In League of Legends, the finals of the US League LCS took place in the USA. It is impressive how Riot Games stages such a competition as an esports event, says MeinMMO author Schuhmann. Especially that Riot makes a star out of Twitch streamer Tyler1, who is known as a recluse, impresses him.
Which event was staged? It was the finals series of the LCS Spring Playoffs 2022.
Two teams faced each other:
- 100 Thieves with the German Felix “Abbedagge” Braun. They had surprisingly become champions last year and fought their way back to the finals. No North American is in the team: Only foreign players, like the South Korean Ssumday or the somewhat loud-mouthed Turkish jungler Closer.
- Evil Geniuses were the underdogs in the finals. They have significantly strengthened themselves in Europe and Asia: The Polish jungler Inspired was already very strong in Europe, the South Korean Impact has been playing a solid top lane in the USA for a long time. But the other three positions were indeed occupied by young North Americans, a rarity in LoL. In the audience, many signs were also visible: “Believe in North America,” bet on “homegrown talent.”
Even though the staging was epic and a “fantastic series over 5 games” was talked about, the actual series was not particularly exciting. The match was one-sided. Evil Geniuses were overwhelmingly dominant and won the series 3-0. A young US bot laner had the game of his life:
1. Live Event Since March 2020 is Staged Gigantically
What was impressive? The great thing about the event was the staging.
The LoL finals were the first live event since March 2020 after 2 years with Covid: It took place at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas: This is a football stadium with a retractable roof, officially accommodating up to 80,000 people. However, during the event, there were Corona conditions.
Even before the actual show began, an opening ceremony was shown:
Here, Twitch streamer Tyler1 introduced the players of both teams individually. He staged himself as a classic boxing fight announcer like Michael Buffer, but with even more wrestling flair, and the players as global sports stars.
- The German Felix Braun suddenly became “THE KARMA KING,” because Braun is known for preferring to play the champion “Karma”.
- A rather uninspiring player like Victor “FBI” Huan became the “AD CARRY FROM DOWN UNDER,” making “kids” look like “amateurs”.
- The South Korean veteran Impact played in a strong team alongside Faker in 2013 in Korea. He has since been living off the fame he once had in the USA for almost 10 years. He is called the “most successful top laner” in LCS history.
- The Polish jungler Inspired is being elevated to a “GIANT”.
The actual show then began with a bombastic live appearance by Tyler1, who stepped onto the stage and shouted: “Houston, we have a bit of a problem,” before he sounded as if he wanted to challenge The Rock to a match at Wrestlemania.
The players seem to enjoy it: While they look somewhat shy in the introductory video or adopt clear “power poses” with crossed arms that one does not really believe, they make gestures on stage live as they face off, as if they want to intimidate their “duel opponent” now.
Twitch Streamer Lives Isolated All Year, Becomes a Star on Stage
Who is the announcer? The presenter who masters it is Twitch streamer Tyler1. He seems to do nothing but stand on stage in front of ten thousand people every day, screaming, posing, and hyping up the event.
Tyler1 lives all year round in seclusion with his girlfriend in the countryside, rarely receives visitors, and rarely goes out. His main contact with reality is the camera when he plays LoL for hours every day and hypes himself up. Such a live appearance must actually be something completely different and unfamiliar for him.
But on stage, nothing suggests that.
“Bad Boy” Image for Shy Teenagers
What is behind it? LoL is years ahead of all other titles in esports.
They stage teenagers and gamers in their 20s as superstars, establish a “bad boy” image, and keep them in power poses while fans celebrate them in chants and with banners.
It should be noted that in the 8 minutes of staging, almost no player speaks; the entire burden lies on Twitch streamer Tyler1.
The staging as “tough macho stars” sometimes seems inappropriate, as the players do not exactly have the stature of top athletes.
Especially the later star of the series, Danny, seemed rather like a shy teenager during the presentation, embarrassed by the chants, and less like a cold-blooded killer. He quickly bowed to his opponent and seemed happy to disappear again from the spotlight.
But the staging is extremely effective. Furthermore, it is repeatedly broken ironically: The players do not take themselves too seriously and know that they are playing roles that do not actually fit them (via twitter).
To the new “bad boy” image of LoL, it also fits that the number of “tough sayings” has increased lately.
After the victory against 100 Thieves, there was plenty of trash talk. Supporter Vulcan hit the jungler of 100 Thieves with a comment: For being so bad, he risks having too big a mouth. Someone had to shut him up.
This has also apparently been borrowed from wrestling: There has to be a villain who talks too much and ultimately regrets it.
Anyway, trash talk has increased lately:
LoL: German pro plays match of his life – says the forbidden word three times afterwards
