The UK League of Legends community has reacted to the decline in overall team quality following the Multiplay Insomnia60 LoL tournament this weekend.
Enclave Gaming beat Digital Warfare 3-1 to win the £750 top prize, with Digital winning £375.
Multiplay announced a lowered £1,500 i60 LoL prize pool back in February, rising to £2,250 if 16 teams signed up, or £3,000 if at least 32 teams participated.
Just 14 teams signed up in the end, keeping the prize pool at £1,500.
In comparison, the i60 Rocket League tournament had a healthier £10,000 prize pot. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that Multiplay supported UK LoL with a £20,000 UK Masters last year, and it announced a UK Masters LoL tournament is returning for summer 2017.
Obviously the lower prize pool at i60 meant a lot of the higher-tier teams didn’t bother taking part. In fact, there were just two orgs from the ESL Premiership: Enclave and xL (the latter was also a mix team of friends, not the usual xL line-up).
You can see the full list of participating teams and players here.
The other thing to consider is people moving on, this paves the way for newer teams and players to make their mark on the scene.
We rounded up some of the community’s opinions below:
Reaction and opinion
UK LAN veteran Tundra commented:
Insomnia League of Legends quality team/player quality is the lowest its been in 4 years. Really sad to watch happen ;-;
— Jamie | Tundra #i60 (@Tundra_LoL) 16 April 2017
This sparked a response from other people in the scene, starting with former player Brixton:
@BrixtonHam Oh no ofc and I agree, it’s fantastic that UK players are leaving for much better things but me personally Insomnia has always been iconic.
— Jamie | Tundra #i60 (@Tundra_LoL) April 16, 2017
@Tundra_LoL sure but it’s probably well used as a platform for newer ‘upcoming’ national talent like this (idk who competed this time might be wrong)
— Brixton Hamilton (@BrixtonHam) April 16, 2017
Former UK scene and Origen ADC Toaster (now playing in the Spanish league) added:
@Tundra_LoL prize pool correlates with skill
— Augustas Ruplys (@Toaster_LoL) April 16, 2017
@Tundra_LoL not rly lol people in general just getting better at the game and uk scene just not catching up also no reason for good players to stay
— Augustas Ruplys (@Toaster_LoL) April 16, 2017
Analytical media expert and Team Liquid analyst Jarge said the UK scene should be ‘killed with fire’.
@Jarge__ @Tundra_LoL That’s some cracking analytical media ?
— Tridd OW#i60 (@CasterTridd) April 16, 2017
MnM top-laner Teimpo agreed:
@CasterTridd @Jarge__ @Tundra_LoL Playing in the UK Scene is nothing more than a part time thing and the skill is lesser because of that.
— Teimpo (@PureRifty) April 16, 2017
@Tundra_LoL @MedicCasts @Toaster_LoL @TyrinLoL I find it a bit questionable that i60 Only has 750 quid for first place. ESL and stuff like UK Masters have STEPPED UP but Iseries…
— Teimpo (@PureRifty) April 16, 2017
@TyrinLoL @Tundra_LoL @Toaster_LoL @MedicCasts Beforehand you’d definitely atleast recognize a lot of the players from soloQ. Nowadays i barely knew anyone who played in the last ESL.
— Teimpo (@PureRifty) April 16, 2017
Laser Kittenz manager (and former Misfits/Renegades Banditos manager) Alicus commented:
@Tundra_LoL @Toaster_LoL i don’t think UK scene been declining for “years” in LoL either. UK scene had an amazing 2016 imo
— Alicus (@AlicusOfficial) April 16, 2017
Washed-up UK jungler Tyrin shared his view:
@Tundra_LoL @Toaster_LoL @MedicCasts I wouldn’t say the skill quality in terms of the cream of uk crop has gone down, there is just much less of it now definitely
— Tyrin (@TyrinLoL) April 16, 2017
@Tundra_LoL @Toaster_LoL Manalight and Banditos weren’t downgrades to old teams
— Tyrin (@TyrinLoL) April 16, 2017
Challenger Series caster (and former UK scene caster) Medic said:
@Tundra_LoL @Toaster_LoL @TyrinLoL Also a lot of better UK talent is going to other national leagues. Look at LVP.
— Medic (@MedicCasts) April 16, 2017
Former MnM jungler Phurion (currently residing in the Spanish scene) went for a spicy slice of sarcasm:
some fantastic teams at i60, glad to see the competition is still so high
— lucas (@PhurionEUW) 16 April 2017
Insomnia’s Overwatch tournament manager hinted at more opportunities for up and coming players:
@Tundra_LoL @CasterTridd @BrixtonHam More stuff for people not yet at the top level coming 🙂
— Sanctuary #i60 (@Sanctuary_lol) April 16, 2017
Here’s some more comment from people in the scene we reached out to:
Britsaint, owner of Enclave Gaming:
“I agree that not a lot of teams on our level – ESL level – came [to i60]. But we came to enjoy Insomnia and see how far we have improved since i59.
“As I’ve said on Twitter, we can only beat the teams in front of us and that’s what we did. I doubt that people thought we’d have no chance if other teams came, because if anyone watched ESL this season, they’d know that [Enclave] Dawn can go on par with the very best of the scene.
“Either way, it was a fantastic LAN for us and I couldn’t be happier for Dawn. I’ve received a lot of congratulations from people in the scene and that’s once again refilled my level of passion for UK esports. I hope everyone else also had a fantastic time.”
Gary Kimmelman, former LoL admin:
“The level of gameplay and skill in UK LoL has truly downgraded, based on what I saw earlier for the UK LoL finals.
“However, despite this I’m pleased in a way as these lower ranked players will not have the same attitude of the previous high-ranked players with the ‘I deserve Challenger’ mentality and self entitlement.
“It’s actually good to see this as it welcomes lower ranked teams. Viewers may feel more motivated thinking: ‘I can beat these teams’.
“UK LoL isn’t declining nor is it growing, but it looks like it’s been left in the same place for a while. Hopefully the departure of certain players in the scene will allow the scene to grow. I see it as a rebirth of UK LoL. Maybe there’s a cycle and we are at the start of it again.”
Will “FrozenDawn” Burgess, UK LoL caster/coach:
“At the moment MnM are by far the best team in the UK. They didn’t show up due to prize pool.
“I assume this was the case for many of the teams but i also think that the ‘off-season’ of ESL Prem meant that many teams are reforming, and therefore wouldn’t have a solid, well-practiced roster.
“These two things combined are why the tournament had less talent in it than usual.”
Image source: BelongbyGAME Twitter
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Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
