It was a true Cinderella story, the best underdog story in the history of esports. Never was there a bigger Goliath or a smaller David. On Saturday, the League of Legends World Finals was held at the Chase Center in San Francisco in front of tens of thousands of fans. In addition, it was streamed to millions across the globe, in numbers topping the NBA finals, MLB playoffs and The Stanley Cup Finals.What made this year’s finals so much bigger, so much more impactful, was the story. On one side, you had T1 anchored by the legendary Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, widely regarded as the best player of all time. This was Faker’s fifth World Finals appearance and a win would’ve marked Faker’s fourth title. No other active player has been to the finals more than once. Video above: Top tips For new League of Legends playersOn the other side was DRX, who had a negative win rate in the 2022 season, and claimed the fourth – and last- seed to make the playoffs. Their paths through the finals included going through the play in groups, T1 had already qualified for groups meaning that DRX played five more games during the playoffs as a whole. To top it all off, both teams are from South Korea and have played each other before but DRX had never won a series against T1. The Finals’ best of five started with a commanding match by T1 showing why most people expected them to win. In just 31 minutes, Faker was able to post the best stat line of the entire day and made plays that even left other professional players in the dust. “How did he see that play? I didn’t see that play … What a play,” exclaimed professional League of Legends player Carl Martin “Rekkles” Erik Larsson as he reacted live to the finals on his own Twitch channel. But, DRX did what they’ve done the entire playoffs, they didn’t let the first loss get them down and they came back with a win in game two. Back and forth the two teams went until it was tied 2-2. The fifth match would decide who would win. In a 42-minute match, filled with twists and turns that will be on highlight reels for years, the underdogs did something no one expected of them. They had the hardest path out of any team in the playoffs. They did something that no team had ever done before. They showed who they were on the world’s biggest esports stage against the world’s greatest player.
It was a true Cinderella story, the best underdog story in the history of esports. Never was there a bigger Goliath or a smaller David.
On Saturday, the League of Legends World Finals was held at the Chase Center in San Francisco in front of tens of thousands of fans. In addition, it was streamed to millions across the globe, in numbers topping the NBA finals, MLB playoffs and The Stanley Cup Finals.
What made this year’s finals so much bigger, so much more impactful, was the story.
On one side, you had T1 anchored by the legendary Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, widely regarded as the best player of all time. This was Faker’s fifth World Finals appearance and a win would’ve marked Faker’s fourth title. No other active player has been to the finals more than once.
Video above: Top tips For new League of Legends players
On the other side was DRX, who had a negative win rate in the 2022 season, and claimed the fourth – and last- seed to make the playoffs. Their paths through the finals included going through the play in groups, T1 had already qualified for groups meaning that DRX played five more games during the playoffs as a whole.
To top it all off, both teams are from South Korea and have played each other before but DRX had never won a series against T1.
The Finals’ best of five started with a commanding match by T1 showing why most people expected them to win. In just 31 minutes, Faker was able to post the best stat line of the entire day and made plays that even left other professional players in the dust.
“How did he see that play? I didn’t see that play … What a play,” exclaimed professional League of Legends player Carl Martin “Rekkles” Erik Larsson as he reacted live to the finals on his own Twitch channel.
But, DRX did what they’ve done the entire playoffs, they didn’t let the first loss get them down and they came back with a win in game two.
Back and forth the two teams went until it was tied 2-2. The fifth match would decide who would win.
In a 42-minute match, filled with twists and turns that will be on highlight reels for years, the underdogs did something no one expected of them. They had the hardest path out of any team in the playoffs. They did something that no team had ever done before. They showed who they were on the world’s biggest esports stage against the world’s greatest player.
