Meet the fans as Worlds 2015 goes to Brussels

The Semifinals of Worlds 2015 would prove a difficult weekend of competition for the two European squads still in the race -- neither Origen nor Fnatic managed to take a game off their Korean opponents -- but local fans were out in full force at the Brussels Expo to cheer them on regardless. On the morning of Day 2 before the series between Fnatic and the KOO Tigers got underway, we headed outside before doors opened to get some time with the fans.

H2K Fans Unite

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When we cross paths with Sander “ExtremeJaJa”, who’s travelled from his home in Ghent, Belgium, to catch the final day of the Semifinals, he’s holding a prop for a friend cosplaying as Fnatic Janna. Part of a prop, anyway, he’s got the Fnatic logo that adorns Janna’s staff. It makes Sander look like a Fnatic diehard, which isn’t exactly the case. “I’m more of an H2K supporter,” he tells us, “but I’m supporting every European team here at Worlds.”

The vast majority of the fans we talked to during the various Worlds stops were Fnatic and Origen supporters. Sander is the first one we’ve talked to that had thrown his full support behind Europe’s third seed.

“When I started watching LCS, I started watching H2K mainly because friends were fans of it,” he explains. “So I started cheering with them. EDG and SKT are two of the best teams in the world so I didn’t think [H2K would] make it out of Groups. In the games against EDG they played very good, and against SKT too. But those teams are just on a higher level.”

When H2K got knocked out of the tournament, Sander found it easy to cheer for Fnatic and Origen because he loves watching Rekkles and Niels compete. “Rekkles is one of my favourite players, and Niels too,” says Sander. “I really like the AD Carries in Europe. So I started cheering for them. I’m a main AD Carry. I really like the style Rekkles and Niels play.”

Europe used to have a reputation for producing the world’s best mid laners, legends such as xPeke, Froggen and Bjergsen. Who knows, maybe Sander’s on to something, and the AD Carry role is Europe’s next big thing.

Oui are the Worlds

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French fans are hardcore. Give them two weeks of Group Stage action in Paris and it’s still not enough, they’ll hit the road to catch more of Worlds. This was the case for Lionel “Araknir” (pictured above in center), a Parisian esports fan who travelled to the Semis with two of his friends. They ordered the Semifinals tickets right when they went on sale and hoped there’d still be European teams in the competition at that point. “It was a gambit to say that we believe that at least one European team will reach the Semifinals,” says Lionel, “and so we got our tickets.”

For a laugh, Lionel and his friends decided during the Group Stage to play up their Frenchness by coming to the show dressed in horizontal stripes and armed with baguettes. “We went to the Group Stage in Paris for the last two days where we had an Origen group and a Fnatic group,” he explains. “So we said, ok let’s do something a little fun. We’re from France so let’s hit all the stereotypes because it’s fun. After the last day of the Group Stage [with all our cheers], my voice is still healing!”

Lionel and friends had rooted for their French countryman Paul “SoaZ” Boyer on the previous day, but they were realistic about Origen’s chances.

“We didn’t expect Origen to win,” says Lionel. “We hoped and dreamt that they could win a match and go the Final, but it’s difficult to dream when you’re going up against SKT. I thought SoaZ put up a good fight in the first game, but in my opinion he tilted really hard in the second one, and definitely in the third one. The whole team tilted. We could see xPeke’s face after the first game and he was so disappointed.

“When we discussed it before the game, we said, if they can take the first game, maybe they can do something. And definitely it was possible at 25-30 minutes, but it was SKT [they were up against].”

Yellow Fever

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Thomas “Stegosaurus” roadtripped with friends from Paris to Brussels to cheer for Fnatic in the Semifinals. Despite being a jungler, his favourite player is Bora “YellOwStaR” Kim. “YellOwStaR has been around since the beginning of Fnatic’s history,” says Thomas, “and we see how he’s leading the team with his experience. I tried support because of him but I suck at support.”

Thomas likes Fnatic’s chances against the KOO Tigers. “I see 3-1 or 3-0 for Fnatic,” he says, “I hope 3-1 so there’s one more game for us, but not 3-2 because I don’t want Fnatic to lose twice. One loss is fine.

“I want to see Huni against Smeb, it will be a great matchup I think. I hope they will ban Fiora in these games. We saw yesterday Fiora just wrecking the top lane again and again. Hopefully they will ban her today or give her to Huni.”

French fans have no shortage of pride when it comes to their French players, and Thomas’s highlight of the weekend up till the moment we spoke was SoaZ’s crazy outplay in Origen’s first game against SKT. “[I loved] SoaZ’s outplay in top-lane with the flash to the other side and the TP,” he gushes. “It was just the first play on the first day in the first game. We were hyped for the rest of the day. It was crazy, in the first game, we thought they could take one or two games!”

When we mention how unfortunate it was that SoaZ eventually went on tilt and began to make some extremely questionable calls, Thomas smiles. “Typical SoaZ, to be fair. Like many French players, he’s emotional every time.”

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Dressed to Kill

Inge “DehliaEmari” has never been to a live League of Legends event before but couldn’t resist the opportunity when she heard Worlds was coming to Brussels. “I live in Bruges so I’m from Belgium,” she says. “I didn’t have to travel far so it was easy for me. Usually I just go to cosplay events, but there’s not much League of Legends there.”

She wanted to cosplay as Caitlyn because it’s the ADC she plays the most. After taking some sewing classes to try learn the art of making cosplay costumes, she decided it was a bit too difficult for her and ordered the Caitlyn costume online. After all, if you like cosplay, nobody’s going to arrest you for sporting somebody else’s handiwork.

Inge doesn’t have a favourite team competing in the Semis. She’s just here to enjoy seeing League of Legends played at the highest possible level.

“To be honest, I haven’t had much time to watch the tournament but I’m really excited about today, to be here and see it,” she says. “Right here, and not at my computer at home. I’m just really excited about the competition, getting to see the best players in the world, and maybe learn something from them too. I’ll just enjoy watching it, seeing the top player’s strategies.”

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BROLO BROLO

Seung-Joon “HV JETpot FNC”, the little brother of Fnatic’s star top-laner Seung-hoon “Huni” Heo may only be ranked Silver IV in League, but attending Worlds with his mother (pictured at right) has given him his own small taste of fame.

“I have this little episode where people say I’m Huni and ‘holo holo’,” says Seung-Joon. “It’s very funny. I’m a little bit nervous now where I’m waiting to cheer for Huni. I have the same feel as Huni. I’m very funny and happy, happy with my family and my mother.”

It’s Seung-Joon’s first time in Europe and he’s joined by his mother and Reignover’s mother (pictured at left). He proudly wears a Fnatic jacket with “Huni” printed on the back. The Korean-English language barrier makes conversing difficult, but we’re still able to ask if he has any good stories about his brother.

“Huni tells very many jokes and is a comedian,” he says. “In our house, Huni is very loudly voiced. Any [neighbour] under floor will say, ‘please be quiet!’”

Seung-Joon mains top lane like his big brother, though he assures us that he doesn’t get any special tutoring from his extremely busy big bro. It makes him sad to live so far away from Huni. The two get to catch up occasionally via Skype. He says the distance is significantly harder on his mother, but “if Huni gets very many win scores, my mother is very happy!”

Find more articles about Worlds 2015 at Lolesports.com.
Jason Killingsworth is a senior writer for Riot Games, based in the company’s Dublin office. He can be found on Twitter @RiotWhiski and has previously written about the history of lane-swaps in professional play.