League of Legends Worlds

I had the opportunity to photograph League of Legends World Championship aka Worlds, at Chase Center.

Complete with performance by Lil Nas X

I was somewhat hesitant to take the assignment as I've been trying to reserve more weekend days for my family (especially during fall when most weekends include me working a football game) but I really just wanted to know what it was all about. One of my favorite things about photography, is that it grants you access into whole worlds... and in this case Worlds!

As someone with very limited exposure to video games, I still can't say I know much about LoL. But as someone who has photographed a lot of sports, I gotta say, eSports has everything to offer (and perhaps more) than traditional sports.

A team based sport, with veteran and up-and-coming superstars, fast action where a game can turn in moments. And despite only being around a decade or so, has all the dramatic player storylines you could ask for. Faker and Deft went to the same high school?!

And there were no less than 3 marriage proposals, so it really offers everything traditional sports have, for better or worse. ;)

It offers more in the sense that it is very international, inclusive, and characters can change every game so while the player maybe have individualized skill set and knowledge of the game like a traditional athlete, they are also competing as various characters with different strengths and weaknesses every game. And more commercial viability as the sponsorships can appear on the players attire but also within the game on virtual flags. And while free-to-play, has infinite purchasable options both for players and fans.

The drawback for me, is that the "visual" part of the action is on the screen, not necessarily on the players who are mostly expressionless and sit still apart from very fast moving fingers. While fans (who know what's going on) respond through every moment with cheers and gasps, there isn't really much to photograph in the way of action.

Though there was some great celebration as the play-in underdogs DRX defeated the highly favored T1 in a thrilling 5-game series.

During the translated interviews of the trophy ceremony, Deft (after he gained his composure) said how he had dreamed of the moment and being on stage to say he was the best in the world. But being in the moment, realized he has the best team in the world. Cue the tears!!

League of Legends Worlds

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