also complicated because Riot Games changes League of Legends slightly with each patch: The champs and roles in a match become stronger and weaker:
- Traditionally, midlaners and ADCs were the stars of their teams. In 2019, junglers were primarily there to initiate teamfights so that midlaners could secure the kills. Champions like Lee Sin excelled here. With that, Tian became the most valuable player at Worlds 2019.
- However, in 2020, junglers suddenly became the central killers of their teams, and the midlaner set up kills for them. Therefore, it is now important that junglers level up and farm quickly. Canyon dominated Worlds 2020 with Graves – the same role, completely different playstyle.
The meta in LoL is in constant flux. Therefore, the draft must also adapt continuously. A coach who drafts well is later credited with having “read the meta correctly.” Meanwhile, a poor draft quickly leads to a team looking much worse than it actually is. Players shake their heads over such drafts, calling them complete “troll picks” and that the team is just a “clown fiesta.”
Drafting requires skills that are not cultivated in LoL
This is what the LoL nerd says: According to the strategist LS, neither coaches nor professionals in LoL have a clue about how the draft works in the game they earn their money with. He explains this in an interview with the site Inven (via Inven).
According to LS, drafting has nothing to do with playing a MOBA, but is a strategic skill like in the collectible card games from which he comes. He compares the draft to assembling a deck in Hearthstone or Magic: The Gathering.
LS has made a name for himself as a thought leader in LoL. He became known for rejecting a certain item that many played and explaining to everyone that they should focus on another item. That has even earned him a place in LoL:
Twitch streamer cries when he sees that he is now part of LoL: “I am not a random anymore”
It is absurd to assume that players and coaches should be good at drafting, LS says. It is simply not a skill found in LoL.
Draft in LoL apparently needs its own specialists, who come from card games
What this is about: It is an interesting concept that LS explains here. In principle, the draft is a “game in itself” that ultimately determines how a LoL match plays out:
- In LoL, fast reactions, tactical decisions, and strong teamwork are important
- The draft calls for different skills. Here it is important to plan strategically, assess the opponent, create and execute a plan, and react quickly to the opponent’s decisions. Understanding LoL correctly and analyzing and interpreting the meta is crucial.
Ultimately, one can see from such remarks that e-sports in LoL is still relatively in its infancy. If it were up to LS, every team would have a strategist who exclusively deals with the draft. Currently, this task often falls to the coach in many LoL teams, who are frequently criticized for their draft.
LoL could undergo a development similar to that of soccer: There used to be only small coaching teams. Today, professional coaching teams in soccer are highly specialized and have a separate specialist for every aspect of the game.
According to LS, LoL teams need their own “drafting specialist,” just as soccer teams have their own goalkeeper coaches.
LS has made a name for himself as a thought leader in LoL. He became known for rejecting a certain item that many played and explaining to everyone that they should focus on another item. That has even earned him a place in LoL:
Twitch streamer cries when he sees that he is now part of LoL: “I am not a random anymore”
Ultimately, champs are like cards in a Magic deck. And LoL players play LoL and not Magic: The Gathering:
“I think it is unreasonable to assume that MOBA players or coaches really understand how the draft works. Because it is a complicated skill to master, even in a collectible card game. Otherwise, everyone would be Mythic in Magic The Gathering or super high in Hearthstone.”
Nick “LS” De Cesare
LS states that the draft is so difficult and complex because you have to consider and weigh a variety of things simultaneously:
- What are the matchups on the lane?
- How do the champs behave towards each other?
- What are the various breaking points in the game?
- What gold thresholds must the champs reach?
- Do champs overlap unfavorably with others?
- How do the various match-ups play out at different points in the match?
- Are there different item breakpoints?
This is why professionals and coaches have no clue: For LS, the draft is an art he can talk about for hours. He says that most players and fans do not understand what is needed to win in LoL.
“Those coming from StarCraft know that you do not win just because you have more bases than the opponent, more gold or minerals. It is the same with card games – just because you are behind against an aggro player, it does not mean that they win. It is the same in LoL.”
Nick “LS” De Ceare
The level at which professionals talk about the draft seems to shock LS: “A lot of people think that coaches should be good at drafting, but it is ridiculous to expect that from them. Some people believe that the players are good at it. That is just as ridiculous. Just listen to the voice chat and how they talk about certain matchups.”
It is absurd to assume that players and coaches should be good at drafting, LS says. It is simply not a skill found in LoL.
Draft in LoL apparently needs its own specialists, who come from card games
What this is about: It is an interesting concept that LS explains here. In principle, the draft is a “game in itself” that ultimately determines how a LoL match plays out:
- In LoL, fast reactions, tactical decisions, and strong teamwork are important
- The draft calls for different skills. Here it is important to plan strategically, assess the opponent, create and execute a plan, and react quickly to the opponent’s decisions. Understanding LoL correctly and analyzing and interpreting the meta is crucial.
Ultimately, one can see from such remarks that e-sports in LoL is still relatively in its infancy. If it were up to LS, every team would have a strategist who exclusively deals with the draft. Currently, this task often falls to the coach in many LoL teams, who are frequently criticized for their draft.
LoL could undergo a development similar to that of soccer: There used to be only small coaching teams. Today, professional coaching teams in soccer are highly specialized and have a separate specialist for every aspect of the game.
According to LS, LoL teams need their own “drafting specialist,” just as soccer teams have their own goalkeeper coaches.
LS has made a name for himself as a thought leader in LoL. He became known for rejecting a certain item that many played and explaining to everyone that they should focus on another item. That has even earned him a place in LoL:
Twitch streamer cries when he sees that he is now part of LoL: “I am not a random anymore”
