The Twitch streamer k3soju has expressed in a livestream how Riot Games handles Teamfight Tactics, the LoL auto chess. He complains about the current champion set, as well as an upcoming tournament.
What is k3soju complaining about? In his “rant” on Twitch, streamer k3soju mainly complains about decisions made by Riot Games recently regarding TFT.
There are two things that particularly bother him:
- the treatment of the competitive scene of Teamfight Tactics
- the entire Champion Set 2
He criticizes that Riot Games hardly organizes tournaments and does not promote the competitive scene. His livestream is currently a hot topic on Reddit.
Many professional players are supporting him, especially regarding the tournaments, while others are at least defending Set 2.
Who is k3soju? Michael “k3soju” Zhang is a former LoL player and represents the organization Cloud9 in TFT. Currently, he is ranked 15th among all TFT players in America (via LoLChess), with players with multiple accounts ahead of him.
On Twitch, he currently has over 30,000 followers and has streamed 556 hours of Teamfight Tactics and 2 hours of LoL in the last 90 days, averaging just over 1,000 viewers (via Sullygnome).
k3soju demands more love for real players
What does he criticize about the handling of the competitive scene? At the start of Set 3 there will be a tournament by Riot Games, in which well-known streamers and personalities related to TFT will participate.
However, k3soju has not been invited, nor have many successful and well-known TFT players. Although the list of participants has not yet been officially announced, the streamer seems to know it and is upset about it.
A clip from the stream illustrates that k3soju is not only concerned about himself but about generally successful TFT players like Kurum:
[Kurum has the] most watched TFT channel and he is consistently high in the ranking. He averages 1,700 viewers. He streams every single day for 8 hours.
Where the hell is his [Kurum] invitation? He is the only one streaming Set 2!
What is the problem? Already during the tournament at the start of Set 2, many “celebrities” were invited instead of focusing on the successful players. Riot Mortdog, the lead designer of TFT, subsequently promised improvements for the competitive scene.
Yet no official tournament has been organized since, although some players are even under contract with well-known organizations.
A spectator mode, which has been complained about since August 2019, has still not been released. This bothers the streamer immensely.
Similar accusations were made against Riot Games during the LoL All-Star event in 2019: things did not go well. Players accused Riot Games of inviting too many LoL streamers and influencers and too few professional players.
“I only stream because I am a competitive person”
What bothers k3soju about the game in general? However, the Twitch streamer does not only criticize Riot for its handling of the competitive scene but also for Set 2, which was released in November 2019.
In his eyes, while this is significantly better balanced than Set 1, the mechanics are supposed to be much more boring and stale. Moreover, there are some legendaries that are too strong, making skill less relevant.
Also, there are allegedly no decent rewards for finishing a season. This was already complained about at the end of Set 1. According to k3soju, competitive players simply have no reason to play TFT. He compares the situation to Fortnite and Escape from Tarkov.
Why is k3soju still playing TFT? In his livestream, the streamer also explains why he is still playing TFT:
The only reason I stream is that I like my community and enjoy chatting with my viewers. I am not streaming this crap because I currently like the game; I am only streaming now because I am a competitive person and enjoy interacting with the chat.
Teamfight Tactics, on the other hand, does not seem to make him happy right now.
Mortdog admits to some mistakes
What does Riot Games say? Lead designer Mortdog has also commented on k3soju’s criticism in a livestream. He emphasizes, however, that this is his own opinion and not necessarily that of Riot.
He agrees with the professional player on some points and understands the frustration:
- Missing tournaments during Set 2 are a problem
- The spectator mode is lacking and is urgently needed
- He understands the frustration that there is currently not much for professional players to compete for
He views the whole thing from the designer’s perspective. For them, it is something new that streamers are trying to live off their games. This is a completely different design philosophy. In the past, no one would have thought about how a game works if someone plays it 8 hours a day.
However, Mortdog criticizes k3soju for his criticism of the invited guests and for the misinterpretation of the tournament. The invitational is more of a showmatch than a truly competitive tournament.
However, the Riot employee does not comment on the criticism regarding the set. This set will not play a significant role any longer, as it will be completely replaced in March:
