Riot Games has released a series of animated shorts to hype up the upcoming League of Legends World Championship tournament, including one that could be really helpful if you’ve been interested in watching competitive League.
League of Legends is one of the most popular esports in the world, but the game itself can be difficult to understand if you’re a first-time viewer. I’ve been watching matches for years and still only have a basic understanding of the deeper mechanics of the game. But I think Riot did a great job explaining everything you need to know to watch a match in the animated short embedded at the top of this post, and I recommend checking it out.
Riot released a short in the same animated universe giving a brief overview of the upcoming tournament (which is more colloquially known as Worlds):
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And Riot also released a short that’s just a hype music video, featuring nods to recognizable League iconography and an animated representation of the game’s most famous player, Faker:
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Worlds begins on September 25th and runs through October 31st. The whole tournament will be held in Shanghai, and Riot will be following guidance from “various health organizations and local and national authorities” to ensure the health and safety of players and fans amid the COVID-19 pandemic. And even if you don’t care about the game, you might want to tune in just for the opening ceremonies, which have featured spectacles like a giant augmented reality dragon and virtual music groups in previous years.