Summoning Insight

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 req...

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 b...

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,...

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...

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 suc...

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 FlyQ...

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 wel...

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 resurgen...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 Dplu...

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 highlig...

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 inappr...

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 asp...

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 Hosted by...

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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our coll...

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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for informati...

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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and...

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...

Join MonteCristo and Thorin with guest Peter Dun, former head coach of Evil Geniuses, as they discuss the thrilling end of Worlds 2022, the matchup between T1 and DRX, what the win means for Deft's legacy, the differences in coaching between North America and Europe, the problems with mentality among LCS pros, how LCS team owners and management interact with coaches, the possible roster moves in L...

Join MonteCristo and Thorin with guest Wolf Schröder, LCK caster, as they discuss the conclusion of the Worlds semi-finals, the incredible upset of DRX over Gen. G, how T1 defeated JDG, the possible pick/ban meta between DRX and T1 in the finals, Zeka as the leader of the MVP race at Worlds, why Faker deserves this week's Big Dick Energy Trophy, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit po...

Join MonteCristo and Thorin with guest Wolf Schröder, LCK caster, and Jakob "YamatoCannon" Mebdi, head coach of Fnatic, as they discuss the wild quarterfinals at Worlds, the struggles of Fnatic during the play-ins and groups, the stylistic match-ups between T1 vs JDG and Gen. G vs DRX, the epic inhibitor respawn in EDG vs DRX, the reasons why this meta is so spectacular, and more. Learn more about...

Join MonteCristo and Thorin with guest Laure Valée, host and interviewer on LEC, as they discuss the end of the group stage of Worlds 2022, predictions for the upcoming quarterfinals, what it means to the LEC to have Rogue in the bracket stage, the bug at the end of the TES vs GAM game, the implications of moving the LCS to weekdays, whether JDG or Gen. G are the Worlds favorites, and more. Learn...