Well, they did it: SK Telecom T1 (SKT) claimed their third championship in four years.
This marks the end of the League of Legends World Championships for 2016 and, boy, was it a show to remember.
Facing off in the finals against SKT were Korean league rivals Samsung Galaxy, a team that was rebuilt from scratch at the start of the year. Hosted at Staples Center in the heart of downtown LA, LoL world’s fever swept the city the day of the finals. Billboards, bus ads, TV commercials, and people cosplaying as characters were all exploding out from the arena (which is also home to the LA Lakers).
The opening ceremony started off ominous, with a live orchestra playing some tunes from the game. Then, out of nowhere, fireworks went off and the ground melted down into a huge pit with a cube that fell out of the sky.
Sounds crazy, right? Well, that’s all thanks to 3D screens that were placed all around the stage in a cube format, giving the image of things happening in real time.
All this continued until at last the cube opened and there in the center stood Zedd, a DJ who had composed “Ignite,” the anthem for this year’s tournament.
Right after the games began. SKT faltered midway through game one and almost gave it up to their rookie opposition. Game two, however, was a demolition of Samsung that left many—myself influded—feeling that the series was over. Boy, were we wrong.
Games three and four both went to Samsung Galaxy in a fashion that noticeably shocked the viewers. For the first time in the event’s history, there was a game five in the finals. Riding on the momentum of their previous wins, Samsung Galaxy flew out of the gates, getting a huge lead over SKT. But, teamwork and careful play led to a huge turn-around fight that swung the game’s momentum in favour of SKT. This change eventually led to the defending champions winning. Good game, Faker and Bengi; you two earned your third titles and the right to say you are the best duo in League of Legends’ history. Adieu, 2016; onwards to 2017.