The best League of Legends teams on the planet will kick off the biggest event of the year on Thursday, and in anticipation Riot Games has produced a documentary series highlighting some of the game’s biggest stars.
Titled Legends Rising, the six-part series chronicles the journey of six different players competing in five different continents to the 2015 World Championship, a $2.1 million tournament that’s a culmination of a year of professional League of Legends play.
If you’ve ever struggled to understand esports and the impact it can have on people’s lives, then watch this series. It showcases the passion and dedication it takes to survive in the competitive world of esports, and how something as inane as a video game competition can have an impact on people’s lives.
Parts one and four, History and Kings, look at the East and the West’s greatest mid laner players, the best League player ever, 19-year-old Korean superstar Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, and mid laner for League’s biggest franchise Team SoloMid, 19-year-old Danish whiz Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg.
Home and Family look at two fiery AD carry players, Chinese youngster Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao, 18, and Brazilian star Felipe “brTT” Gonçalves. Jian dazzled crowds at each of the last two World Championships, where he reached the finals before falling just short of a title, but this year his new team OMG failed to qualify for the big event. Gonçalves and his team paiN Gaming won the International Wild Card spot and represent the underdog region of Brazil, which has little hope to win a title but big dreams to make an impact on the massive stage.
Beginnings and Storms focus on 23-year-old Spanish veteran Carlos “xPeke” Cedeño Martinez, who won the first World Championship in 2011 and is one of a handful of players to compete at every single one, and 18-year-old Taiwanese support Hu “SwordArt” Shuo-Jie of the yoe Flash Wolves, a rising star.
The event itself kicks off on Thursday, Oct. 1, when Martinez’s team Fnatic takes on Chinese challengers Invictus Gaming. Lee, Hu, and Gonçalves will also take the stage Thursday, though Bjerg’s debut will be Friday.
