My thoughts on the Reginald/OnGamers Drama

          As some of you know, I'm a huge fan of the onGamers program, 'Summoning Insight' featuring MonteCristo and Thooorin. I love that League now has a show that's willing to ask the hard questions, call players out, and give an honest opinion, albeit insensitive at times. The recent drama about Reginald denying all interviews with Travis (of onGamers) because of the content of 'Summoning Insight' is something I wanted to talk about. I'd like to give my opinion on why it happened, the thought process behind it, who's right, who's wrong, and what impact all of this actually has for the community and for e-sports. If you haven't watched the show I'm not going to explain it for you. You'll need to watch and formulate your own opinions.(I'll be referencing a reddit comment I made that I'll paste at the bottom of the page)

          When I first read the news about denying Travis interviews my first thought was that Reginald is crying because somebody called him a name. Now obviously Thooorin cut pretty deep by comparing him to Caesar from Planet of the Apes (to be honest it actually does look like him...) and while this is terribly insensitive I'd like to bring up a couple of points about it. If you're a business owner, or professional athlete (e-athlete?) like Reginald is/was, why do you care what some guy on a talk show is saying about you? There's two ways to take this. You can either stand up for yourself by facing it head on or ignore it. Reginald chose neither. He chose another option which is to put up walls and deny someone that's almost completely unrelated other than working there (Travis) the resources of a relationship that had previously been fruitful for both parties. You don't see the President of the United States going on some local talk radio show to because the host disagrees with some of his policies because 1) You're the god damn President, 2) Other human beings aren't going to agree with absolutely everything you do, and 3) You have more important things you could be spending your time on (like improving your team). And yes, I understand age is a factor here, but there are plenty of professional athletes and young business owners that haven't responded in these controversial ways as Reginald has.

          Now it has since come to be public that, according to Reginald, Travis went to onGamers with this information in hopes to create some blast about it. I can't confirm whether or not this is true but if it is then that is equally scummy and childish of Travis who has, until this event, been doing a great job of keeping up to date and solid content as well as conducting excellent interviews. Reginald also mentioned that new TSM coach Locodoco requested that the players avoid social media. This is AWESOME. If you want to keep your players heads clear and they are unable to block out the criticism themselves (which they should probably learn how to do) a coach/manager telling them is the next best thing. I completely support that decision and think it's best for them as a team to ignore the hate and focus on improving and not sulking.

          The next major point I wanted to talk about is the thing that most people are taking issue with and that's Thooorin's insensitive language and "disrespect" of players. The fact of the matter is that he is stating what he thinks. He doesn't try to pretend to be someone he isn't. He's had a history of racial remarks (see the whole IEM debacle) as well as material on both SI as well as his own interview series'. Sometimes it's all in good fun and just "joking with the guys" in feeling while other times it's actually malicious. Do I agree with him doing this? No. Do I encourage this type of behavior? No. Do I respect him for stating his opinions? Yes. I don't agree with him or feel the same way sometimes and I know that I, myself, am not comfortable saying things like he does for certain reasons, but I'm not Duncan Shields. Freedom of speech. He can say what he wants whether you agree or not. Get over it.

          I like to compare 'Summoning Insight' to the famous Howard Stern. Uncensored, inappropriate, gaudy, derogatory. Whatever you want to call him, people find Stern's interviews and opinions entertaining enough to pay for it through a premium service. Nobody is forcing you to listen to him. Just like nobody is forcing you to watch 'Summoning Insight.' If you are bothered by derogatory language or know that you'll just be annoyed at the opinions of Thooorin and MonteCristo then just don't watch. People won't think anything less of you. But I wouldn't go complaining about it. Because the more you talk about it, the more the name comes up, the more views they get, and the next thing you know, guess who's "winning?"

          The final and most important point I'm trying to make here is that conversation is better than no conversation. It's OK to disagree. In fact I encourage you to disagree. Disagreements create debates, which bring up interesting points and counterpoints regarding a specific subject matter and can eventually lead to solutions to problems, or a deeper understanding of your own, as well as other people's opinions. HAVE YOUR OWN OPINION! Don't just regurgitate what others tell you and get upset when people disagree with you. The world of e-sports needs more of this kind of thing. It's something that traditional sports, politics, bar-room conversations with friends, and family feuds all have in common and it's only natural for us as fans and gamers to be able to have a civil conversation about our disagreements just like most people do in these other mediums. Let's up the level of our own conversations within this community so that it doesn't take a few insensitive remarks to send everyone flying into a frenzy in order to have passionate, well-informed, and interesting discussions.

April and May 2014 Advanced Solo Queue Statistics

April and May 2014

** There were 5 games in which there was severe lag, a DC, or server trouble (2-3). There was also 2 games with trolls/rage quits (1-1 record) and one game that I dodged because my partners client crashed. These games will not be included in these statistics **

Misc. Statistics

Highest Placement: Platinum 2 (100 lp)     Lowest Placement : Platinum 3 (0 lp)

Win - Loss: 35 - 32 ( 2 - 1 in promo matches )

Kills/Deaths/Assists (avg): 375 / 320 / 605 (5.6 / 4.78 / 9.0) makes a 3.05:1 Ratio

Team K/D/A (avg): 1885 / 1805 / 3100  (28.1 / 26.9 / 46.3) makes a 2.76:1 ratio

Longest Winning Streak: 4 (8 out of 9 at one point)           Longest Losing Streak: 7

Largest LP Gain/Lost (single game): +20 / -19

Average CS For (non-support) / Against (all): 196.7 / 202

Average CS per minute For (non-support) / Against (all): 5.86 / 5.97

Highest (peak) Kills/Deaths/Assists (high in each taken from all games): 18 / 11 / 24

Highest Single Game CS:  299 (on Ziggs)

Combat Grades:

            Lane Effectiveness Avg (scale of -2 to +2):  +0.06

            Outside Lane Influence For Avg (scale of -2 to +2): +0.44

            Outside Lane Influence Against Avg (scale of -2 to +2): +0.23

            Roaming Effectiveness Avg (scale of -2 to +2): +0.17

Contribution Grades:

            Positive Contribution Avg:  19.84

            Negative Contribution Avg: 18.08      

            Net Contribution Avg:  +1.76

            Games +/-: 40+ /  27-         

            Record in Positive Contribution Games:  19- 21  Record in Negative: 16 - 11        

Damage Statistics      

Avg %Damage to Champions (% of teams total):  22.93%

                        Avg without support games: 24.4%

Gold Statistics

**Gold statistics are calculated rounding to the nearest hundred when recording (example: 9700)**

Avg Gold For (GPM): 11,950 (354.2/min)   -------->   in NON Support games: 12,305 (366.6/min) Avg Gold Against (GPM): 12,354 (363.7/min)  ---->  in NON-Support Games: 12.266 (362.5/min)

Avg For as SUPPORT: 9,667 (275 /min)  --->  Enemy Support Gold: 9,900 (289.8/min)

Avg Gold For Lane Partner:  13,000 (374.0/min)  ------>  Enemy ADC Gold: 12,922 (372.0/min)  

Champion Specific Statistics

Most Played Champion(s):

            - Leblanc (mid) (18 games) (9 wins - 9 losses)

                        - Avg CS: 178.5 (5.2/min), Avg K/D/A: 7.4 / 4.3 / 7.5, which makes a 3.46:1 ratio

                        - Enemy Avg CS: 193.5

                        - Lane Effectiveness Avg: +.5

                        - Outside Lane Influences Avg (against/for): +0.11 / +0.72

                        - Roaming Grade: +0.17

                        - Gold For (gpm) / Against (gpm): 12,289 (360.7/min) / 11,961 (348.7/min)            

                        - Avg Game Length: 34:07 (significantly shorter than last month)

                        - % Damage to Champs per Game (avg): 22.9%

                        - Net Contribution Grade: +5.14

                        - Games + / - (contribution score): 14 positive (8 - 6) / 4 negative (1 - 3) 

Champions Played: 17 (lux support and lux mid differentiated, etc.)

Duo queue Statistics 

** I played a lot more duo queue than I normally do this month to practice with members of my 5s team **

            Record: 12 - 13

                        - Ammoam: 1 game (0 - 1)

                        - D Best Ever: 1 game (0 - 1)

                        - First Time Shaco: 1 game (0 - 1)

                        - Flareonz: 5 games (1 - 4)

                        - Tuba: 4 games (2 - 2)

                        - War Pigs: 13 games (9 - 4)

Match Time Statistics

Average Match Time:  33:47  Shortest Match Time: 20:26  Longest Match Time: 51:56

Match Time Distribution:

            -  <20:00:  0 games (0 wins - 0 loss)

            -  20:00 to 25:00: 5 games (5 wins - 0 losses)

            - 25:00 to 30:00: 15 games (7 wins - 8 losses)

            - 30:00 to 35:00: 19 games (9 wins - 10 losses)

            - 35:00 to 40:00: 20 games (10 wins - 10 losses)

            - 40:00 to 45:00: 5 games (2 wins - 3 losses)

            - 45:00 to 50:00: 2 game (1 win -1 loss)

            - >50:00: 1 games (1 win - 0 losses)

Pick Order Statistics

Avg position: 2.78  Avg Position of duo: 2.92

            - 1st pick: 16 games (5 wins - 11 losses)

            - 2nd pick: 16 games (9 wins - 7 losses)

            - 3rd pick: 15 games (11 wins - 4 losses)

            - 4th pick: 7 games (4 wins - 3 losses)

            - 5th pick: 13 games (6 wins - 7 losses)

Matchup Specific Statistics

Most Frequent Opponents:  

Zed (5 - 2), Syndra (2 - 2), Kayle (2 - 1), Kassadin (1 - 2), Yasuo (0 - 3), Ziggs (1 - 1)

Strongest Matchups (3 or more games):

- vs Zed (5 - 2)      Avg K / D / A: 5.7 / 3.43 / 10 (4.58 to 1 KDA)

            - Avg CS per minute For / Against: 5.64 / 6.3

            - Net Contribution Score: +4.36

            - Lane Effectiveness Score: +0.29

            - Outside Influence For / Against: +0.43 / 0

            - Roaming Grade: 0

            - Champs Played: Leblanc (3 - 1), Ziggs (1 - 0), Nidalee (0 - 1), Kassadin (1 - 0)

            - First Bloods For / Against: 0 / 1

- vs Kayle (2 - 1)   Avg K/D/A: 9.67 / 3.33 / 6.67 (4.91 to 1 KDA)

            - Avg CS per minute For / Against: 5.22 / 5.77

            - Net Contribution Score: +2.81

            - Lane Effectiveness Score: +1.0

            - Outside Influence For / Against: 0 / +1.33

            - Roaming Grade: 0

            - Champs Played: Leblanc (1 - 1), Cassiopeia (1 - 0)

            - First Blood For / Against: 1 / 0

Weakest Matchup (more than 3 games): 

- vs Yasuo (0 - 3) Avg K/D/A: 2.33 / 6.33 / 7

            - Avg per minute For / Against: 6.0 / 7.6

            - Net Contribution Score: +3.97

            - Lane Effectiveness Score: -0.67

            - Outside Influence For/Against: 0 / +0.33

            - Champs Played: Karthus (0 - 1), Leblanc (0 - 1), Ziggs (0 - 1)

            - First Blood For / Against: 0 / 0

Multi Game Summoner Matchups: 

            - vs F291: 0 - 2 vs his Nidalee but it was mostly his team outperforming mine

            - vs Fatman121: 1 - 1 Lost to his TF but beat his Jarvan with my top lane Soraka

Situational Statistics

First Bloods For: 8                         First Blood Assist: 4

First Bloods Against: 7                 First Blood Against Assist:  3

Record when getting first blood: 5 - 3   Record when giving up first blood: 3 - 4

Record when getting FB or Assist: 7 - 5 (2 - 2 on just assist) 

Record when giving up FB or Assist:  4 - 6 (1 - 2 on just assist)

Positional Statistics

  - Mid (80.6% of games played): 54 games,  27 wins - 27 losses

            - Avg CS per minute For / Against: 5.92 / 5.96

            - Avg K/D/A:  6.37 / 4.44 / 8.2  Ratio of 3.28:1

            - Lane Effectiveness Avg: +0.07

            - Outside Influence Against / For: +0.19 / +0.4

            - Roaming: +0.17

            - Contribution Grade: +3.5

            - First Bloods For / Assists: 8 (all on LB) / 1

            - First Bloods Against / Assist: 6 / 1

  - AD Carry (0%): 0 games

  - Support (13.4%): 9 games, 5 wins - 4 losses

            -  Avg CS per minute of Enemy AD: 196.9

            -  Avg GPM Enemy ADC / Support: 373.2 / 292.6

            -  Avg  K/D/A: 1.78 / 6.33 / 11.56 for a ratio of 2.11:1

            -  Avg GPM Lane Partner: 374.0

            - Lane Effectiveness Avg: +0.11

            - Outside Influence Against / For: +0.56 / +0.56

            - Contribution Grade: -5.2

            - First Bloods For / Assist: 0 / 1

            - First Bloods Against / Assist: 1 / 2

  - Top (<1%): 1 games, 1 wins - 0 losses

            - Avg CS per minute For / Against: 6.18 / 7.38

            - Avg GPM For / Against: 352.1 / 344.4

            - Avg K/D/A: 2 / 4 / 8 for a ratio of 2.5:1

            - Lane Effectiveness Avg: -1.0

            - Outside Influence Against / For: 0 / 0

            - Roaming Grade: +1.0

            - Contribution Grade: -16.1

  - Jungle (4.5%): 3 games, 2 wins - 1 loss

            - Avg CS per minute For / Against: 135 / 136

            - Avg GPM For / Against: 323.9 / 348.2

            - Avg K/D/A: 4.33 / 6.33 / 16.67 for a ratio of 3.32:1

            - Lane Effectiveness Avg: 0

            - Outside Influence Against / For: 0 / 0

            - Roaming: 0

            - Contribution Grade: -2.55

Environmental Statistics

Record in First Game of Session: 11 - 12   Record in Last Game of Session:  10 - 10

Record in Single Game sessions (counted as both first and last games): 2 - 4

Longest Single Session: 9 games (6 wins - 3 losses)

Time of Day (based on common playing blocks):

            - Night block (8:01pm to 4am):  26 games (12 wins - 14 losses)

            - Morning block (4:01am to 12pm): 11 games (7 wins - 4 losses)

            - Afternoon/Evening block (12:01pm to 8pm): 30 games (16 wins - 14 losses)

Day of Week:

            - Monday: 19 games (12 - 7)

            - Tuesday: 3 games (0 - 3)

            - Wednesday: 4 games (3 - 1)

            - Thursday: 1 game (0 - 1)

            - Friday: 15 games (7 - 8)

            - Saturday: 21 games (11 - 10)

            - Sunday: 4 games (2 - 2)

Music: 

            - Blind Guardian: 1 game (0 - 1)

            - Blue Sky Black Death: 1 game (0 - 1)

            - Bonobo: 1 game (1 - 0)

            - Chillstep Mix: 9 games (4 - 5)

            - David Maxim Micic: 2 games (2 - 0)

            - Destiny Potato: 2 games (1 - 1)

            - Encircle: 1 game (0 - 1)

            - High Energy Mix: 33 games (21 - 12)

            - LCS Broadcast: 8 games (2 - 6)

            - Melodic Death Mix: 3 game (2 - 1)

            - OGN Broadcast: 1 game (0 - 1)

            - Opeth: 1 game (0 - 1)

            - Phantomlord Livestream: 3 games (2 - 1)

            - Shade Empire: 1 game (0 - 1)

           

Goals from March: 3 out of 3

1) Improve overall support performance

Failure: While I didn't really drop off that much, I certainly didn't improve.

2) Make a top champion your own

Incomplete:  I only played a single game in top lane and got the "W" but I have been working on Ryze and Vladimir in normals. Not quite there yet so this gets a failure.

3) Sustain excellent balance of map pressure and income.

Success:  While my roaming went down my income remained the same and I dominated my lane much harder than last month. This still needs to improve.

BONUS: Platinum 1: Failed

Goals for Next Month

1) Support play needs to improve despite having to play the role less.

2) Finish adding a top laner and work on a meta-jungle pick like Lee/Elise/Jarvan/Vi

3) Play more games.

BONUS: Diamond