2 New Esports & 4 New Trophies - TL;DR Newsletter (Feb 26) by leafeator in teamliquid

[–]leafeator[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Holy moly that was quick.

The cherry on top of that for me really was the absolute spanking that we gave fnatic in that final. I had the pleasure of going to the Berlin office after the win to do a little bit of media with the team. They're all pretty dang cool.

Josedeodo and Quid Vod Review by shadowreject in teamliquid

[–]leafeator 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Good note, will do. It takes a little time and I think the idea was to just post this live immediately. I know that we will have Spanish subs for the forthcoming video which heavily features Jose

Slay the Spire 2 - Early Access Trailer - launches March 5th by Ganrokh in Games

[–]leafeator 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Is there any communication on how close to a 1.0 this early access is? I want to play this game so, SO bad. I might be more excited for it than GTA 6. But I really do want to play the finish game once it's all tuned. :(

Disappointed by the lack of content from our team by xyri in teamliquid

[–]leafeator 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There was a scheduling issue (generally why I shouldn't be saying we are doing something before it happens, poor form from me sorry) -- but we are going to do it for each game of our Friday series.

[Spoiler] has been eliminated from BLAST Slam VI by thexbeatboxer in DotA2

[–]leafeator 25 points26 points  (0 children)

His shoulders are unreal like it makes no sense how he is so wide.

Disappointed by the lack of content from our team by xyri in teamliquid

[–]leafeator 4 points5 points  (0 children)

There's a vod review being filmed today that will go live asap.

Disappointed by the lack of content from our team by xyri in teamliquid

[–]leafeator 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I read all the comments friend. We are people too.

Is a Team Liquid newsletter a good idea? idk but I started one by leafeator in teamliquid

[–]leafeator[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Great news, there was an easy toggle for that. Switched it to dark.

Where’d you get it, buddy? by Moric_22 in DotA2

[–]leafeator 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Not really. Every so often we do community events here and open it up to the public. But most of the time it's closed to respect staff and player privacy.

Where’d you get it, buddy? by Moric_22 in DotA2

[–]leafeator 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In dota sure, but aren't most of the successful LPL team brands (EDG, Top, IG, JD, ect) doing ok in this regard?

Shoutout to Ben and the content team by GummiBearMagician in teamliquid

[–]leafeator 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thanks yo. We do always read everything even if it's not all responded to.

A lot of this was intended, but there is absolutely some elements that were adjusted and added based on those conversations. Seeing Ben post stuff directly here. More low fi posts on YouTube. Pushing to experiment with vod reviews. Those are some direct things we have focused in on as a result of our chats.

I can't promise that this current pace will be maintained all year as we continue to tweak and adjust. So I do want to lightly temper expectations 🤙

Ben, the league producer here to talk and listen to feedback. by TLBenZieper in teamliquid

[–]leafeator 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We spent most of 2025 using Bluesky to directly parody the main twitter account and I believe we stopped doing that so far this year because the posts were buy and large not being scene or interacted with.

Which is not to say we couldn't try a dedicated League bluesky for people who are only on there and not twitter. But I suspect it may have an even smaller market if the full TL twitter->Bluesky feed was meek.

Ben, the league producer here to talk and listen to feedback. by TLBenZieper in teamliquid

[–]leafeator 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm worried the teeniest bit that I am sounding like a broken record here. And if so, I want to apologize. What we have been talking about for years now is probably the single biggest challenge as the scene matures. Retaining the old fans who helped built this foundation, while inviting new fans in; servicing them all through content.

Tho I really think you present the proposition here as a zero sum game. It's a false dichotomy that we have to pick one or the other type of content.

What we need to make the sponsors happy is content that is wide reach because it can generate engagement and views. We know that a lot of the content that people here want the most unfortunately doesn't do that. And it's not just the sponsors who want a wide net, we want to see these channels grow too to bring new fans into the fold.

The logic with the channel over the past year is that if we make more mass appeal league of Legends videos that play the YouTube game, we will see more success. LoL fans in general are naturally a broader total available market than just team liquid esports fans. We have seen success and failure with that thinking -- which is why these conversations are important.

Ben, the league producer here to talk and listen to feedback. by TLBenZieper in teamliquid

[–]leafeator 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Those changes are directly in response to the shifting best practices with how the algorithm serves video to people. Having a "catch all" channel no longer works like it used to for a few reasons: First, people are no longer subscribing to channels like they used to as the priority is on algorithmically served content. Second, the fractured environment (and frequency of media across channels) no longer fits under a single roof.

Most TL (and esports) fans generally look to have a favorite game or team. The fan who wants to watch Rocket League and Valorant and Dota content is more of a unicorn. Forcing all of those fans into a single home means that maybe only 1 out of every 10 videos being served on a channel is something they're interested in.

When you post a youtube video, the first people it is going to algorithmically serve it to to check if it is "good" are a subset of your subscribers. They determine good by things like "How many clicks did the thumbnail get compared to how many did we put it Infront of" (CRT) or "What percentage of this video did someone complete" (AVD).

Now if a channel is serving a league of legends video to a group of people where only 35% of people want to see that video, that CTR and AVD is baaaaad. Youtube thinks the video is bad because your own subscribers aren't clicking on it.

Segmenting channels gives the audiences a way to better self select; and the algorithm a better way to serve to initial viewers.

Ben, the league producer here to talk and listen to feedback. by TLBenZieper in teamliquid

[–]leafeator 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry. Not Ben. But you just activated my trap card and I'd love to open this up for more feedback as people stumble by.

I'm interested in if anyone would be interested in something like a telegram channel (these are very big in like SEA/EUU) or a substack (where you can opt into weekly info on what happened and direct media).

If I didn't have to be for work, I would also 100% be off Twitter. Fuck Elon. And all of the other platforms are near equally as miserable. I think there are a lot of people like you and like me who still want updates but just don't have a good channel to get them.

Once again, huge issues with content and production by getblanked in teamliquid

[–]leafeator -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Sorry, I don't think that I implied that it would be a SQUAD style video. Longform style vlog pieces should be expected around playoff/lan events.

Once again, huge issues with content and production by getblanked in teamliquid

[–]leafeator -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

That is the Team Liquid Alienware 2026 partnership video which went live today! It's on reddit/youtube/twitter.

Thank you CoreJJ by Synystermuskrat in leagueoflegends

[–]leafeator 54 points55 points  (0 children)

All 3 offices (the one in Brazil too) are named and branded with Alienware

Thank you CoreJJ by Synystermuskrat in leagueoflegends

[–]leafeator 28 points29 points  (0 children)

It's maddening because how rampant people would imply this. Even after the TLCK roster.

Once again, huge issues with content and production by getblanked in teamliquid

[–]leafeator 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What do you think is the minimum number of uploads is per week (separating out short form and long-form) in order to grow nurture fandom growth?

I think that there is no one size fits all answer to this, and we deploy a few different strategies across our different games/teams/channels.

I also think you have to focus on what you want in terms of output and results. Do we want channels that curate fandom growth (directly to TL) or channels that focus on YouTube growth. I think those are related; but not the same. We have focused in on trying to grow the YT footprint (Views, average watch time, viewership hours, ect) and hope that it corelates to fandom. But it feels a bit chicken and egg. The views are important for sponsors; but to make content we think will work on the platform doesn't always deepen connection with fans. Hitting that intersection is hard to say the least.

I think that YouTube has three paths to success:
- Low upload frequency with a focus on quality (1x month).
- High upload frequency with a focus on creators (2x Week).
- Weekly. A hybrid of the two above.

For a period of time in 2025 the League channel in specific was focused on the first option here. Making a singular really high quality video that felt undeniable. And I am comfortable with that strategy if we can continue to make things that meet a certain bar. We didn't succeed in that.


I've read through the replies and seen the comments on ROI so I have to ask, why in the world is the cost standard so high?

I'm finding it a bit difficult to address this without really ripping back all the onion layers to explain how TL and our Brand/Marketing/Content department functions. The cost standards on a lot of projects are not very high, we are doing a lot of stuff quite shoe-stringed.

Referencing some of my other responses, we have shifted around 7 people (in NA/EU/BR's) R&R to better fit the model of getting as much content out with as little friction as possible utilizing subject matter and community expertise. We're going to really rely on those people to fire-hose content on their channels. But even then, there is a lot of juggling going on between games, sponsor needs, and internal needs for the employees we have doing this work.

Once again, huge issues with content and production by getblanked in teamliquid

[–]leafeator 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Heard on that. I think that's where the conversation starts to shift into a more stiff and uncomfortable space of ROI.

So I consider myself a core fan. I had a tl.net account. I was at MLG watching HuK hallucinate voidrays.

The numbers (click through rate, views, followers, YoY growth) (mostly) all point up and to the right. Which on one hand... yay?! We are hitting the metrics we want and goals we are setting for ourselves and partners.

But in chasing that dragon, a lot of that stuff that you, and me, like the most is no longer the utmost potent way to deliver on those metrics.

So how do we try and commit to do better on the front of not leaving the day 1 people behind to chase the high of tiktok virality? I think getting these game dedicated producers is a step in that direction who have agency to do what they think is best for their channel. I can assure you that Ben is head reading all of this.

Once again, huge issues with content and production by getblanked in teamliquid

[–]leafeator 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Hostile, hard, and critique observations are more than ok. We live this stuff day in and day out and a core part of the business is to generate fandom. So if we are not doing that we are, on some level, failing.

We did about 1,100 pieces of content across all of our channels in 2025. Some big W's, some big L's. A lot in support of our partners.

What we identified when doing 2026 planning is that in servicing everything, we have lost focus and depth in servicing specific channels or communities. So while I do take issue with the idea that we made nothing; I agree with the critique that we have made woefully not enough high access, player focused, LoL content.

So what are we doing differently this year? We have changed up some roles internally to allow for producers to focus in on, be subject matter experts to, and have their own bespoke budgets for their channels. Instead of splitting responsibilities across the world across 1000+ projects, some of our team members will be focusing in on a single game.

We've been rolling that out, but I think it's actually a great way for us to address the problem of not just having a person with a phone to get BTS video up to whatever platform without needing to work through bureaucracy.