NA LCS Week 7: Introducing Strategic Coaches
lolesports.com/en_US/articles/na-lcs-strategi...
lolesports.comPosted Aug 1, 2018, 9:16 PM UTC
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lolesports.comDo you guys think this is a change that will help CLG? I personally think that an additional perspective into draft has the potential to immensely help address what has been a historically criticized aspect of our team.
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why will this make any difference... Unless the person CLG uses has completely different ideas which is counterintuitive in a team environment who you assume would all want to be on the same page.
This just seems like riot is placating North America 4 no real significant based reasoning other than we suck.
Other regions seem to do all right... Pick ban seems like a symptom of the overall problem that nobody wants to realize
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Might be wrong but I'm pretty sure a number of LCK teams already have multiple coaches in the booth. I've seen Bengi and Mandu doing SKT's picks before.
8
Yeah but we’re counter logic so maybe being on different pages will win us worlds
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Other regions actually already do this. Go watch LCK they have more than 1 coach there for pick ban.
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i don't care. I'm not against it. i also hope no one is trying to equate LCK being GOOD with them having a 2nd coach/helper for pick ban. there is absolutely zero ability to derive that kind of causation.
what i'm trying to explain is that if CLG adds a 2nd coach helper person to the mix on stage how will that actually help us if they are ON THE SAME PAGE as the rest of the team.... about how to play the game, what champs should be picked etc... its similar to another sports team your assistant coaches probably don't have dissenting opinions than the head coach about things so what additional help will that actually bring.
what i'm saying is CLG has been fucking up in pick ban forever and adding another person won't fix that for them. there are other things that lead to how they pick ban or play out those pick bans etc... that need to be evaluated and fixed IMO.
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Chris Greeley wrote on Aug 1, 2018 8:53 PM –:
Chris “Riot Commish” Greeley here—I am the Commissioner of the NA LCS and I
manage League Operations for the NA LCS and Academy
League.
I’m here to share some visibility and context of a new pilot program coming to
the NA LCS this week.Starting in Week 7, NA LCS teams have the option to register a second coach
(or analyst) onstage during the pick/ban phase (termed a "Strategic Coach")
with the Head Coach. The Strategic Coach will be on comms and will be able to
talk to the Head Coach and players to assist in pick/ban. Similar to the Head
Coach, the Strategic Coach cannot talk to anyone off-stage. This is an NA-only
pilot program that will take place for the rest of split (including Finals)
and will extend to Academy playoffs when they are onstage.Why are you implementing this pilot now?
In our ongoing conversations with teams about how we can continue to improve
the league, the topic of challenges related to the pick/ban phase were raised.
After discussing various options to improve decision-making capabilities
during champion selection, teams asked us if it was possible to just add a
second person, instead of having to replace their Head Coach.After some internal discussion, we agreed that trying it as a pilot program
for the rest of this split (including Finals) made sense. The expectation is
that with an additional coach involved in the pick/ban process, teams can
develop stronger strategies and better develop their skills around the
pick/ban process.Will we see Strategic Coaches at international competitions? How about
other regions?
Right now, this is an NA-only pilot, so it will not extend to international
events like Worlds. Before moving forward with the pilot, we were clear with
NA LCS teams that this pilot will not extend to international events.We have given visibility on this change to several other regions. Everyone
(including us) is interested to see how this limited test turns out.Are NA LCS teams required to send up a Strategic Coach for every game?
Teams can send up a Strategic Coach sometimes, but are not required to send a
Strategic Coach up every time (or at all). We don’t intend to let teams swap
this position around during the pilot program, absent some emergency, but will
work with our teams for 2019 about how this role should operate if it is
determined that this is worth continuing.What are next steps with Strategic Coach? Will they be added to Lolesports
and Global Contract Database?
There are no plans through the duration of this pilot program to add anyone
else to the Global Contract Database or Lolesports.com this split. We will be
evaluating the effectiveness of this change through the remainder of the
Summer Split and will reconvene with teams in the off-season to consider this
for the entirety of the 2019 NA LCS season, as well as how Strategic Coaches
can best be integrated into the NA LCS.Chris “Riot Commish” Greeley is the Commissioner of the NA LCS and ran
League Operations for MSI and Worlds in 2017. He is a recovering lawyer from
New York City who can’t write a rulebook in less than 50 pages. He channeled
years of raiding on his Resto Druid into life in the bottom lane dropping
wards and shooting glitterlances. You can find him on Twitter and Reddit
as @IAmGrza.
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Is this Plop for CLG? Or can they assign whoever they want?
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Plop seems the obvious choice, but the article states that the program is optional and teams can send whomever they want, but are not really allowed to swap people in and out of the strategic coach role (barring emergencies)
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I wonder if they could use Sojin too? I think Plop seems like the obvious choice, but I wonder if it may also help to have the POV from a coach who isn't as close to this team so he's maybe more objective.
For example, Zikz and Plop watch CLG scrims all week and see Huhi popping off on mid Diana and think it's a great pick. Sojin come in on gameday and maybe has a different perspective that's more objective about how viable the pick actually is.
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Is Hai already a coach? CLG should look at signing him, he's a clear leader and is extremely strategic in his approach to the game and teams he played for were renowned for having pretty good pick ban.
I also don't think he would be just another yes man for Zikz to surround himself with.
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(Don't) Fire Zikz??
Interesting change, hope it leads to team improvement and better games.
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An extra layer of accountability for our drafts can only be a good thing in my eyes. Ideally the strategic coach would be someone who is effective at playing devil's advocate to Tony's approach to drafting so they can have another mind to formulate strategy on the fly.
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Drafting coach please.
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CLG's management doesn't need to look for a new head coach now
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I'm down for this if it doesn't become a too many cooks situation. I imagine if CLG were to do it they'd send in Plop, which could help our draft situation a lot. I doubt it will be a magic bullet though.