#wildturtle

[enarratives]

Happy Canada Day!

Discussions about regionalism in esports tend to be fairly reductive - this is especially true in the LCS, where "local" talent can often be reduced to Americans and American culture. Despite its many flaws, Canada has a vibrant history and flourishing esport industry in its own right. Here's every LCS talent and player that I could find evidence for that originated from Canada.

To celebrate Canada Day, I'd highly encourage you to donate to the Canadian Red Cross in order to help those affected by the wildfires in Alberta and Eastern Canada.

TSM Chime - Victoria, British Columbia

Jatt - Alberta

Raz - Calgary, Alberta

GGS Licorice - Calgary, Alberta

EG Jojopyun - Toronto, Ontario

TSM WildTurtle - Toronto, Ontario

Azael - Kingston, Ontario

DIG Diamond - Quebec City, Quebec

FLY Vulcan - Laval, Quebec

[thetoxicgamer]

Dot Esports’ 2023 LCS Summer Split preseason power rankings

The second half of the season is on, despite weeks of uncertainty and scepticism over the likelihood that League of Legends will be played in North America this summer. On June 8, when the league and its Players Association reached an agreement about the future of tier-two League in North America, the player-instigated walkout of the LCS season came to an end. The regularly scheduled competition is back in full swing, with clubs scheduled to compete on a three-match-day schedule to make up for missed time due to the strike, even though negotiations are anticipated to continue throughout the Summer Split. Almost every team in the LCS is coming into the Summer Split with a different roster than the one they fielded in the spring. The only two teams to not change their rosters were the two who represented North America at MSI—Cloud9 and Golden Guardians. Beyond them, rosters across the league were struck by free agent signings, one-for-one swaps, and even retirements.  With the LCS beginning on June 14, we ranked each of the squads heading into the Summer Split. Here are our 2023 LCS Summer Split preseason power rankings.  Summer rankingTeamSpring Split finish1) Cloud9Champions2)FlyQuestThird place3)Golden GuardiansRunners-up4)100 ThievesSixth place5)Team LiquidEighth place6)NRGFifth place7)Evil GeniusesFourth place8)TSMSeventh place9)Dignitas10th place10)ImmortalsNinth place 10) Immortals After finishing one game above last place in the Spring Split and failing to make any pendulum-swinging free agent signings before the summer, we’re comfortable placing Immortals at the bottom of our pre-split power rankings. The biggest question mark for Immortals will be the signing of support Treatz, who hasn’t played pro League since last August and has not been a part of a roster with a winning record since 2020.  9) Dignitas Last split, Dignitas stunned the LCS community by finishing in last place with an abysmal 3-15 record, even though they had experienced players like Santorin, Jensen, and Armut come through during the previous offseason. This time around, there still isn’t much faith in the legacy organization, even though it picked up former Heroes of the Storm icon and NiP top laner Lee “Rich” Jae-won to bolster its roster. If Dignitas fail to show any signs of improvement in terms of cohesion in the first couple of weeks, it might be another long split for this team’s fan base. 8) TSM After Reginald confirmed in May that TSM is looking to leave the LCS for another tier-one region, it became clear that fans are witnessing the final dying gasps of a once-legendary organization. TSM’s League division has become a shell of itself in its final seasons, and this summer, the team will need more than a miracle to break into the upper echelon of the league. This mishmash roster features familiar vets like Hauntzer and WildTurtle and journeyman imports like Ruby and Bugi—and they aren’t doing much to instill confidence in the TSM faithful. 7) Evil Geniuses Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Once heralded as the next great dynasty in North American League, Evil Geniuses has managed to fumble its riches, shake up its fan base, and is now fielding a roster that is a far cry from the powerhouse it had only a season ago. On paper, the roster isn’t too bad, but Revenge, Armao, Jojopyun, Unforgiven, and Eyla are all either looking to bounce back from a down season or trying to make an impact on a roster that has plenty of big shoes to fill. 6) NRG Despite NRG owner Andy Miller promising to keep the entire League infrastructure of this team intact when ownership shifted hands between CLG and NRG in April, the squad rolls into the Summer Split with a fresh-faced bot lane pairing of FBI and IgNar—and maybe that’s for the best. The two veterans give NRG an immediate upgrade at both AD carry and support and could elevate the roster past another sixth-place finish. Alternatively, the shake-up could negatively affect the chemistry of a roster that seemed poised to finally put it all together after three splits together.  5) Team Liquid Last split, Team Liquid failed to live up to the grand expectations that were placed on their shoulders after signing a defending world champion in Pyosik and a superstar top laner in Summit and pairing them with one of the greatest players in the region’s history, CoreJJ. With a disappointing 8-10 record behind them, this team has had plenty of time to not only build more chemistry among their players but also adjust their game plan alongside rookies Yeon and Haeri. With enough time and patience, Liquid should be able to find the right fit for all of their pieces and possibly become a dark horse challenger when the postseason rolls around. 4) 100 Thieves 100 Thieves had a disappointing start to the year and immediately lost its biggest veteran in Bjergsen and biggest prospect in Tenacity during the mid-season roster shuffle. One retired after 11 seasons and the other retired after one split—are you seeing the problem yet?  100T have plenty of up-in-the-air variables coming into the Summer Split, the biggest of them being new mid laner Quid. The Korean import has only played two matches above the Challenger level in his two-year career and is taking up the mid lane mantle for an organization that has struggled to find a permanent answer there for years. While other roles like top lane and jungle have been reliably held down by Ssumday and Closer—the former of which is making his return to 100T after one split away from the team—the mid lane position at 100T has played host to a revolving door of talent. If the 19-year-old Quid evolves into even a shadow of a franchise player, it would be a victory for 100T. This year, the LCS is getting an extra slot at Worlds in the form of a ticket to a fourth-place play-in game against the LEC’s fourth-place squad. That’s a situation this low-ceiling-high-floor 100 Thieves team has no reason to miss out on, regardless of how many question marks they might have.  3) Golden Guardians Photo by Robert Paul/Riot Games via Flickr Golden Guardians have easily been the most pleasant surprise of the season thus far. Between a seven-game winning streak, LCS Finals run, and an against-all-odds, franchise-first international berth at MSI, the team has been one of the easiest to root for across the entire League global scene this season. After seeing them hold their own at MSI—even taking eventual runners-up Bilibili Gaming to a last-game scenario—Golden Guardians proved they’re a worthy representative for North America on the international stage. We like them to finish third in the split and head to Worlds as a respectable threat for NA.  2) FlyQuest Photo by Colin Young-Wolff via Riot Games After falling flat in the spring postseason against Golden Guardians, FlyQuest will be returning to the stage with a vengeance, joined by arguably the best support in the region as the team’s newest weapon of war for the summer. Vulcan will be adding his firepower alongside one of the best AD carries in the region, Prince. The rest of the team hasn’t changed, and if they can continue to build on the successes they found last spring, the rest of the league might be in trouble—even the No. 1 team on our list. 1) Cloud9 How can you argue against Cloud9? C9 are fresh off their fourth LCS championship in as many years and are only one of two teams in the league to not make any roster moves coming into the second half of the year. Time and again, C9’s lineup of all-stars have proven that they can win titles, clean house on the All-Pro team, and consistently outclass the rest of the league. It’s going to be hard to outdo the 23-6 game record that C9 put up in the Spring Split, but if any team has proven that they can set the bar higher split after split, it’s this one.   Read the full article

[naturemanmike]

Eastern Painted Turtle #turtle #turtles #turtlesofinstagram #easternpaintedturtle #paintedturtle #reptile #reptiles #turtlewhisperer #nature_photo #wildturtle #nature_perfection #nature_lovers #naturephotography #turtleturtle #naturelove #naturelover #global4nature #nature_shooters #nature_seekers #nature_up_close #naturehippys_ #yourshotphotographer #turtlegram #naturephotographer #turtlelover #savetheturtles #nature_captures #turtlelove #naturehippys_ #nature_cuties (at Houghton's Pond) https://www.instagram.com/p/CF4h0yhA5j-/?igshid=1tdvqhu50vijy

[capecodadventurepictures]

Box Turtle at Breivogel Ponds Conservation Area, East Falmouth 08/06/20 #turtle #turtles #turtlesofinstagram #turtle🐢 #boxturtle #boxturtlesofinstagram #wildlife #wildlifephotography #turtlephotography #naturephotography #capecod #capecodturtle #capecodwildlife #capecodinstagram #capecodphotography #breivogalpondsconservationarea #falmouth #falmouthma #burgleyourturts #wildturtle (at Falmouth, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDlor40Hjg8/?igshid=17prc3iyt71zl

[kaybeans]

David found a turtle on our little adventure today

[ninget]

bjerg gifs ☆彡

[lys-jeorge]

I would like to take a moment to thank Wildturtle and Pobelter for being the newest additions to my “OMG League and BTS crossovers sksjksjskjsjks” Hall of Fame. Why do I enjoy this so much?

[michaelbryantphotography]

Call me the turtle whisperer! 😎🐢 😁 www.MichaelBryantPhotography.com #turtle #turtles #turtlesofinstagram #commonsnappingturtle #snappingturtle #reptile #reptiles #turtlewhisperer #bigturtle #wildturtle #nature_prefection #nature_lovers #naturephotography #naturevideo #naturelove #naturelover #nature_good #nature_shooters #nature_seekers #nature_up_close #turtleman #turtlepower #lgv30plus #naturephotographer #video #nature_cuties #nature_captures #awesomeness #pondlife #becareful

[league-of-wtf]

*cries a little bit in the distance and shakes fist angrily in riot’s direction* You did that to IMT, Riot!

[incorrectlcs]

Hai: So, Bjergsen is the person I’ve been seeing recently.

Bjergsen: Why are you all looking at me like I’m a zoo animal?

Balls: Well, Hai acts as sort of the mom of the group, so emotionally, this is kind of like being told that you’re our new mom.

Bjergsen: But you know it’s nothing like that, right?

Wildturtle: Absolutely. Do you cook macaroni?

[love-kt-rolster]

[thetoxicgamer]

Former LCS Champion Top Laner Makes Return to TSM’s Starting Lineup for Playoff Push

The current North American League of Legends environment is now filled with even more seasoned talent from throughout the history of professional League of Legends thanks to a last-minute alteration to a roster in the LCS. Prior to the start of the second day of week eight of the 2023 LCS Spring Split, TSM announced that veteran player and current TSM Challengers top laner Kevin “Hauntzer” Yarnell will be starting for the main roster in today’s game against Dignitas. While the LCS team have had their ups and downs throughout the split, they have not yet qualified for the Spring Playoffs bracket, with only today and tomorrow left to turn their luck around. https://twitter.com/tsmreport/status/1636457655815249930 Hauntzer has been a part of TSM as an organization for more than half of his professional career. He first joined the roster in late 2015 for the 2016 Spring Split, where he sought to make an immediate impact alongside fellow notable names such as Bjergsen and Doublelift—then going on to win a title with the org that summer. He has since competed alongside Golden Guardians and TSM Academy, now serving as the organization’s Challengers League top laner. This is the first time that Hauntzer and WildTurtle, former teammates on TSM recognized as some of the most renowned players in the history of the LCS, have competed alongside one another since April 2017. Since then, the paths of the two players have split, with both venturing in and out of the LCS main stage and Academy circuits. This follows a crushing defeat that TSM suffered at the hands of 100 Thieves yesterday, having nearly complete control of the early game but losing their synergy as the game progressed. Though mid laner Maple had a stellar performance on Aurelion Sol, only WildTurtle served as the team’s other source of damage, with Solo, Bugi, and Chime ending with negative KDAs. It is unclear if TSM will keep Haunzter as its active LCS top laner tomorrow on the final day of the regular season before the playoffs begin. Read the full article

[lcs-player-aesthetics]

LCS Player Aesthetic - FLY Wildturtle 

And I flew to California Thought I could leave Every piece of you right here Yeah I flew to California Still wide awake Oh the sun burned it on clear

(Requested by @enmasque)

[naturemanmike]

Eastern Painted Turtle basking at @massaudubon Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary. 🐢 #turtle #turtles #turtlesofinstagram #easternpaintedturtle #paintedturtle #reptile #reptiles #turtlewhisperer #broadmoorwildlifesanctuary #wildturtle #nature_perfection #nature_lovers #naturephotography #turtleturtle #naturelove #naturelover #global4nature #nature_shooters #nature_seekers #nature_up_close #naturehippys_ #turtlepower #turtlegram #naturephotographer #turtlelover #massaudubon #nature_captures #turtlelove #usa_naturehippys #turtleshell (at Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0ZSwN1gNxP/?igshid=gzzzg5ch4irt

[lustlol]

@TeamSoloMid: Happy Thursday! Here’s a throwback 

who remembers this squad?!

[prettyhoons]

“There's definitely no perfection, and every week you can definitely improve on something. I always have something to improve on, and I think everyone on the team always has something to improve on, so we're always going to keep getting better.”

Part 11 of the League Bias Challenge!

My biases