The Bag: Does Worlds put on a better show than the Super Bowl?
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Welcome to The Bag.

Every week, I will graciously answer your questions about everything in the esports and gaming world. From the highbrow to the gutter, I will make sure to give you my honest, unfiltered opinion sponsored by absolutely nobody (yet).

Without further ado, let’s dive into the bag and see what we can pull out.

TSM’s League of Legends team makes me sad. Is there a point in watching them anymore? — MayoMan

Last week the question I got the most revolved around TSM’s VALORANT team failing to qualify for the spring season of Challengers, and this week we’re back with the TSM seasonal depression. For the first time in franchise history, the winningest franchise in LCS history has begun season 0-4.

It hasn’t been pretty. I’m not going to sit here and wax poetic about how a few things didn’t go their way and it’s a matter of time until they turn it around. TSM are in a complete rebuild. Their best player, Mingyi “Spica” Lu, has been put in the difficult position of being the team ace and bridging communication between his English-speaking and Mandarin-speaking teammates.

Although I can’t say for sure the added pressure of needing to be the team’s center has gotten to Spica, the reigning league MVP has been almost nowhere to be seen the first two weeks of the season. He’s the engine of this team, and if he’s not playing well, they’re going to look disjointed and sometimes plain bad, as they have through their first four games.

Remember, though, TSM are in a rebuild. They brought in two inexperienced Chinese players to a new country and plopped them down on a team where synergy will take months — maybe even an entire year or more — to get right. While it isn’t what many TSM fans want to hear, as wins and marquee playoff games are second nature to them in North America, there will be rough stretches in 2022.

My advice? Take solace in the progress. This team is full of talent, and although there will be days where you want to trade half the team, take a breath and realize the process of merging this starting roster is going to take time.

Spica won’t play this poor the entire season. He will turn out an even stronger player if he can shoulder all the responsibilities thrust upon him this season, and that should be some good news for the downtrodden TSM fans out there.

Again, there will be weekends this season where you want to burn your TSM jersey and cry into your Bjergsen poster. Don’t. Give the organization a few months to see if they can improve. If we’re heading into the end of spring and they’re at the bottom of the table with Spica still in a slump, maybe I’ll hand you a lighter.

What is better: the Super Bowl halftime show or Worlds opening ceremony? — Anonymous

I feel like a Rioter sent me this question and wanted to remain anonymous.

Anyway, I’ve been lucky enough to be at countless world championship finals and not rich enough to go to any Super Bowls as of today (though I was close to pulling the trigger this past weekend). And while I thought this weekend’s halftime show was one of the best ever — 50 Cent’s “In Da Club” is a banger to this day — I actually would say that Riot Games has surpassed the Super Bowl when it comes to the production of their world championship show.

In terms of artists and star power, the Super Bowl is still in a league of its own. But as someone who sees the NFL now trotting out augmented reality and things as “new” for their production when the League of Legends World Championship was doing those things back in 2017, I have to give the innovative edge to Riot.

IF you could choose that one western team win worlds, who would you want it to be (EU+NA)? — RUSHIL

Dignitas QNTMPAY. I think if Dignitas somehow made it to the world final, they would unite Europe and North America for the first time against whichever Asian super team they’re playing in the final. It would be poetic justice that the meme team for over a decade were the ones to create the biggest underdog story in history with the West’s first Summoner’s Cup win.

Do you ever feel disillusioned with the general esports audience considering how young/stan like they can be? – nyc

Honestly, not really. Sure, it can get annoying at times when I’m arguing with someone on Twitter and I realize they’re half of my age, but you have to roll with the punches. Esports fans aren’t even in the top 10 for worst in terms of popular, niche fandoms on the internet, which is a scary thought.

What did you do for Valentine’s Day? — XaDDy

No comment, move on to the last question.

If you had to make any esport story into an anime, which would you choose and why? — deboas

Give me the 2015-2016 Tigers in League of Legends. They were a bunch of castoffs who banded together in a broken-down apartment to become maybe the most universally liked team ever to play League of Legends.

From their formation to sudden rise to fame among their shenanigans like dressing up as butlers and bunny rabbits, culminating in their final clash with archrival SK Telecom T1 in New York City, it’s possibly the best story ever in esports. To this day, the match at Madison Square Garden is considered the best League of Legends match of all time. And though they lost, the Tigers’ legacy remains to this day.


Tyler Erzberger is entering a decade of covering esports. When not traveling around the world telling stories about people shouting over video games, he’s probably arguing with an anime avatar on Twitter about North American esports.


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