AD carry for Karmine Corp Elias “Upset” Lipp has called out the League of Legends EMEA Championship casters for overly criticizing him and his past LEC Split performances during the LEC 2024 Summer Split match between KC and Mad Lions KOI on June 9.
Upset expressed his displeasure in a post on X (formerly Twitter) today, stating casters often provide “no nuance” and believing those on the broadcast lean into “just shitting on people when they are in a bad moment.” Upset went on to say that such actions can affect a player’s career, with a lack of empathy or consideration for a player as a human being.
Esports casters have a unique role: They must call play-by-plays, break down strategies, and analyze the game and players while games are live. Unfortunately, casters can sometimes over-criticize or make comments without context which can ruffle some feathers—and this is what Upset believes happened.
During the 2024 LEC Summer Split match between KC and MDK, a tweet was read on air that said MDK’s Supa needed to prove himself. Vedius responded that while he wasn’t trying to throw shade, Supa made finals in his very first split, while Upset has been in 10th place three times in a row. By that, he referred to KC’s 10th place position in the 2024 spring and winter splits as well as Vitality’s 10th place position in the 2023 summer split. Upset was the AD carry across all three seasons.
To some, Vedius’ words forced a narrative in which listeners might see this as Upset being the reason for KC and Team Vitalty’s 10th-place positions during the past three LEC Splits, and it doesn’t look good for Upset. Thus, it’s understandable why he was bothered by this negative narrative.
Vedius apologized for his comment, reflecting that he missed the mark while trying to balance fun, criticism, and analysis and didn’t mean to create a narrative that would hurt anyone. Upset remarked on this apology that he had no hard feelings and wished they were “viewed with some empathy.”
But League fans have a different take on this situation. Some believe that casters should be calling out players more for their bad plays and that if pro players want a different narrative, they should, as one fan commented, “shut up, [and] prove it with [their] game. Get to the playoff and we will shut up.”
Although there are different viewpoints on this situation, it appears both Upset and Vedius have moved on. That said, we’ll see what impact this incident has on how the broadcast approaches criticizing teams and players as the LEC Summer Split continues on June 10.
