...Oh. Well then.

Today's editorial cartoon is about IEM and the continued withdrawal of teams from the event.

With over $150,000 in the prize pool just for League of Legends, IEM Katowice 2017 is probably the second most well-known global tournament for League of Legends (next to the World Championship). However, this year had been especially tough for IEM, as many teams either declined to participate in the event or have even withdrawn from the tournament just days before the event.

It sounds puzzling at first; after all, why would you cancel your chance at fame and fortune? However, when looking at the cost of participating, the situation starts to make sense. A team would have to spend about a week overseas, during the middle of other domestic leagues that have more prizes down the line and are directly linked to the World Championship. The teams might believe that it will be more beneficial in the long run to rest and prepare for the second half of the season instead of participating in IEM.

Perhaps the biggest controversy arising from this is the withdrawal of EDward Gaming less than a week away from the tournament. Thankfully, IEM dodged a bullet by quickly finding a replacement team - Hong Kong Esports of LMS. While the exact cause of the withdrawal is still being debated, one thing is for sure: IEM isn't a high priority for a lot of teams.

Amidst all this noise, poor IEM has been stuck in the middle. This probably wasn't what the organizers had in mind when they planned the tournament, and with the team roster constantly shifting, they might have been better off not announcing the roster at all. However, we certainly cannot blame the teams for not participating either. Also, considering how the 'cost' of participating in IEM is quite high, just pouring more money into the prize pool probably won’t make the teams change their minds.

Perhaps, a more feasible solution lies with Riot Games -  they could consider giving some incentives to the teams that place highly in third-party tournaments. Of course, this would mean that Riot Games would need to overhaul their World Championship system so that it can accommodate third-party tournament winners. However, the draw of the tournament will definitely be greater for both the teams and the fans.

IEM Katowice 2017 is only a few days away. Despite all the issues surrounding it, we hope that people will still visit IEM's party and have fun watching the games. After all, it's still a high-level competition between some of the best teams in the world; with enough popularity, Riot Games might reconsider the importance of third-party tournaments.