DSG has joined the NACL. We’re saved.
Disguised Toast’s foray into League of Legends is a godsend for the LCS, and I got to hear his thoughts about the NACL and why he got into the league.
Riot recently delivered the first good news the LCS has had for months — DSG, the esports org founded by OfflineTV’s Disguised Toast, will join the NACL this summer. Fans have been calling for DSG to start a League of Legends team since the NACL exodus, and we finally got our wish.
I want to be clear: I’ve been a fan of DSG for months, so seeing this announcement was a dream come true. LCS viewership has been stagnating and older fans are starting to step away — new fans need a reason to get excited about NA LoL. DSG is exactly what we need.
Toast got his start as a professional Hearthstone player, streaming as an entertainer while competing at the highest level. He then joined OfflineTV — a streamer group founded by LCS legend Scarra — and became one of the biggest variety content creators in the world. He became one of the largest TFT and Legends of Runeterra streamers in the world while collaborating with some of League’s biggest original content creators, like Lilypichu, Shiphtur, and Scarra.
Among Us may have been his ticket to superstardom, but esports — and Riot Games — have always been at the core of his online presence.
In January, Toast acquired a team for the Valorant Challengers League Qualifiers and created the janky, cheeky, MS.Paint-y brand of “Disguised” (DSG). Toast and Tarik’s costreams of DSG’s games consistently got higher viewership than the main broadcast and helped create a sizable, consistent fanbase for the team. In April, DSG signed yay — the player widely considered the best in the world — and their popularity exploded, even as they lost every single match they played.
Despite VCT NA and LCS having similar viewership, VCL NA has over five times the viewership of the NACL, with the biggest matches being either DSG or MxM (Ludwig & MoistCritikal’s team). If Valorant was a test for the viability of creator orgs in esports, they passed with flying colors. Ibai’s KOI already proved it in the LEC — there’s no reason it won’t work here.
But how did DSG get into League of Legends so suddenly?
Having heard about the NACL news, Toast reached out to me last week, asking about my thoughts on NACL’s long-term viability and whether he could reasonably field a title-contending roster. I was blown away by his attention to detail and knowledge of the scene — we discussed everything from roster construction to NA’s international performances for over an hour.
“I heard about the news of all the orgs pulling out, [and] I felt like I could at least save a couple of jobs for these kids trying to go pro — we’re not paying that much, but hopefully it keeps a few dreams alive.”
- Disguised Toast
When I asked about his interest in LoL, Toast talked about how long he’s been a fan of LoL esports, with his favorite team being 2014 XDG with Xmithie — a team I literally had to Google. That means he’s been a fan of the LCS since I was in elementary school.
For Toast, getting a League team wasn’t an easy decision financially, but it’s something he’s doing to try and help a scene he loves. That’s not to say Toast isn’t looking to dominate, though — player development is important, but he has his sights set on the top 4 LAN finals at the Riot Games Arena.
“Would absolutely love winning, but since we can’t compete salary-wise, we’ll [also] try to focus on player development [...] We don’t have anyone locked yet [for the roster]”
- Disguised Toast
As he starts to figure out his roster, Toast knows that DSG can’t compete with the salary offered by top esports orgs, but that isn’t his plan. He’s already figured out the formula — in Valorant, he offers players the opportunity to bolster their brands, helping them grow their streams and online presence by collaborating with him and his friends in content. He still plans to create a championship roster, but by offering players brand value instead of sheer salary.
Luckily, NA has no shortage of young, entertaining talent — Spica, jojopyun, and Tenacity are fan-favorite entertainers on the LCS stage, and they all came up from the Academy system. For every one of them, there are five more future superstars who’ve yet to be noticed by the larger community. Giving those players an early platform for content is a great way to build long-term fandom.
Critics argue that content creators aren’t a sustainable path forward in esports, since they’re just around for the newest, shiniest toy — esports is great content for a while, they claim, but streamers won’t stick around in the space for long. In this case, though, LCS is definitely not a shiny new toy, and Toast isn’t getting into the NACL for fun. I hope we see other creators follow DSG’s example, just like they did in Valorant. We could use the help.
This is an opportunity to bring a huge audience to the LCS. Toast confirmed that he’ll be able to costream DSG’s matches, meaning that he’ll be easily tripling NACL’s viewership this summer. Not to mention, of course, that he’ll have guests on the show — considering that he’s friends with players like Scarra, Shiphtur, and Doublelift, the League community has a lot to look forward to.
DSG won’t be enough to fix every problem facing the LCS, but it’s a great first step — fans need something to be excited about, and new viewers need a reason to tune in. As we usher out the old, it’s time to bring in the new.