Infamous streamer Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp has lost to Riot Games yet again.
He said on stream yesterday he would play a one-vs-one League of Legends match against an unnamed Riot employee, revealed today to be Nathan “Blaustoise” Blau. Blaustoise is the gameplay insights lead for Riot, meaning he works closely with the balance team.
This was the match of the century. Tyler1, the champion of marksmen players everywhere, rank 99 Challenger tier. Blaustoise, the face of Riot Games, essentially evil personified, Platinum III. Tyler was going to stand up for ADC mains who had their roles taken from them, once and for all. He would destroy the incarnation of the Riot balance team that had taken away his favorite role, simultaneously getting sweet, sweet revenge for his permaban that ended earlier this year.
Tyler had everything going for him, until he didn’t.
The match started off with a Yasuo mirror match. Blaustoise’s most played champion this year is the rogue swordsman, so beating Blaustoise on his own champion would have been perfect for Tyler.
Then Blaustoise hit level three. He all-inned Tyler and killed him before the three minute mark.
Tyler bounced back in the second game, winning the Irelia match-up. Things were looking up for the people’s hero.
Game three was intense, with Tyler getting off to an early lead. He almost killed Blaustoise, but failed to do enough damage through Nullfiying Orb. Right after the five minute mark Tyler was completely outplayed by the Riot employee. Audible cheers from Blaustoise’s microphone could be heard as other Rioters celebrated the win.
Now that Tyler has lost, ADC mains everywhere should just uninstall League. The champion of the marksmen has fallen, and with him are any and all dreams of a better tomorrow. The upcoming gold reductions to crit items on the PBE? Meaningless, without star ADC Tyler1 himself at the helm.
Joking aside, this match is an amazing way for both parties to promote themselves. For Tyler, losing might have even been better for his popularity. Many more people are talking about his defeat than they might have been if he won. On the other hand, Riot has an easy way to promote their flagship game. By participating in a show match with one of League’s foremost content creators, Blaustoise paints Riot as a company willing to engage with the community.
Even so, this match would be inconceivable just a year ago. In October of 2017, former Riot employee Aaron “Riot Sanjuro” Rutledge said the League community would be “gucci” if Tyler died of testicular cancer. It’s good to see that both Tyler and Riot have been able to move on from the past.
