Richard Lewis, Thorin, and MonteCristo are joined by retired former Challenger player Yasukeh to discuss Riot Vanguard: Riot Games's anti-cheat used for VALORANT, League of Legends, and Teamfight Tactics. Further topics include the intrusiveness levels of kernel-level anti-cheat systems, Riot's claims on why Vanguard is needed, Reddit Moderators deleting comments and threads discussing Vanguard, and more.

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Richard Lewis, Thorin, MonteCristo, and guest Phillip Aram continue the mini-series "The EG Files" by discussing Phillip's history with Evil Geniuses, the successes and struggles of their iconic DOTA team, the effects of the org splitting from Twitch and Amazon, difficulty in gaining sponsors and investment, the reasons why Peak6 was eventually chosen to support the org, and more.

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Richard Lewis, Thorin, and MonteCristo begin the mini-series "The EG Files" by discussing how Evil Geniuses was formed, the team's time in Quake, Starcraft 2, and early Counter-Strike, Alex Garfield's cut-throat rise in power, EG's spike in popularity with signing players like HuK & IdrA, their handling of media, their Twitch era, and more.

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We check in with Tomi "Lurppis" Kovanen on the status of "esports winter" as we head into the second year of budget cuts, layoffs, lack of sponsorship interest, and more. The Horsemen discuss the changes in the landscape, particularly the money flowing in from the Saudi government through ESL FACEIT Group and the surprising sticker returns from the Paris Major in Counter-Strike. They touch on the reinvention of Overwatch Esports, the struggles from the professional teams, and how the dissolution of the partnered leagues in Counter-Strike will upend the current order.

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Richard Lewis, Thorin, and MonteCristo are joined by Harris Peskin of ESG Law to discuss the lawsuit filed by H3CZ and Scump against Activision-Blizzard and their alleged monopoly of Call of Duty Competition. The discussion also delves into the past and potential future of organized esports competition, the monumental impact this case could make on U.S. law, esports and video games in general, why other game publishers, like Nintendo and Riot Games, could get involved.

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Richard Lewis, Thorin, and MonteCristo are joined by Dan "Foxdrop" Wyatt to discuss the mass layoffs at Riot Games & Activision Blizzard, the layoffs' effects on the LEC as a product, experiences working with people at Riot and Activision Blizzard, and the bleak future of working in the esports industry.

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Evil Geniuses and Golden Guardians have suddenly left the LCS, League of Legends' North American professional league, leaving only 8 team remaining out of the original 10 franchise slots. Former GM of Golden Guardians and long-time esports manager Danan Flander joins the Horsemen to discuss how we arrived at this moment and what it means in the broader context of the ongoing "esports winter." Is the LCS in a doom spiral or will this help boost interest in the league with fewer bottom-tier matches? The hosts discuss the disparate goals of EG and GGS that led to the same conclusion to leave, but with wildly different reasoning behind the decision.

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The Overwatch League suffered another wave of layoffs this week and news broke that Activision-Blizzard will pay teams $6 million to abandon their franchise slots at the end of the current season. It appears that the era of the Overwatch League has ended, so Harsha Bandi, former professional coach for the San Francisco Shock, Vancouver Titans, and Houston Outlaws, joins the show to discuss the highs and lows of OWL over the years. The Horsemen cover the ambitious goals and lavish spending that defined the first two years of OWL, followed by the sudden arrival of the COVID pandemic, which arguably extended the lifespan of the league by several years. While Overwatch League undoubtedly failed to realize its potential, it changed the esports industry forever and could have had a brighter future had it taken a more moderate approach in the early days.

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Riot has eliminated the requirement for the North American LCS teams to field amateur rosters, which left many questioning the future development of talent in the region. LCS Players' Association leader Phillip Aram joins the horsemen to discuss the group's demands to Riot and the possibility of a player walk-out at the start of the Summer Split. The discussion focuses on Riot's lies to the LCSPA about their commitment to the academy system, the best ways to support rising professional talent, and the ramifications for the future of League of Legends esports.

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Aleksandar "kassad" Trifunović, professional Counter-Strike coach and analyst, joins the Horsemen to discuss the issues with the talent announcement and the lead-up to the final CS:GO Major hosted by BLAST. They discuss the competitive integrity issues that plagues the qualifying RMRs, the lack of key historic talent at the event to close out the Global Offensive era, the puzzling addition of Jake Lucky, and more.

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