The personalities of the casters and analysts at Riot are well known to fans of the NA LCS. Kobe is excitable, Azael collected, and Captain Flowers is… a bit of a spaz. And Jatt has always exemplified analytical. He breaks down builds, team comps, metas, and every inch of a game into the pieces that make it a whole. While this was valuable as a caster, Riot has bumped him to full time as an analyst as they look to make League of Legends as an esport much more like a real sport.

In a recent episode of The Dive, it was revealed that Jatt would be stepping away from casting to focus full time on the analyst’s desk. While Reddit had a miniature seizure when they thought Jatt was leaving entirely, the explanation that followed helped add insight into how Riot is trying to shape the NA LCS into something comparable to what the NFL has. Jatt, who is a fan of sports, made the comparison here:

To add detail, Jatt goes on to explain how being a caster and analyst can add bias or muddle their ability to predict and discuss games, which is something Riot is hoping to focus on with Season 8. More consistent analysis as well as prediction percentage tracking should help the desk grow in skill and personality, especially as the people on the desk stay consistent split after split.

One of the things that esports as whole has severely lacked is cohesion in coverage and analysis, something we’ve already seen peeking its head in the Overwatch League. For example, in the NFL, analysts are renowned for their ability to make correct calls or spot mannerisms that give away the strategy behind a player. Recent analysts, Tony Romo, has discussed how he looks for things he saw as a player, tells that would help him predict the ebb and flow of the game.

This isn’t just something that esports has been lacking, but something it needs. The LoL Esports analysis video of Rekkles during Worlds was nothing short of stunning, and it helped explain the pressure and personality that went into a seemingly suicidal assault that Rekkles attempted and which cost his team an important game. But the analysis given to Rekkles is few and far between. Cody Sun had a similarly insane move that baffled everyone at Worlds when he essentially launched his own teammate into the enemy and then flashed into them, securing a win for the enemy team. A proper analysts desk would have been able to better predict the logic behind this or to explain if it was stress or player error that attributed to the mistake.

However it plays out, Season 8 of the NA LCS is going to be unlike any before, and we’re glad to see Jatt moving into the role he was always destined for.