Santa isn't the only one with a naughty and nice list this year. Esports had a lot of ups and downs in 2016. Tyler "FionnOnFire" Erzberger breaks down who or what landed where on his list.
Nice: Team Dignitas' trusting of the process
Explanation: Former Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie preached "trusting the process" for his rebuild of the forlorn basketball club. Sure, the team was going to suck -- suck historically, actually -- for a few years, but as long as the fans trusted the process, there would be light at the end of the tunnel. For Team Dignitas, a long-standing North American League of Legends organization that has been revived through the 76ers' purchase of the club and Tam Apex, the process might be over before the fans even know it.
In its first season back in the premier league of the NA LCS, Dignitas is rolling out a roster and coaching braintrust that could contend for a championship right out of the gate. The South Korean import signings of star top laner Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho and jungler Lee "Chaser" Sang-hyun are cause for excitement, and the bringing in of native AD carry is a Benjamin "LOD" deMunck sneaky smart move. The signing of Worlds runner-up head coach Jung Su Kim might be the best move of all, however, giving Dignitas and its hybrid-nationality roster a respected and talented coach to lead the team into the spring season.
Nice: TaekBangLeeSsang are back
Explanation: The StarCraft: Brood War foursome of Kim "Bisu" Taek-yong, Song "Stork" Byung-goo, Lee "Jaedong" Jae-dong and Lee "Flash" Young-ho known famously as "TaekBangLeeSsang" are leading the pack revitalizing the game in South Korea. The Afreeca Starleague is becoming the biggest StarCraft, Brood War or StarCraft II in the country that put esports on the map in the early and mid-2000s, and the legendary four are doing all they can to bring the game they love back to the forefront of the real-time strategy game genre.
Although Bisu and Flash have been playing Brood War semi-competitively for a bit now, Stork and Jaedong are just now getting back into the scene after retiring from Brood War's successor. Success from the two seemed unlikely entering the most recent season of the ASL, and yet here we are heading into the quarterfinals, and both Jaedong and Stork will be there. It would have been easy for any of the TaekBangLeeSsang quartet to rest on their laurels of the past, but each are doing their part to become the best in this new post-StarCraft II KeSPA era.
More than anything, Brood War needs its stars if it wants any chance of having a second life in the overgrowing world of esports, and TaekBangLeeSsang are making sure they're the heroes the fans can still believe in.
Naughty: Dade still unsigned
Less than two years ago, you could have debated that Bae "Dade" Eo-jin was the second-best player to ever download the game of League of Legends. He was a Worlds semifinalist, multitime Korean champion and two-time domestic MVP, an accolade matched only by Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, Dade's eternal rival in the mid lane. Since then, Dade traveled to China, was overcome with rumors of taking his time in the LPL as a "vacation" and quickly had his fearsome nickname of "The General" switched to "The Golfer."
During the time his former Samsung teammates found success in China, Dade found none of it, flopping around like a dead fish while getting by on what he used to be. Now with the LPL lineups announced for the 2017 year, Dade is nowhere to be found, and the question is: Where is Dade?
Come on, teams. I know he isn't the same mid laner who ripped through elite-level teams in 2014 with his exquisite team fighting mechanics, and OK, he might be a bit over the hill, but it's Dade! Come on! You're telling me the ROX Tigers don't want some Dade? Hey, Team Envy, you seem like you need some Dade in your life. Origen, please?
Anyone? Japan? Brazil? I hear the beaches are nice there. Dade would become an instant legend in Brazil. Retirement is also an option, seeing as many of the players Dade used to call equal are now in coaching roles or in the broadcasting side of esports, but can we have one last good run before it's all over? Maybe we can bring Dade to the Japanese minor leagues and have him get a few Pentakills, like when retired NBA stars slam dunk on kids at local street parks.
Naughty: No esports events in the Bahamas
We have tournaments all across North America. We have the IEM World Championships in Katowice. We have spectacles in South Korea, China and Southeast Asia. But what about the Bahamas?
This isn't personal or anything. It's not like I'd want to this just solely so I could go to the Bahamas to cover a competitive video gaming event. I just think the Bahamas is an untapped market that Riot Games, Valve, Capcom and other gaming publishers really haven't explored yet.
Let me pitch this now: North American LCS Finals ... in the Bahamas! Paradise, sun, sand and monitors with blistering League of Legends action. I think we're onto something here.