Hotline League

00:00:00 Intro: Emily introduces herself 00:24:20 josh8far's question: Should the broadcast utilize its editorial talent to craft narratives or should it focus on fun skits and jokes to draw viewers?  00:43:42 Spires's take: 100T Should and will NEED to sub Damonte back in if they want to contend in spring playoffs.  00:55:39 SummonerSix's take: Huni has been largely overlooked as a pretty good top laner despite the fact that TSM received a lot of hate for not picking up Licorice or Impact  01:05:06 Bradmeister wants to discuss Broxah's overall performance since joining lcs and his future once his contract with CLG ends  01:11:49 Bluejay's take: It hurts to see LCS and LEC organizations suffer from being second or third priority to their parent companies. 01:29:30 im_moyo's take: both of DIG's solo laners are top 5-ish at their roles, and none of the team's issues are at the individual level that typically plague domestic teams 01:43:14 Hannnnnah's LCK take: Coach Daeny is ruining T1 and faker's career by refusing to play him even though he is clearly better than Clozer 01:56:31 Nikluos wants to talk about how Neo is the current "spiritual successor" to Doublelift this split 02:04:37 Dahl wants to talk about what happened to C9 this weekend, and what it means for the league 02:15:12 Outro

00:00:00 Pre-Show: More Import Rule discussion before "real" HLL with Raz! 00:46:40 Andre Guilhoto, head coach of IMT, joins HLL - tech issues are sorted 00:50:52 Andre introduces himself and talks about NA and EU 01:00:35 Dravor's take: EG are a team that will make playoffs but get 3-0'd; they have no chance of contending for a title. 01:23:40 ThiccmanGAMING's take: IMT could very possibly become a new "staple team" of the "second era" of NA LCS 01:43:20 Alienware dot com slash Travis :) 01:44:28 TomShoe returns to say: 100T needs to put their players like Damonte out of their comfort zone more often. 01:59:33 Um Pinguim calls to ask Guilhoto about his thoughts on the Portuguese league, career plans, etc. 02:08:18 jnt250's take: Insanity is on the cusp of being a top 4 mid laner in the LCS 02:14:40 Rune's take: Massive player turnover in the LCS will cause a negative impact in fan/viewership retention.  02:39:42 GameFuel yum yum :) 02:42:16 josh8far's take: As a team, TL has looked very weak and they don't deserve to be taken seriously as a "top 3" team 02:57:07 Outro

00:00:00 Intro - Primal joins HLL for the first time! 00:14:00 Import rule conversation - Primal wrote the original rule! 00:35:41 Is this even a thing? Or is Travis just clickbaiting us? 00:40:28 Oaksilk calls in to lend a business lens to the Import talk 01:02:01 Syndro's take: Removing import rules will not significantly improve NA’s international success, and will be the biggest blow to talent development in LCS history 01:20:05 Cheongseolmo's take: DIG will finish higher than TSM and EG. 01:28:00 Game Fuel! WOO! 01:32:54 Kekikaze's take: if 100T continue playing/drafting how they are right now, they will not be top 3 NA by World's.  01:47:26 CoreUser calls to talk about the Vulcan/Regi controversy; did Regi go too far? 01:59:49 Outro // Players Association & more

00:00:00 Intro - Import discussion with Spawn, Mark and Travis 00:36:24 jnt thinks TSM is getting a bit overhyped, and they have a difficult week ahead of them (0-3?) 00:49:55 Alienware break~ 00:52:56 Kelsey Moser visits to talk about how the current Proving Grounds format is counter-productive to development and scouting in NA 01:09:09 lofi avocado's take: 100T has the highest ceiling of any NA team 01:23:10 Semipsyc's take: LCS Team Press Conferences have been great for generating interest, + Riot should bring back their "catch up" segment   01:41:33 SpacePope20K's spicy take: Tactical is overrated, he was gifted a silver spoon in CoreJJ 01:58:04 Raz is MVP's take: Imports could bring viewership to the LCS, IF they're skilled AND interactive. 02:15:58 MasterNamer's take: Lost looked the best this week, not POE, and he will be a top 3 adc in the league 02:24:06 Outro

00:00:00 Intro 00:14:22 How HLL works 00:17:12 OP_TSM_FAN's take: TSM fans, analysts, etc. need to chill on the overreaction. 00:32:50 WE LOVE ALIENWARE!!! 00:35:00 Anzaii's take: Teams shouldn't write off picks such as Ignite/TP Camille, as the lack of success primarily indicates more a team failure to play around a pick rather than a problem of the strategy itself 00:45:45 Sakowitz's take: CLG is gonna turn it around and end up top 4 01:00:30 SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT 01:09:35 revive's take: TSM management needs to be blamed.  01:23:32 pokemonsta433's take: IMT is possibly the most well-coached and well-drafted team in the league, and they will be our third worlds seed this year  01:37:30 GreenCervidae's take: Golden Guardians is getting too much flak from community and broadcast 01:50:41 bmw5545's take: It doesn't seem like there are any genuine rivalries in the LCS anymore. 02:02:57 Outro

00:00:00 Intro 00:28:34 TomShoe returns to give his take on a rumor about top orgs trying to get rid of import restrictions. 00:42:08 Fez's counter-take to Tom: the notion that "importing is bad" is stupid 00:53:38 Alienware break~ 00:56:41 Nicole returns to say people are hating on Fudge way too much 01:14:44 Golden_KS counters Nicole's argument: Fudge has more experience than the average rookie 01:26:38 LiptonTeaBag's take:  CoreJJ already looks like the MVP of LCS, just from Lock In 01:38:37 Krishna's take: C9 losing the Finals and not being dominant is what will push them to be the best 01:47:35 Blaine's take: TSM should take Hauntzer over Huni 01:56:29 BT's take: this is gonna be NA's best international performance this year due to playstyles 02:09:45 Outro

00:00:00 Intro 00:18:44 Quack's take: C9 and TL's bot lanes while they are both good, are still yet to be properly tested and are slightly overrated... 00:31:45 Travis geeks out on Spawn for a minute (fantasy novel talk) 00:33:21 Community's take: despite their sub optimal performance, IMT playing the last few games with their Academy roster is amazing for helping academy talent development 00:41:17 Alienware break~ 00:44:45 Chucho's take: Flyquest and the LCS have been very welcoming to the latin american fans, embracing the memes, and FLY tweeting in both English and Spanish 00:53:17 MAHMOUD returns with a hot take: C9 is sandbagging the Lock In tournament. 01:05:04 "Travis is MVP" calls to say: Impact is a great top laner for NA, but he is being overhyped. 01:21:13 Vicious Vegan's wants to talk about how Perkz is "not a top 3 player in NA right now" 01:33:25 Fomentum thinks it was a BIG mistake for TSM to make Bjergsen head coach so soon. 01:48:43 Bluejay predicts 100t will beat C9 3-1. 01:58:09 gechao's take: Doublelifts co-stream is actually going to negatively impact the league community, if he continues to be this toxic  02:12:40 Outro

00:00:00 Intro 00:15:38 Shammyl thinks 100T or EG is gonna win the Lock In tournament. 00:28:25 JumboGradeAChickenEgg suggests that LCS can double their viewership if they tap into the goldmine of co-streaming, which DL proved this past weekend. 00:45:45 M_esse's take: blaber is the best jungler NA and shows no signs of dropping off. 00:58:21 Alienware break! 01:01:25 Ivy calls in about how TL will win again and get stuck in groups again 01:13:30 TopHatMatt's take: IMT will be a Top 6 team before MSI 01:24:45 corinthiax says his fellow TSM fans need to stop flaming the players, it's obnoxious 01:31:45 Bluejay thinks Jensen's comments about Perkz will come back and bite him  01:42:35 Draftbuff break! 01:46:32 Nicole's take: People need to stop sleeping on Damonte. 01:56:30 Outro

00:00:00 Intro 00:13:39 Brekky's hot take: 100 Thieves are a Top 2 team! 00:27:16 Snailchip predicts TSM will be a 6th place team (behind C9>TL>100T>FLY>EG) 00:35:58 Alienware break~! 00:39:05 Drew thinks the LCS rebrand is perfect and it is making this the most exciting spring in the modern era. 00:59:10 Rawnblade's take: CLG is the most underrated team this year. 01:13:00 Draftbuff break~! 01:16:30 Dr Manhattan's take: before/around mid season, expect Hauntzer and Cody Sun to be fully integrated into TSM 01:26:50 rico suave predicts FLY Top 2 01:36:05 Joe asks: What do rookie teams need to do in the LCS this year to advance their LCS careers further? 01:42:44 Outro

00:00:00 Intro 00:23:24 jnt250 returns to discuss how the All-Star event has been on the decline and possible fixes 00:37:58 javigme asks: why have All-Stars at all if people complain about it? 00:46:57 Alienware break~ 00:49:52 Love and Flow thinks the Doublelift saga of 2020 was the biggest storyline of LCS this year. 00:59:54 Basil calls to discuss the EU "narrative" that leans heavily on FNC and G2 01:09:20 George wants to talk about 3rd party League content and why Riot should integrate them in the future 01:22:20 ParadoxTheOnly didn't like how the LCS didn't really create content for narratives/storylines 01:35:35 Outro

00:00:00 Intro 00:16:24 Tudou's question for Greeley: with introduction of an early season tournament, was there a thought to give academy teams the ability to play against LCS teams? 00:27:32 Student179 asks: For the new LCS format, why are all the games still condensed down to 3 days?  00:36:16 Coach Dom's take: with these changes,  the LCS has set the ground work for an expansion to 12 teams within 2 years. 00:42:05 TheKevin027 calls in to ask: What are Greeley's thoughts on player burnout in terms of one big season instead of a nice break between it? 00:51:50 Emily calls in to "grill" Greeley on various things 01:13:48 Ghost's take: the LCS format changes won't do much; Spring still doesn't matter 01:29:24 Bluejay's take: the new LCS format is great but might get stale over time 01:42:46 TL The Monk's take: Teams like C9 who needs time more time compared to TL to play well, will suffer in both “splits” due to the new format 01:51:37 CALLER SHOWDOWN: jnt250 vs. Mahmoud!!! jnt says TL wins the "LCS Lock In" tournament at the start of the season; Mahmoud says C9! 02:09:20 Outro

00:00:00 Intro 00:14:01 Enigma's take: With no changes to dragons and the huge power that mythic items give I think even more pro games will feel like they done at ten minutes and we are just waiting for the ahead team to end and so it may make viewing more boring 00:22:25 Raz calls in to talk dRaMa 00:28:23 Community wants to talk about Perkz's recent comments saying that a lot of "coaches steal paychecks" and that only ex pros can be good coaches 00:48:03 Bluejay returns to chat about TSM's seemingly disastrous off-season 01:04:00 Alienware break! 01:07:54 GorRok's take: I dont know if NA will ever get better given how far behind our pipeline is compared to other leagues, even if its been getting better with the new format changes for academy 01:21:51 MrDongStrong's take: With both Doublelift and Bjergsen retiring, the record for the most individual LCS titles will not be broken for at least another 25 years 01:35:47 Prongs99's take: the top 3 teams in the league being so strong will make the bottom of the league look really weak. 01:48:56 NakoV's take: CLG would have been a top tier team if HotshotGG was still a very top decision maker in CLG like Regi in TSM 02:04:05 Nicole calls back to discuss women in gaming 02:26:22 Outro

Following the retirement of Peter "Doublelift" Peng, hosts Travis and Mark invite OG Hotline League member Kelby May to discuss the past, and what happens now.

00:00:00 Intro - Hunter Leigh of GGS joins HLL 00:24:43 TomShoe wants to discuss the jump from collegiate to LCS for players like Niles and Iconic 00:36:05 tkhale1's take: GGS and FLY are setting great examples on what teams should be doing to improve NA as a region 00:46:20 Shammyl's take: Given the amount of spend by C9 and the importation of Perkz, the bar should be worlds semis or worlds finals. 00:53:31 Bluejay's take: DL should have every right to want to take a break or retire if TSM can't find a decent support. 01:02:29 Alienware BLACK FRIDAY break! 01:06:20 The Real Biggie Cheese's take: Rekkles to G2 is one of the worst moves he could have made in his entire career.  01:24:31 PirateNoodles's take: the fate of the LCS will depend on whether CLG does well or not. 01:37:15 Nicole's take: TSM trying to cater to Doublelift's needs has left their team in a worse spot than if they just took this season to rebuild around rookies/academy players, and dropped DL. 01:54:40 David's take: The LCS's aggression will be dramatically higher than it has been in previous years, with the import of new aggressive players (PerkZ, Josedeodo, Xerxe)  02:02:00 yungnickv's take: Anyone hating Ocelote about G2 decision sucks at business. 02:11:40 Outro

00:00:00 Intro - Travis's perfect predictions, MarkZ's and Raz's takes on them 00:04:00 C9 Talks (confirmed) 00:06:00 TSM Talks (Huni and SwordArt) 00:18:00 100T Talks (GGS + Ssumday) 00:24:00 TL Talks (Alphari) 00:27:08 EG Talks (Impact, Jiizuke, Lost/Wildturtle?) 00:37:10 Fresh faces, developing talent, and "budget" comps discussion 01:04:15 Chris "The Commish" Greeley joins HLL to discuss development/Academy changes and more 01:20:51 TomShoe returns to talk about the new Academy system and amateur contracts 01:30:15 LNA's take: The LCS needs a non-traditional sport viewership experience to make the league sustainable 01:39:45 RedFactorX's question: Will OCE players be able to participate in this new system? 01:41:30 LCS Salary caps discussion 01:48:07 Alienware break :) 01:53:32 TSM Reginald drops in to say hello and not discuss his roster 02:03:08 i9Gamingz' hot take-prediction: CLG will finish Top 4  02:13:31 LoLUser's take: C9 didn't lose the offseason; Licorice did 02:19:37 Phenom wants to know more about free agency in LCS (PoE take) 02:25:32 Atharva's take: IF Perkz meshes with Blabber, they're a TOP 6 team at Worlds. IF they do not, they may not MAKE worlds.  02:36:07 ExO Kaboom's take: 100T won the offseason 02:46:42 Zuihou's take: IMT waiving their contract rights with TonyTop after first picking him in Scouting Grounds and dropping both of their 2020 top laners shows a  distrust from their org towards the amateur scene or terrible business practices that are kept safe by franchising. 02:56:38 Outro