State of the League

Between work, PAX Easter, IPL4 and general laziness, we've been slacking on all those little community things that people like. Love, even!

I'm not going to promise we'll get better. In fact, it's probably safer to promise we'll get worse before we get better. BUT THERE WILL BE NO PROMISES!

It's been way too long since we gave you a Last Hits, and a price was definitely paid for it this morning. You've probably seen some of this, but did you catch it all? Now is your chance.

Good luck.

• IPL4 totally happened, with most the big names in North America in attendance. Catch the VODs here if you missed some of the games, because there were some truly memorable moments along the way.
• Speaking of IPL4, a few TSM members recorded new vlogs after the tournament: Xpecial, Dyrus, Chaox and TheOddOne.
• The Rain Man, recently departed from the TSM gaming house, recorded a new vlog from his Florida apartment.
• Via Reddit, Alex Ich hosted an AMA, which will always feel weird for me to abbreviate since people asked him questions, not me.
• After IPL, Dyrus also went down the AMA path. See above for minor gripe.
• CLG's Snoopeh gave us his first and second vlogs. Watch 'em for the accent, people.
• Prior to IPL4, ESL caught up with Dignitas' L0CUST to talk about the team's tournament prep.
• The Los Angeles Times' Alex Pham wrote about League of Legends and competitive gaming, which included conversation with HotshotGG.
• ggChronicle's JohnADreams talked about Counter Logic Gaming's performance at IPL4, noting how the team's play regularly differs from its contemporaries.
• In a three-part series, Reign of Gaming's Tuck359 graded the teams (three links) of IPL.
• Stonewall updated the jungle tier list for the Hecarim era. Well, sort of.
• DiffTheEnder took a look at the mental barriers within League of Legends, aiming to help players better assess their own play in order to overcome their opponents.
• If you're itching for patch notes and have been inattentive to the PBE, Moobeat has you covered. Nothing's guaranteed, but it gives a sense for the direction of the next patch.
• The blogging team SK Gaming managed to get several interviews with League pros. If you missed them, they include interviews with Saintvicious, Nyjacky, CandyPanda, Ocelote and Nyph.
• SK's Shark3d wondered if rune pages could be locked to champs rather than a finite number per summoner, and sjokz took a look at the gender discrepancies in League of Legends.
• Shark3d also continued his Playing to Win series, with articles on smart settings, playmaking and runes.
• And in case SK didn't write enough for your tastes, Exodus885 discussed psychological biases and Leethal wrote the syllabus for mid lane 101.
• Dignitas' blogging team caught its own interviews, including conversations with Krepo, Jason Lake, Xpecial, Yell0w, Extinkt, Pooksie, Araneae, Spellsy and Wickd.
• The blogging team didn't stop with interviews. Several articles were produced: the effect of morale, freezing the lane, on modern esports, champion skillcaps, tips for better play, rare competitive picks, top lane mechanics, on raising map awareness, the necessity of replays and the mindset of your support.
• Renekton Bot took a pre-release look at Hecarim.
• Regards talked about the League of Legends shoutcasting scene.
• And there've been myriad shows and podcasts while we've been away. Here are some: Chaudown ep. 1 and ep. 2; ColbyCheeze commentaries; In the Zone ep. 18;  LoLPod ep. 37 and ep. 38; Saintvicious dailies ep. 1, ep. 2, ep. 3, ep. 5, ep. 6, ep. 7, ep. 8, ep. 9 or 10, ep. 11; State of the League ep.29 ; Trinity Force Podcast ep. 22, ep. 23 and ggClassic bonus; UELL ep. 1, ep. 2, ep. 3; Ult in 10 ep. 14 and ep. 15