Even though my interest in playing League has waned over the past couple of years, I flew out to San Francisco for the weekend to watch #Worlds2022 live.
And oh man, did this series ever deliver. (🧵)
And oh man, did this series ever deliver. (🧵)
https://twitter.com/lolesports/status/1589127523073347584
The narrative coming into the night was unbelievable:
On @T1's side: Faker, the undisputed GOAT of League, gunning for his 4th Worlds title, with Bengi, the "right-hand of God", returning to his side as head coach, leading the next generation of League talent.
On @T1's side: Faker, the undisputed GOAT of League, gunning for his 4th Worlds title, with Bengi, the "right-hand of God", returning to his side as head coach, leading the next generation of League talent.
And on @DRXGlobal's side, an underdog story: Korea's last seed, fighting their way through the entirety of the Worlds gauntlet, motivated to make Deft's "last dance" a success to deliver him *his* first title after nearly a decade of competition across several teams and leagues.
We also have T1 Keria, one of the most mechanically proficient support players in recent years — a former DRX member with Deft and Pyosik, being put in a position to deny Deft his trophy, despite promising him he would win it alongside him merely 2 years ago.
And if that wasn't good enough for you: Faker and Deft both went to the same high school, and dropped out in the same year to pursue professional play, just adding to the already-overflowing levels of hype.
It was a can't-miss series.
It was a can't-miss series.
I didn't know who to cheer for coming into the games; I just wanted an entertaining series. The two international League events I attended in the past were both disappointing 3-0s (IG vs. Fnatic at Worlds 2018 and G2 vs. TL at MSI 2019), so I was a bit worried of this curse.
After game 1, where T1 bested DRX in 31 minutes despite Faker giving up first blood, there was a mounting sense of dread in the crowd that we'd witness a quick 3-0 — that DRX would collapse under the pressure of the moment.
When DRX struck back in an incredibly back-and-forth game 2 (ending with both teams within 600 gold), we knew we had a real series on our hand.
And it certainly delivered, going the full 5 games, culminating in a wild draft for the championship point.
And it certainly delivered, going the full 5 games, culminating in a wild draft for the championship point.
https://twitter.com/lolesports/status/1589116155746480128
The best part for me was that they were action-packed games (objective steals and scrappy teamfighting galore), which was historically uncharacteristic of KR LoL — the region that spearheaded the methodical dismantling of their opponents through macro play and decision making.
I've mentioned this before, but the atmosphere of watching live League among thousands of other fans is what finally allowed me to understand traditional sports.
Chase Centre absolutely erupted at so many points during this series, completely drowning out the casters.
Chase Centre absolutely erupted at so many points during this series, completely drowning out the casters.
Not only did game 5 give us that Baron steal by Gumayusi, but also this split-second decision by T1 to attempt to give up flipping Elder Dragon in order to double-TP and backdoor DRX's base.
Sadly, with the elation of victory on the world's largest stage comes the crushing devastation of defeat.
https://twitter.com/lolesports/status/1589129261129998338
This was *by far* the best finals in @lolesports history, and I believe the best we'll ever get. I can't imagine this storyline & level of excitement coming anywhere close to being matched again in the future.
I'm very happy and fortunate to have been able to experience it live.
I'm very happy and fortunate to have been able to experience it live.
It's hard to describe the emotion and passion that I feel when it comes to League and esports in general. After the games were over, I didn't want to leave the arena, because I didn't want to accept that Worlds had actually come to an end.
In the moment, I thought to myself: "oh, now I see why @AshleyKang quit her job in software to pursue esports journalism".
Even though I don't play League much anymore, I love this game. And esports. And so do millions of other fans around the world.
It's a magical feeling.
Even though I don't play League much anymore, I love this game. And esports. And so do millions of other fans around the world.
It's a magical feeling.
Congratulations to @DRXGlobal on their first Worlds title, and thank you to both DRX and T1 for delivering such an unforgettable #Worlds2022.
Now for some of my personal highlights of the weekend!
- Meeting @cszhu and competing in the AWS GameDay challenge the day before finals to attempt to score tickets to the games! We scored pretty well, but unfortunately not high enough to win the tickets 😢
- Randomly having an awkward conversation with @Mortdog while waiting for the doors to the arena to open, since he stumbled his way to the front of the line looking for the fabled Rioter entrance (Mortdogged IRL)
- Reconnecting with a bunch of friends from my time at Riot, including @RiotXylese who was part of the group I travelled to Korea with to watch Worlds back in 2018!
- The ticket I bought last-minute ending up being smack-dab in the middle of the 'Friends of Riot' section (unplanned), meaning a bunch of Rioters / streamers / ex-pros were all watching in the same area!
(Thank you for coming to my #Worlds2022 thread; hopefully by the time I emerge from my metaphorical cave to tweet again, this site hasn't imploded)
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