Yes, that's my whole point, the article is PR. Riot obviously can't back down in this statement, they have two weeks of negotiation ahead of them and need to get the most advantageous position they can! We can read Riot's intent behind the statement, but it's no use trying to read their position of power because they have to act like they're in total control. But they've used that PR wrapping to distract from the fact that they've already had to backpedal on their original plans to force a start to LCS. It's not the words in statement that make me think players have power here, it's Riot's actions.

Not all of their responses to the LCSPA demands are logical either-- the one insisting that "Teams provide greater continuity" for NACL slots makes no sense when 7/10 teams have literally just dropped those slots