On Sunday morning German time, on November 12th, the probably most important game of the year 2023 took place in League of Legends. 4.3 million watched the semi-final of the LoL Worlds between T1 with fan-favorite Faker and JDG Gaming, the favorite to win the tournament. For the German Twitch streamer Tolkin (25), the game was apparently a bit too much. He couldn’t compose himself during the LoL thriller.
What a game was that? The 2nd semi-final of the LoL Worlds was like a pre-final:
- The Chinese champion JDG Gaming was the clear favorite to win the tournament. With Ruler, they have a nemesis of Faker on the team, who many consider to be the best ADC. Kanavi is a force in the jungle, and Knight is considered one of the mid-laners who have now surpassed Faker.
- T1 was South Korea’s last hope to win the World Cup at home. They had surprisingly been weak during the season without star player Faker, but now seemed to be finding their form during the Worlds.
- Three-time world champion Faker is regarded as “the greatest player of all time”, but the man is now 27 and is under constant suspicion of being “washed up”, meaning past his prime. However, these reports proved once again to be false.
In the end, T1 won clearly with 3:1 thanks to a stellar performance by Faker against the favorites and is in the final, which will be played on November 19th.
Many LoL fans and pros wish that he would finally become world champion again:
LoL and LoL Streamers Dominate Twitch
How many were watching? According to esportscharts, the semi-final had 4.3 million viewers. And some Chinese channels are not even included.
Riot Games has also been the largest Twitch channel in the world over the last 3 days, and co-streamers of the World Championship, like Ibai (Spain) or Caedrel (English), dominate the charts among individual streamers.
How is it in Germany? In Germany, Summoner’s Inn has the broadcasting rights for the official stream and had about 20,000 viewers at peak on Sunday.
The former pro and Twitch streamer Tolkin is allowed to stream the LoL Worlds as the only German co-streamer as well and has significantly more viewers than the official channel. At peak, 32,000 people watched Tolkin.
This is spicy because Tolkin worked for Freaks 4 U Gaming until 2022. We from MeinMMO had requested a statement from Freaks 4 U about this and they said they wished Tolkin only the best, but some employees at Freaks 4 U are actually a bit worried that they see their pet project in danger through Tolkin’s success. The ecosystem must ultimately work for everyone.
How was it for Tolkin? The 25-year-old Tolkin was known as a top-laner in LoL for his nerves of steel, but as a caster, he is a ruthless T1 fan and for him, it was the game of the year.
Even before the first encounter, he said he was so hyped that he couldn’t sleep at all. He was so caught up in the hype. With triple speed, Tolkin analyzed the draft, the team’s strategies, provided background information, and rushed through the team fights.
At one point, when T1 won a close fight, Tolkin apparently couldn’t handle it anymore. He said he had been shaking the whole time, was just so excited, couldn’t handle it all anymore.
You can see how excited Tolkin was in this clip. He is so into the match that he apparently jumps up and down as a way to cope.
Many current pros revere Faker, really wish him to win
What’s behind it: Faker is the role model for many current pros in LoL, with whom they grew up and to whom they are loyal. He had his peak from 2013 to 2016 – when many current pros were still young teenagers dreaming of becoming a pro.
There are a multitude of well-known streamers and LoL pros on Twitter showing excitement for T1 and Faker and wishing him all the best to win the LoL Worlds again after 7 lean years.
This is so exciting because LoL pros usually take nothing and no one seriously, constantly trolling and speaking ironically. But with Faker, even cynics like Jankos suddenly become sentimental:
With “impartial casting”, you can’t expect much from the co-streamers. Especially since Faker is competing in South Korea, and the fans are cheering him on.
Therefore, Tolkin wasn’t the only streamer showing so much hype: The Englishman Caedrel also couldn’t contain himself during the decisive moment.
Faker’s victory is also likely to please the soft drink company Red Bull. They have shown a keen instinct and planned an event in Berlin for December 2023. Especially for Tolkin, this could become another highlight in his life:
LoL: 2 adult men are as happy as children when they finally get to reveal the surprise on Twitch
