JLXP - The Josh Leesman Experience

dGon joined me for the 100th(!) episode of JLXP! We talk about the upcoming Spring Finals, and reminisce about our journeys in the LCS. I’m so grateful to everyone who has watched and listened for the past few years. And don’t forget to check out “Let’s Go” as well, over on the LCS Youtube channel. I caught up with PapaSmithy, Spawn, and Courage during Week 2 of Playoffs: http://www.youtube.com/lcs Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 1:58 - Thoughts on Round 2 of Playoffs - Is C9 back for real? 5:20 - Super teams just don’t work 14:30 - TL Jatt 18:30 - Yeon 22:07 - Key mid lane champs 23:50 - Predictions Part 1 26:30 - Jensen 28:00 - FlyQuest 30:41 - Busio 34:19 - Predictions Part 2: The Percentages 38:47 - dGon and Jatt reflect on their journeys in the LCS through the years

Blaber joins me on this week's JLXP to chat all about the current Cloud9 superteam, previous iterations of Cloud9, and some of the surprises from the first week of the LCS. Remember to check out the latest episode of "Let's Go" from Opening Day of the LCS on the Youtube channel: • Super Teams, Super Rookies, and Super... 0:00 - Intro 1:34 - Week 1 impressions 7:00 - Cloud9 10:05 - FlyQuest 15:26 - NRG 18:38 - Reflections on the LCS as a product 21:24 - Blaber reflects on his career 25:27 - C9 systems & culture 28:28 - The current C9 team 38:17 - Blaber’s ideal mid laner 43:48 - What Blaber is looking forward to w/ this team 46:18 - Blaber on Sniper 58:24 - Who surprised Blaber the most so far? 1:03:40 - Playing on the live patch

0:00 Intro 0:48 Podcast and Let's Go announcement 4:06 LCS Updates 8:25 C9 13:32 NRG 15:35 TL 19:07 FLY 21:40 SR 23:42 DIG,100,IMT

What an amazing six weeks of Worlds in Korea. It’s been a pleasure experiencing this event as an analyst and as a fan. Thank you all for tuning in! And don’t forget to check out the last Worlds episode of “Let’s Go” over on the LCS Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/lcs 0:00 - Intro, Worlds ended yesterday. Reflections on Faker. 5:45 - Did Faker’s Summer Split Injury help T1 achieve these heights? 8:57 - The T1 vs WBG Finals Drafts 15:38 - Reviewing all of T1’s World Championships 18:38 - T1 and WBG players in this Finals 29:53 - What’s next for this T1 team? 34:06 - Worlds Recap 37:37 - Thank Yous

This week we are joined by the one and only Huni, who stopped by to chat about what it was like playing on the T1 team with Faker, his Worlds Finals predictions, and who is currently in the running to be the second greatest of all time. Huni also took me on a tour of T1 HQ in this week's "Let's Go" episode over on the LCS Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/lcs There will be one more episode after Worlds, so be sure to check it out. And to keep up with what Huni is up to, head over to his stream: http://www.twitch.tv/huni 0:00 - Intro, we’re at T1 HQ! 3:07 - Faker & T1 history 10:48 - T1 this year 18:24 - Worlds bot meta 20:25 - TheShy 23:40 - Xiaohu 25:05 - Crisp 26:40 - JDG & the Golden Road 28:23 - Welcome, Huni! Top lane GOAT discussion 31:04 - Huni on T1 vs JDG Semifinals 35:32 - Playing on a team w/ Faker in 2017 46:16 - Faker through the years 48:11 - WBG Coach Daeny (former T1 coach) 50:09 - T1 now and pressure of playing in Korea again. Finals preview 56:30 - Caster Jun and why T1’s Finals qualification is so meaningful to fans 59:50 - Would Xiaohu be the 2nd Greatest if he wins? 01:01:33 - How has Faker been so good for the past 10 years? 01:04:38 - Win Conditions for Weibo & T1 01:10:03 - Huni’s 1st Worlds (2015)

Emily Rand dropped by to chat about the upcoming Worlds Semifinals with 3 LPL teams and the remaining LCK team who has the chance to win in Korea again, something that hasn't been done since 2014. And don't forget to check out "Let's Go", a weekly video series where I take you behind-the-scenes at the 2023 World Championship over on the LCS Youtube channel! http://www.youtube.com/lcs 0:00 - Intro, quick thoughts on Quarters: NRG vs WBG 9:29 - GenG vs BLG 14:04 - JDG vs KT 16:50 - T1 vs LNG 19:31 - Emily’s here! 21:20 - Emily’s highlight moment of Quarters 23:27 - NRG 31:00 - TheShy 34:56 - Weibo Gaming 37:43 - Chovy 44:27 - Semis: BLG vs WBG 46:01 - JDG and KT, T1 and LNG 53:18 - Semis: T1 vs JDG 57:58 - Semis predictions

Damonte joined me this week on our train to Busan after NRG's big win last weekend. 0:00 - Intro, we’re on a train (to Busan)! 1:59 - End of the line: Cloud9 7:19 - End of the line: G2 10:23 - End of the line: DPlus 12:06 - Quarters Preview: BLG vs Gen.G 16:50 - Quarters Preview: JDG vs KT 20:31 - Quarters Preview: T1 vs LNG 25:33 - Quarters Preview: NRG vs WBG 26:20 - Damonte’s here! 29:39 - NA’s Groups history and how NRG is different 37:00 - G2 vs NRG 42:35 - NA talent 49:59 - Does public sentiment affect roster signings? 52:34 - NRG’s culture this year Don't forget to check out my weekly Worlds videos, "Let's Go," on the LCS Youtube channel, where I take you behind the scenes at the World Championship, following the LCS teams and taking in the sights and sounds of each stop in Korea: http://www.youtube.com/lcs

Zven dropped by to chat about the first week of Swiss Stage! 0:00 - Intro, top moments of Swiss Stage W1 4:16 - Champ select trends 10:18 - Thoughts on Swiss Stage format 14:39 - The emotion of EU vs NA: NRG vs G2 31:57 - Cloud9 vs Fnatic 37:44 - Weibo Gaming vs MAD Lions, Dplus vs GAM, KT vs LNG, T1 vs BLG 45:37 - Welcome Zven! 46:57 - OG Niels - 2015 48:20 - Social media’s effects on Worlds competition 50:03 - G2 Zven - 2016 52:24 - Zven’s thoughts on Swiss Stage format, NRG’s draw, and EU vs NA 59:38 - Facing T1 1:10:52 - TL’s year 1:19:44 - on Cloud9’s upcoming series vs Fnatic

I'm back and I'm at Worlds in Korea! I caught up with Contractz ahead of NRG's first game at Worlds to get his thoughts on returning to the international stage after 6 years and this year's Worlds competition. Be sure to check out my weekly Worlds videos, "Let's Go," on the LCS Youtube channel, where I take you behind the scenes at the World Championship, following the LCS teams and taking in the sights and sounds of each stop in Korea: http://www.youtube.com/lcs Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 1:58 - Looking back to Worlds 2017, Contractz’s rookie year 4:47 - C9 vs WE Quarterfinals 7:08 - How has the competition changed from then until now - from scrims to players 9:52 - NRG Finals win 12:51 - Expectations going into Worlds 16:52 - Thoughts on Weibo Gaming draw 18:28 - NA’s chances at Worlds: Cloud9 20:48 - NA’s chances at Worlds: Team Liquid 22:44 - Regions’ advancements out of Groups, by the numbers - Korean teams didn’t perform well the last time Worlds was in Korea. 26:00 - Best teams at Worlds 32:38 - Cuzz vs Peanut

Sorry for the slow uploads lately. Life's been very busy! Hope y'all enjoy this episode. Also apologies for the occasional noise gating -- will fix for next time. Dog instagram -- why uploads have been slow https://www.instagram.com/hey.kubo/?hl=en Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 1:00 FLY 9:27 100T 13:20 EG 16:40 C9 23:18 TL 23:40 TSM 27:30 CLG 33:18 GG

Timestamps 0:00 Intro 1:05 TSM 10:04 CLG 17:15 C9 25:58 FLY 34:50 100T 41:55 EG 45:30 TL

Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 6:30 EG 11:06 C9 12:48 TL 17:50 FLY 21:30 100T 27:28 DIG 28:55 CLG 30:33 GG 31:51 IMT 33:20 TSM

Timestamps 0:00 Intro 3:12 Game 1 12:49 Game 2 23:18 Game 3 31:56 Game 4 Grades Game 1: Gen(S,S,S,S,S+) DRX(B,C+,B-,B,B) Game 2: Gen(B,B-,C,B,B) DRX(A+,B,S+,B+,A) Game 3: Gen(C,C,C,A,B) DRX(S,S,S+,A+,S) Game 4: GEN(B+,C,C+,A+,C+) DRX(B+,B+,A+,A+,A+) #worlds #lolesports #leagueoflegends #chovy #deft

Emily Rand's 369 Draw my LPL Life https://twitter.com/leagueofemily/status/1586526870333431813?s=20&t=y5OPw8dKzXczJL_dnm8k_w Caedrel's T1 WORLDS TEASER https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwF6pZRHoaw&ab_channel=Caedrel Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 3:52 Game 1 14:48 Game 2 23:56 Game 3 35:40 Game 4 Player ratings: Game 1 grades: T1 (B,B-,A,A+,A+) JDG (S,S,A,B+,B+) Game 2 grades: T1 (S, B+,S, A+,A+) JDG (B,B+,C+, B-,B) Game 3 grades: T1 (B,A,S+,S,S) JDG (S,B,B,C,C+) Game 4 grades: T1 (A+,A+,S,S,S+) JDG (B-,C,C,C-,C) #worlds #t1 #faker #lolesports #jdg

Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 3:33 Game 1 14:54 Game 2 24:25 Game 3 32:00 Game 4 41:06 Game 5 48:12 Final Thoughts on the weekend Player Grades: Game 1: DRX: (B-,B,A,B-,B-) EDG: (S,A,S+,B+,B+) Game 2: DRX: (B-,B,A,A,B+) EDG: (B,B,A,S,B) Game 3: DRX: (A,A,S,S+,B) EDG: (B-,A,B,B,B) Game 4: DRX: (B+,S,S,A,A) EDG: (C+,B-,B-,A,B) Game 5: DRX: (B,B,S+,S,A) EDG: (C+,A-,C-,S+,B) #worlds #lolesports #leagueoflegends #EDG #DRX #zeka

Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 5:05 Game 1 14:42 Game 2 22:22 Game 3 29:25 Game 4 35:50 Game 5 Player Grades: Game 1: GEN: (B,B,S,S,A+) DK: (A,S,B,C,C) Game 2: GEN: (B+,B+,S,A,B) DK: (B,B,S,B+,B) Game 3: GEN:(B-,B-,B,C+,C+) DK: (S,B,S+,S,A+) Game 4: GEN: (B-,C,B,B,B) DK: (S,S+,A,S,S) Game 5: GEN: (B,B,S+,S+,B) DK: (A+,S+,B+,A+,B) #Worlds #leagueoflegends #lolesports #DWG #GENG

Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 5:50 Game 1 16:10 Game 2 28:14 Game 3 Player Grades: (Top/Jungle/Mid/ADC/Sup) Game 1: T1: (S/S/B/A/A) RNG: (B/B-/A/B/B) Game 2: T1: (C/C+/B+/S+/S) RNG: (S/S/C-/B/B) Game 3: T1: (A/A/B/A+/S) RNG: (C/C/B-/A/B-)

Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 5:05 Game 1 16:26 Game 2 24:27 Game 3

Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 9:57 NA Expectations 33:27 Should NA just work harder 41:23 QF preview