Ahead of the 2020 season start, I surveyed 86 LCS and Academy players on various topics, including their dating lives and trust in their teammates. Because numbers are involved, I have to clarify that I am in fact a mathematician and any conclusions I draw from this are 100% accurate. Here are my findings.
1. Which role is the most impactful in professional play?
Top: 1.2%
Jungle: 40.7%
Mid: 43%
Bot: 4.7%
Support: 10.5%
Most people were adamant about this one clearly being mid or jungle, but a couple people raised really good points about top and bot, saying, “Top doesn’t matter until you’re against TheShy, and then it really matters.” Similar comments were made about Doublelift in NA for bot lane — made me think about the large amount of variance there and what it means to transcend the expected output for a role. I suspect the single player to put top is a top laner who is extremely self-confident.
One jungler said, “I want it on record that I said mid. There’s bias against junglers because people get ganked [and then think junglers are OP].” I will not be exposing who this is, though.
2. Which role is the least impactful in professional play?
Top: 60.5%
Jungle: 2.3%
Mid: 0%
Bot: 31.4%
Support: 5%
As expected, the reverse is true for results when you flip the question. It seemed like bot laners were the most likely players to put their own role for least impactful whereas almost everyone else seemed to agree on top.
3. I would rather…
Win the LCS: 58.1%
Make it out of Groups: 41.9%
One player, a former World Champion, nonchalantly commented, “It’s definitely easier to win Worlds than LCS.” His teammates looked at him like he was crazy. This one seemed to paint a dividing line between those who’ve been to Worlds and those who haven’t on what is more important to them at the moment — getting to the top is a process!
4. Would you trust any of your teammates with your life on a desert island?
Yes: 58.1%
No: 41.9%
One player replied, “I’m dead anyway, so yeah.” One of the first things players pondered with this one was whether or not anyone on their team could cook or start a fire. I’m actually surprised that so many people answered “yes.” One player looked at his team and said, “We are all brute. No brain.” Another commented, “X is a nice guy, but he can’t start a fire.” I appreciate that there seems to be a decent level of trust, but if this was Lost and I woke up on a beach and the first people I saw were gamers, I’d just go back to sleep and pray it was a dream.
5. Has being a pro helped with your dating life?
Yes: 52%
No: 40.7%
Don’t know: 7%
Two teammates looked at this and laughed, and one said, “If anyone answers no to this, they’re lying.” Later, a different player looked at it and said, “How would anyone say yes?”
One player pondered over it as his teammate peeked over his shoulder and said, “Unfortunately I have to admit yes to this one now.” His teammate replied, “You’re welcome.”
Lastly, one player answered — anonymously of course — “Yes, met Kaypea/Kelsie in Katowice 2015 at the tournament.”
6. Do you have burner accounts on social media?
Yes and I use them: 2.3%
Yes but I don’t use them: 5.8%
No: 91.9%
Many players weren’t sure what a burner account was, but it seems like we do have the possibility of a Kevin Durant-type lurking Reddit, ready to argue with you about himself.
7. Do you watch anime?
Yes, regularly: 26.7%
Yes, but not often: 46.5%
No: 26.7%
One player asked, “If I answer yes to this, [will I get in trouble]?” The answer is yes. All weebs will be punished. Except for the single player who answered “AYAYA,” which I counted as “Yes, regularly.”
8. Which player (if any) did you look up to before becoming a pro?
Players receiving multiple mentions include:
Doublelift: 9 mentions
Faker: 7 mentions
Bjergsen: 6 mentions
Madlife: 3 mentions
And with 2 mentions each: Uzi, bigfatlp, Mata, TheOddOne, Diamondprox, HotshotGG, Reginald, and Deft
Aside from these players, another 30 or so were mentioned, including a couple of popular streamers. Given that this is NA, I think the answers were more or less as expected.
9. Finally, which region is better?
NA: 34.9%
EU: 65.1%
I… no further comment.
