Warriors of Light: The story of Worlds 2014

A Samsung White-wash, that’s how most will remember the 2014 League of Legends World Championship.

When White’s five players hoisted the Summoner’s Cup in front of 40,000 spectators on that brisk October night in Seoul’s World Cup Stadium, their pristine white jerseys reinforced the impression of having barely scuffed their elbows en route to the trophy podium. Squaring off against the most talented squads from all over the globe, White had dropped just two games out of the 17 they played in total -- in case you needed a statistic to put their level of dominance in perspective.

“It’s been a difficult journey to be able to stand on a Finals stage,” said Se-hyeong "Mata" Cho during the closing ceremonies, “and this year we got to stand here as the victors.” For this statement to make any sense you have to rewind a bit further. This was almost the exact same roster that flamed out of the previous season’s Worlds before the Knockout Stages even got underway. Gambit halted the Korean squad’s march in a tense Group Stage tiebreaker, ultimately stir-frying Ozone in the Rift wok of Alex Ich’s 13/2 Kassadin.

The sting of defeat has a way of focusing one’s mind, but redemption would have to wait. Over the course of the 2014 regular season, White looked impressive, garnering top-three finishes in Champions, but in both Spring and Summer when they clashed with their sister team Samsung Blue in Best of 5s, it was Blue raising the metaphorical Gandalf rod to deny them passage.

[[{"fid":"20562","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight2.jpg%3Fitok%3Do6XKLBjy","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

“Samsung White was always a very strong early-game team -- very strong,” says Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles, OGN caster and expert in Korea’s League of Legends pro scene. “We’d even see them rack up a bunch of early kills against Blue in some of these Best of 5s and then Blue would win through late-game team fighting. The biggest question going into Worlds was, which of these Samsung teams was going to win? I had a theory that Samsung White was actually the better team despite getting knocked out of playoffs repeatedly upon hitting Blue in Semifinals, which was a bad matchup for them.”

You know what they say: third time lands the charm. The two Samsung teams -- brothers off the Rift, rivals on it -- would meet in yet another Semifinals during the Worlds 2014 tournament. Hunger is a powerful thing, and White not only had the most elite players in each position, but also a reputation to salvage -- a highly flammable combination.

[[{"fid":"20563","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight3.jpg%3Fitok%3DR0C70ZCU","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

Though the crystal ball containing the outcome of Worlds 2014 never seemed particularly cloudy, the tournament played host to some affecting vignettes of human striving. As a professional League of Legends player, you don’t set foot on a Worlds stage unless you’ve sacrificed innumerable hours to preparation and study. Few earn that privilege.

Even fewer get out alive.

WICKED TWITCH

“He’s asking what I think about looking like Harry Potter?” Seung-bin “Imp” Gu confirms with his off-camera translator before responding to an American journalist’s question during the Taipei Group Stage. Despite the language barrier, Samsung White’s star AD carry infers the question easily enough. You don’t walk out of a glasses shop in round wire-rim specs unless you’re prepared to invite comparisons of this sort.

[[{"fid":"20564","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight4.jpg%3Fitok%3DIFTPiLw1","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

“I like it,” Imp replies, flashing his signature grin, the one that makes him look like he’s clutching a freshly shoplifted Twix behind his back. “Isn’t it a good thing to be called Harry Potter? Harry Potter is pretty mainstream and a lot of people know it. When I read the books, I thought that he was a bit ditzy but cool because he does a lot of good things. I’m thankful that people gave me that nickname, and I think it’s a good nickname.”

Provided you don’t judge it against the title of “God," which esports fans hastily earmarked for a certain SKT mid-laner regrettably absent from the 2014 Championship tournament, the nickname ‘Harry Potter’ seems a fitting touchstone for this particular pro. There’s also the manner in which Imp’s persona of oddball innocence outside of Summoner’s Rift (ditziness) sits in curious opposition to his penchant for sadistic in-game aggression (being cool and doing good things). If he’s got an advantage on you in lane, don’t expect him to relent until he’s picking his smile clean with your champ’s bone fragments.

The boy who lived… and let cry. A famous sequence in the three-part Road To Worlds documentary shows a delighted Imp gloating, “You saw Piglet cry right?” Even though his team had been swept 3-0 by SKT in the Grand Finals of Champions Winter 2013-2014, Imp savored the moral victory of having humiliated SKT’s AD Carry with superior play. The Piglet diss became a meme practically before it had finished leaving Imp’s mouth. Later in the Worlds 2014 tournament after White delivered their sister team Blue a bruising 3-0, Imp admitted, “Before the game I really wanted to win, like even to the extent of making Deft cry, but after the game, after seeing Deft cry I felt sorry and bad for him.”

Keep in mind, this is the kid who famously praised -- and proceeded to roll around on -- the manicured grass of Seoul’s Sangam Stadium when asked for his impressions of the venue that would host the finals of the 2014 World Championship (“The grass looks beautiful!”). Riot’s designers immortalized this moment of frolic post-tournament in the recall animation for the SSW Twitch skin, which had Imp’s distinctive glasses perched on its snout.

“Twitch was the perfect champion for a team like Samsung White,” says EU caster Martin “Deficio” Lynge. “You didn't have any vision on the map, they took away everything you had, they deep-warded against you, they played the map so well that Twitch could always find openings where he could pick you off. And Imp, with probably some of the best mechanics any AD carry has had at any point in professional League history, used it perfectly.”

EMOTIONAL RANGE

Worlds 2014 gave rise to a heartwarming fraternity of the world’s top AD carries. Even though imp had a penchant for getting inside the heads of his fellow marksmen through jesting and trash talk, when asked in interviews who he thought was the world’s best AD carry, he gave props to Star Horn Royal Club’s Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao.

[[{"fid":"20565","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight5.jpg%3Fitok%3DEBmTuCrD","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

Samsung Blue’s Deft and Fnatic’s Martin “Rekkles” Larsson struck up an adorable bromance, even renaming their smurf accounts to name-check one another. “I watch a lot of Deft's games,” Rekkles gushed to a Korean website in a 2014 interview. “Every time I see him play, he amazes me. He plays a lot of champions and shows his versatility on his skills on all of them. He's like the ‘God of ADC’. Actually one of my smurfs is called ‘Deft's Slave’.” Deft would name one of his smurfs ‘Rekk1es’ to officially call their mutual-admiration society to order.

These sorts of interactions, plus the tears shed by both Deft and Rekkles during their later tournament exits, demonstrated an endearing emotional squishiness to mirror the vulnerability of their chosen in-game role. I suspect it’s the natural bonding that happens around the shared experience of knowing what it is to have a giant invisible bullseye on your head in every single team fight.

"There's also the fact that all those guys were quite a lot better than most of the other AD carries in their regions,” says NA caster Sam “Kobe” Hartman-Kenzler. “So they just had a lot of respect for someone else who was as good as them because there weren't that many.”

THE SHOW MUST GO ON… THE ROAD

The execs in Riot’s esports division had always loved the way major sporting events like the World Cup and the Olympics changed their stadiums and locales year to year, providing a fresh cultural backdrop to complement each event’s unique emotional journey. In fact, they’d long aspired to do the same, but their team hadn’t yet reached the size necessary to pull off an international event at the calibre they had in mind. So Worlds continued to live at home with its parents in Los Angeles for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. By the time 2014 rolled around, Riot’s esports division had matured significantly, in addition to having burgeoning teams in Europe and Korea that could help support a touring Worlds production.

When it became clear that it was finally feasible to take Worlds on the road, there was no whiteboard brainstorm, no heated debate, no flinging Mundo syringes at a wall map. There was only one destination on everyone’s minds: Korea.

[[{"fid":"20566","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight6.jpg%3Fitok%3DOFSpYPVe","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-full-page file-centered"}}]]

“That was the easiest decision we’ve ever made,” says Whalen “Magus” Rozelle, Riot’s Director of Esports. “I mean, we’re talking about Korea, the country that brought in its StarCraft pros to give a pep talk to the national soccer team to inspire them before one of their World Cup games. We realised that if we could tap into just a little bit of that love and fervour for esports, it would be the most appropriate thing to kick off what we hoped Worlds would become, and we could spread that to the rest of the globe.”

By the time the decision had been made to take Worlds to Korea, only 10 or 11 months remained until the Finals. Securing a venue for that climactic showdown posed the most pressing concern. For traditional sporting events, organisations will book championship venues as far as two years in advance. Luckily, Riot was able to approach contacts within the Korean government to help facilitate the process of securing a top-tier venue, and they proved instrumental in helping lock down Sangam World Cup stadium for the 2014 finals. Rozelle’s team had considered the old Olympic Stadium as a back-up, but Sangam offered a slightly more up-to-date tech infrastructure.

With a Finals venue secured, the team worked backwards, devising the touring aspect of the production so that the experience wouldn’t get stale for at-home viewers. They settled on Taiwan and Singapore for the Group Stage, which allowed them to broaden the reach of the event to a larger swathe of Asian esports fans, before moving on to Busan and Seoul in South Korea for the Knockout Stages and Finals.

[[{"fid":"20567","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight7.jpg%3Fitok%3DfUNyS738","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

As exciting as it was to bring the Finals to a World Cup stadium, staging the event in an outdoor venue brought a litany of production challenges. All gear had to be perched on pallets as a precaution against rain, which can make the ground dangerously conductive to electrical current. Then again, if you luck out and get a clear day, the sun introduces its own set of problems. Riot’s production team encountered issues back in its 2012 Championship tournament with the sun getting in players eyes (“Man, of course the sun’s going to be a problem because no one plays videogames outside!” says Whalen with the implied facepalm), and carried that lesson forward to its 2014 stage design.

“We mapped out the path of the sun and knew where it was going to be,” says Rozelle. “We got onstage in the days leading up to the Finals and were like, OK, between 4:11 and 4:15pm, there's going to be glare in their eyes, and between 5:20 and 5:25pm, it will be in their eyes.” The production team built extendable sun shaders and organised the schedule so players wouldn’t be on stage during the first period when the sun would be a nuisance.”

Solving the logistical Rubik’s Cube of outfitting a World Cup stadium for a videogame competition was the very definition of #worth, but the most significant aspect of the equation would be the turf on which the stadium rested.

[[{"fid":"20568","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight8.jpg%3Fitok%3DVWcBSr8o","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

“It meant so much being able to bring that event to Korea and see how Koreans just embraced it,” says Rozelle when asked about his favourite memories from the event. “There were Teemo hats everywhere, guys with Teemo hats just walking down the street, you go out to a PC Bang, you see people playing League of Legends as far as the eye can see.”

GROUP OF DEFT

Having your team’s progression through Worlds short-circuit prematurely can be a hammer blow from which it’s hard to recover. This was certainly true for European darlings Fnatic. Despite faltering on the doorstep of Worlds 2014 by failing to secure the top spot in their region for the first split since the EU LCS began, Fnatic still entered Worlds 2014 surrounded by an aura of fan expectation. It’s easy for supporters to blur in their mind the demarcation between pedigree and predestination.

[[{"fid":"20569","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight9.jpg%3Fitok%3Dew779Rym","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

Fnatic remains the only Western team to boast a World Championship title, which they secured back in 2011 as competitive League of Legends was just getting off the ground. In the 2013 World Championship, they advanced farther than any other Western team, missing a coveted Finals berth after succumbing to China’s Royal Club in a series that was far closer than its 3-1 outcome suggests. After that tournament, Fnatic levelled up its roster by swapping out their existing AD carry for Rekkles, a Swedish wunderkind who’d practiced with the team previously but only just reached the age of competitive eligibility.

Then Riot announced the 2014 Group Draw.

For Fnatic, the draw had all the foreboding of a compulsory wartime draft lottery. They’d landed in Group C alongside Samsung Blue (Korea’s first seed), OMG, and LMQ. Analysts and fans gleefully christened it the Group of Death, licking their lips over the carnage that awaited.

“When I saw the teams in our group, I knew that it was going to be really tough for us,” Fnatic’s support and shotcaller Bora “YellOwStaR” Kim tells us one year later, reflecting on the draw. “But at the same time if we want to be a good contender for the Worlds crown, then we have to go through the best teams, right? Even though we might have had the hardest group, it could have shown that we were a really good team.”

Putting the group of death in context, NA caster Joshua “Jatt” Leesman explains, “[Group C] was a group of death not because it [had two unbeatable teams] and two teams getting crushed. It was a group of death because it had Samsung Blue, OMG, who were probably going to make it through, then also Fnatic and LMQ who were good teams. It was a top-to-bottom group of death in that sense because people are going to die that don't necessarily deserve to die.”

[[{"fid":"20571","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight10_0.jpg%3Fitok%3DQ8JiXC8-","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

Fnatic had no intention of dying. The team departed for Korea shortly after choking down a demoralizing loss to Alliance in the EU LCS Summer Finals so they could commence bootcamping in preparation for Worlds. They’d already played a number of scrims against Samsung Blue before they even caught wind of the Groups placement. “We’d played against [Blue] and we knew how good they were,” says YellOwStaR. “On the other hand, we were hoping not to be against Samsung White because we’d played a couple games against them and they were really scary. It was better for us to actually get matched against Samsung Blue.”

Fnatic’s top-laner at the time, Paul “sOAZ” Boyer, doubles down on this point. “Samsung Blue wasn’t that good. They weren’t half as good as White.”

Setting aside Fnatic’s later difficulties in Groups, the team’s read on Blue would prove to be largely on point, as they were able to take a game off Korea’s No. 1 seed in their first meeting. Even in their subsequent loss to Blue on the final day of Groups, Enrique “xPeke” Cedeño Martínez’s Zed showed he could hold his own mechanically, slaying Dade’s Talon in a duel for the ages, escaping with his remaining health bar the width of an eyelash.

When asked about Fnatic’s mentality at this time, YellOwStaR admits that the team’s confidence took a massive hit in the loss to Alliance. Not only were they disappointed in their level of performance, they didn’t feel confident there was enough time to fix all the team’s issues prior to Worlds. The amount of practice being put in by the team had dwindled precipitously over the course of the 2014 season, and Fnatic suddenly found itself in the position of a student who’s barely cracked his textbooks all semester and has to pull an all-night cram session just before final exams.

[[{"fid":"20572","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight11.jpg%3Fitok%3D4D-27CWY","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

“We were experiencing a lot of ups and downs,” says YellOwStaR, “and at that time we were not feeling in the best shape, to be honest. We tried to get a lot of people to help us -- analysts, coaches -- but it was not enough, because I would say we didn't work hard enough and didn't get enough preparation throughout the year.

“During those three weeks in Korea prior to Worlds we were practicing maybe 14-16 hours a day. Of course you're going to burn out during those weeks. It's not healthy. It's just too much and I think it affected a lot of us. Yeah, it might have led to a bad result at Worlds.”

Despite having coaches and analysts working alongside them during bootcamp, the team continued to have difficulty taking that advice and applying it to their performance in-game. They felt blocked, unsure what to do at various stages of each match. “You need to know what you’re going to do at any point in the game,” says YellOwStaR, “because you cannot waste 30 seconds doing nothing or just hesitating.”

[[{"fid":"20573","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight12.jpg%3Fitok%3DkEapUPJ5","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

“We were still going to restaurants together,” says sOAZ of the team atmosphere at this time. “We were joking with one another. It wasn't bad outside of the game, but in-game it was like… we didn't necessarily trust each other. We didn't have good team play anymore. We just didn't click together anymore.”

OMFG

It’s time to talk about That Game. If you’re a Fnatic fan, you’ll remember it as the one that gave you stress cramps for the final 10-15 minutes of its 71-minute slog. Fnatic needed a win over OMG in their second meeting to make it out of Groups. It would turn out to be one of the closest games of professional League of Legends ever played.

“League is a super snowbally game,” says Jatt, one of the casters on the desk for the match in question, “but in that game in particular, anytime one team got an advantage that seemed like they were going to be able to hold, they would lose it in a dramatic fashion shortly after they got that advantage. And then it just started swinging as the game increased to larger and larger extremes. 'Now they're incredibly likely to win the game!' 'Now the other team is incredibly likely to win the game! Never mind, now it's' -- it was such a roller coaster because it wasn't just a small advantage being traded. There were giant advantages being traded. It's like, 'OK, we lost both Nexus turrets and half our Nexus, but we got a bunch of kills, now we're going to go down the other side!”

“I was watching the game backstage with Deficio and Sjokz,” adds Kobe, “and they were just losing their minds. Both of them were standing up pretty much the entire time. So that kind of sums up the intensity of that game. Haven't matched that in a long time.”

At the broadcast’s 60-minute mark, caster Joe Miller quips, “Peke, why you no Kassadin?”, drawing audible laughter from the Singapore crowd. Both of OMG’s Nexus turrets are rubble at this stage and their exposed Nexus beckons like the pulsing orange weak spot on a Zelda boss. Miller’s Kassadin joke seems prescient if you’re re-watching the VOD because, just five minutes later, sOAZ’s Rumble respawns, immediately Teleports to a minion near the top inhib and toddles straight toward OMG’s Nexus. Rekkles’s Kog’Maw tries valiantly to delay recalls with Living Artillery blasts, but Loveling’s Kha’Zix slips away to deal with Fnatic’s ambush.

In a desperate attempt to slow Loveling’s Homeguard sprint, sOAZ lays Rumble’s Equalizer down the fountain steps like a smouldering red carpet. But it’s not enough. sOAZ can only whittle the Nexus down to 50% HP before Kha’Zix chops him down.

“In the end we were rushing things and it backfired,” sighs YellOwStaR. “If we’d gathered mid, we would be maybe five versus three or four, then we could siege down the Nexus and go slowly, we would have taken the game. But in the excitement and the emotion, we were just too stressed and it was just a mess, the communication was really a mess. We just had to stay calm and we would've had the game in our hands for sure, but we messed up. We were trying to go one by one to finish the Nexus, because it was just like two or three hits left, but we couldn't destroy the Nexus and when they respawned we were like, ‘Oh, guys, this is over,’ and it killed our chance of qualifying for the bracket.”

In a tone more pitying than vindictive, Jatt explains, “The problem for sOAZ is that he was having a bad game before he had the moment to redeem himself, and then he also didn't redeem himself. It was a double kick in the nuts.”

[[{"fid":"20574","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight13.jpg%3Fitok%3DcxZ-dY5e","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

Fans stampeded to the League subreddit and other online forums to roast sOAZ for the misplay. The top-laner’s Rumble ended up with a KDA of 2/6/7. Looking back, does he blame himself for the loss to OMG?

“No, because we could have won the game 20 times before [my backdoor attempt],” argues sOAZ. “It's just such a high-pressure moment. It's obvious that in a high-pressure moment you're going to do 10 billion mistakes. After the game I was frustrated about it, because I knew that if I had Equalised the creeps that would probably delay enough damage on the Nexus to allow us to take it afterwards, you know? But one or two days later I actually didn't care a lot about it, the game was over so there's there's no point in thinking, ‘Oh my god, what if?’ The game is over.

“No matter what team I am in, I will always get picked on by some people,” he continues. “I am a good player, but I'm not someone who is really likeable by the community. If Peke makes a mistake, he’ll probably get blamed by commentators or analysts, but never by the community. He’s a very likeable figure. I’m more of the person that people like to blame. But I can say that putting the Equaliser in the fountain wasn’t my decision, it was my teammate’s decision. I’d rather not say who, but someone actually told me to Equalise the fountain so I don’t know why I took all the blame and people talking shit. What happened happened.

[[{"fid":"20579","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight14.jpg%3Fitok%3DO1HUiztG","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

“You think Peke's [famous Kassadin] backdoor was his decision but it wasn't, you know? He was maybe thinking about it but the call was from someone else. In high-pressure matches, what we are doing in game is not necessarily from our own minds, it's from other people telling us.”

DEATH OF A DYNASTY

After the loss to OMG, Fnatic’s members filed into a backstage green room to collect their thoughts. Nobody spoke. Players fixed their eyes straight ahead. When there’s a death, even if it’s something immaterial like a dream, the occasion warrants a moment of grieving. After about 15 minutes, team members gradually broke the silence and asked each other how everybody was feeling.

[[{"fid":"20580","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight15.jpg%3Fitok%3DgdJ1wT3o","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

“It was a huge disappointment,” says YellOwStaR. “Right after the tournament I was even considering retiring because despite being really really confident, I wondered, why couldn't we qualify for the Quarterfinals? Maybe I'm just too bad for the game. Maybe I've reached my limit, or stuff like that. I needed some time to think about what I was going to do as a player.”

YellOwStaR looked into the option of returning to medical school, but it was October and classes had begun a month prior. “I was like, oh, I might just try to rebuild a new team,” he says, “because [Fnatic’s management] gave me the opportunity. I was just being loyal, but if I would’ve been able to go back to school I would have maybe gone for it.”

Though fans likely don’t associate the splintering of Fnatic’s old guard with Worlds 2014, the team’s disappointing exit from the tournament set the table for an inevitable parting of ways.

[[{"fid":"20581","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight16.jpg%3Fitok%3DS6AFnSN_","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

“I think everyone had [the decision to part ways] in the back of their minds,” recalls sOAZ. “We kind of knew that Rekkles wanted to stop because he was really not happy prior to Worlds with how we played in the bootcamp and everything. Cyanide didn't really say much about retiring, he said it much later. Yellow wanted to stay with Fnatic, have a last chance really. Peke didn't tell me until way later that he was going to start Origen. For my part, I was like, I'm just going to look at my opportunities. But I was still contracted for Fnatic, so I didn't know my options really. I didn't know if I wanted to stay at Fnatic. I didn't know if they wanted to kick me. I was really in the blind.”

Breakups are inherently bittersweet, but as a wise man in his ‘90s once said, every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. Here, here. (And… holo, holo.)

UNDERDOG BITE

Not everybody gets to come into Worlds with the swagger and gale-force tailwind of 2014’s Samsung teams, favoured to plough through the opposition. Some enter the tournament feeling more like the chum dragged behind boats to attract apex predators in Shark Week documentaries.

[[{"fid":"20582","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight17.jpg%3Fitok%3Dld9BuOE9","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

Taiwan’s ahq e-Sports Club squarely occupied the latter category. Nobody felt they stood a chance, especially being part of Group A with powerhouses Samsung White and EDG. With the initial part of the Group Stage taking place in Taiwan, the home crowd desperately hoped to see a flicker of possibility from their local squads. The other Taiwanese entrant, the 2012 World Champions Taipei Assassins, only managed to wring a single token win out of Group B, against an SK Gaming team handicapped by the suspension of its starting jungler, Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen, for unsportsmanlike behaviour in the days leading up to the tournament. So the Taiwanese fans’ hopes rested on ahq.

In their second game against EDG, taking place on the final day of Groups, ahq’s support GreenTea decided to play the game of his career on Thresh, landing two crucial death sentences on EDG’s much-hyped AD carry NaMei, allowing Westdoor’s Zed to swoop in for a double kill and clean up the fight. With 40-second death timers ticking down and only two members of EDG left standing, ahq had enough time to roll straight down the mid lane and crash through the base like a steel-spiked bowling ball.

[[{"fid":"20583","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight18.jpg%3Fitok%3DCESFmzM-","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

“That was a pretty amazing moment,” says Jatt. “All the people backstage working the event locally were super, super excited. It was actually the night of a really big storm when we were doing the last game of the Group Stage there and the stadium started leaking. So there were buckets on the ground, in the stands, but nobody left. And also because we were pretty late and going into a tiebreaker, the last public transit left. [The venue] made an announcement like, hey, if you wanna catch the public transit, you need to go now. But pretty much nobody left because they all wanted to stay and watch ahq in the middle of this giant rainstorm with the roof leaking. It was so passionate. [What ahq accomplished] was the equivalent of H2K taking EDG to a tiebreaker in Worlds 2015’s Group C.”

Taiwanese LMS caster Chi-Te “MrRemember” Wang shares an alternate theory for why NaMei ate those Thresh hooks that tipped the game in ahq’s favour. “On the third day of the Group Stage, [ahq’s coach] Backstairs brought some ahq members to a convenience store. When he was paying the bill, NaMei just happened to be behind them with a chilled noodles pack and a drink, but he couldn’t seem to find his wallet, so Backstairs paid for NaMei. NaMei thanked them repeatedly. The next day when NaMei’s crucial misplay let ahq take a win, we all jokingly said it was NaMei’s way of thanking us for that pack of noodles.”

Unfortunately for the Taiwanese underdogs, ahq’s fairytale turned out to be written by the Brothers Grimm, not Walt Disney. EDG rebounded hard in the tiebreaker, with NaMei making amends for getting caught out in the previous encounter by doubling down on the Lucian pick and going 10/2 in the rematch.

“[Worlds 2014] proved that in the past two years Taiwan has not kept up to the world’s pace,” says MrRemember. “But what I saw in the fan’s eyes that night wasn’t despair, it was hope. We all felt the shortcomings of the Taiwanese teams, but we also learned that the only thing we could do is follow ahq’s example, to never giving up in pursuit of victory.”

KABUM GOES THE DYNAMITE

As far as upsets go, ahq’s victory over EDG was both impressive and unexpected, but it didn’t feel like it fundamentally violated the laws of competitive physics. Worlds 2014 hosted one match, however, that did precisely that. On the final day of the Singapore stop, Europe’s first-seed Alliance had one last match on its Group-Stage agenda versus KaBuM, a Brazilian team that got their ticket to Worlds punched in the International Wildcard qualifier. A win would secure Alliance, fresh off their perfect game against Korea’s NaJin White Shield, a place in the Knockout Stage. Had this been golf, tournament organisers might’ve been tempted to concede the putt and just grant Alliance a Quarterfinals berth without bothering to load onto the Rift.

[[{"fid":"20586","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//riot-web-cdn.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/lolesports/s3fs-public/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight21.jpg%3Fitok%3D__qXELhd","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

KaBuM had a woeful 0-5 record in Groups up to this point, after all, leaving viewers at home with the impression their moniker had something to do with spontaneous combustion. A photographic meme had even begun to circulate showing KaBuM’s top-laner LEP staring placidly at the camera from behind a broadcast infographic reading “0/16/2 in 3 Games” (which admittedly has an inspirational quality for anybody who’s tried to keep from hyperventilating during a run of severely bad luck). The player’s zen demeanor was ultimately misleading, however. KaBuM was in no way immune to the pressure of the Worlds stage.

“At first we did not carry any pressure to win Worlds,” says Thiago "TinOwns" Sartori, KaBuM’s mid-laner, “but as we confronted a totally new reality in comparison to what Brazil had to offer -- in regard to players’ level and team infrastructure -- the stress was unavoidable. The fact that we were there, amongst the best, was in itself a huge responsibility.”

As it just so happened, Worlds 2014 had a Brazilian Wildcard up its sleeve.

[[{"fid":"20587","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//riot-web-cdn.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/lolesports/s3fs-public/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight22.jpg%3Fitok%3DClSlT4IP","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

With the second meeting between Alliance and KaBuM transitioning out of the laning phase, cracks began to show in Alliance’s armour. The two teams were trading pretty evenly in kills but KaBuM had a healthy gold lead and a fistful of towers. Alliance was still struggling to take any structures on their opponent's side of the map. Then at the 18-minute mark, the aforementioned cracks became crevices as Alliance’s team captain Froggen made the baffling call to troll-pole his Fizz over a wall directly into all five members of KaBuM, getting diced into sashimi before the rest of his team could even follow up the engage.

KaBuM kept the pressure on, moving around the map and toppling objectives while Alliance settled for periodic kills in response to the aggression. TinOwns put on his carry pants with his Ahri, bursting down Alliance targets and setting up the plays that allowed the Brazilians to gradually overwhelm their opponent. In his flashiest highlight, TinOwns sent a charm through the wall of Alliance’s base, catching Wickd, then immediately triggered Spirit Rush to hurdle the wall and zero him out before dancing back over the base wall to safety using the ability’s last remaining charge.

“We didn't underestimate them,” claims Tabzz when asked if Alliance had failed to take KaBuM seriously. “We drafted wrong, made a few mistakes in the early game, got snowballed on, and lost -- it’s very simple. The memories are bitter since we would have probably made it out of Groups if we’d won that game, but we let it slip. Everyone does their best to remind us every now and then, but it's become more of a meme and a joke than a malicious insult.”

[[{"fid":"20588","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight23.jpg%3Fitok%3D-CW81seT","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

Deficio, an EU caster working the Alliance-KaBuM game, remembers it as “one of the greatest moments” in the entire tournament. “There had been so much discussion about, ‘are Wildcard teams useless? Why are Wildcard teams even here? It's just free wins for every team that plays them’. And then KaBuM goes in and upsets Alliance... It was fantastic to watch, even if it was sad as a European, and also kind of the nail in the coffin for Alliance in many ways. What you are doing is probably not the right approach, seeing as you can go in now and be so inconsistent from perfect-gaming NaJin White Shield to losing to Kabum.”

“[KaBuM] upsetting Alliance] was a true David-and-Goliath story,” says Rozelle, who was off the esports team’s touring rotation during that particular game. “I was at home in L.A. watching the KaBuM game at like 4am when they beat Alliance. That felt great. Sports fans love the underdog story, and that was a true underdog story.”

It’s tempting to indulge the fantasy of Brazil’s esports community from Manaus to São Paulo and everywhere in between, huddled around computer screens cheering themselves hoarse, unified in support of KaBuM. TinOwns bursts our bubble, though, explaining that during the 2014 World Championship, the fierce tribalism of esports fans back in his home country meant they’d be loathe to cheer for a rival club, even if they happened to be representing the country as the lone qualifying seed.

[[{"fid":"20589","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight24.jpg%3Fitok%3DhMUrwLkM","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

“Our victory [over Alliance] showed that anything is possible,” says TinOwns, “even without the total support of the cheering crowd of Brazil at the time.” These divisions are mending according to the KaBuM mid-laner. Brazilian esports fans today are much more willing to consolidate their support behind the country’s qualifying seed in international tournaments regardless of personal allegiances (“That’s how I think it’s supposed to be”).

Later the same day after the KaBuM upset, Cloud9 took out NaJin White Shield, becoming the first North American team to ever beat a Korean opponent in World Championship play, thereby walling off Alliance’s final escape route from Groups. On their final push to win the game, after acing NaJin off the back of an MVP-worthy Rumble Equalizer from Balls, Cloud9’s support LemonNation chanted “This is for KaBuM!” into his headset. The rest of the team immediately joined in, “This is for KaBuM! This is for KaBuM!”. Alliance, watching backstage in stunned silence, came to grips with the realization that they’d now be joining their European brethren in the queue for the next airport shuttle.

[[{"fid":"20590","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight25.jpg%3Fitok%3DHAuXN6JD","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

“Speaking as a European caster at the 2014 World Championships, our teams not only disappointed us, but embarrassed us as well,” says Trevor “Quickshot” Henry. “In fact, we actually looked to the great North American hope -- TSM vs Samsung White and Cloud9 vs Blue. Both of those Quarterfinals were great fun to watch. Did we think the American teams had a chance? Not truly, but both of them put up a good fight. They put on a good show and looked better than NA ever has at Worlds.”

YANKEES DUEL DANDY

Even though fans of North American and European teams hold a longstanding rivalry, neither region had meaningfully challenged the supremacy of the best Asian squads. Worlds 2014 wouldn’t come close to reversing this trend, but it still illuminated minor gains.

Both TSM and Cloud9 jetted off to Korea shortly after their clash in the Summer Finals. Even though TSM had prevailed 3-2 in that series, they arrived in Seoul with a laundry list of gameplay concerns to address in bootcamp. “Regardless of the victory [over Cloud9 in the Summer Split], I didn’t even feel like the best team in NA”, says TSM’s Danish mid-laner Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg.

[[{"fid":"20591","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight26.jpg%3Fitok%3DdQyrFBUy","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

In addition to the perk of being placed in the only group without a Korean squad, TSM enjoyed another slight advantage over their NA counterparts on Cloud9. Their head coach had played competitively in Korea and was able to call in favours to his contacts in the scene.

“LocoDoco did a good job of getting a lot of the top Korean teams to scrim TSM, which was fairly hard for most foreign teams,” says Kobe, who was in regular contact with the team during that time. “You'd have to prove yourself, and once TSM got out of Groups, they were able to get Samsung White as their exclusive main scrim partner. That was huge for them. So they were actually very confident moving forward because they got to play White so much.”

But moving into bracket stages, Best of 5s would prove a completely different beast than the Group Stage one-offs they’d played up to that point. Even though TSM had a chance to scrim extensively with Samsung White prior to their Quarterfinals matchup, the Korean squad studiously avoided tipping their strategic hand ahead of time.

“In scrims, [White] had a few set Level 1s that they did on repeat and they didn't do anything too crazy. On stage they crushed us from early game with strong Level 1s, planning and play, but in scrims the games were going mid- to late-game. They’d eventually win by controlling waves and setting up better flanks for team fights.”

The series turned out to be a Samsung White faceroll, but TSM still managed to deliver White one of the only two losses they suffered in the entire tournament. NA fans were jubilant. Surely this was a moment to be celebrated, marked down in calendars and observed fondly by future generations of TSM (TSM! TSM!) fans.

[[{"fid":"20592","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight27.jpg%3Fitok%3DdCR9edSO","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

“But isn't that in itself sad?” asks Quickshot in response to the chest-thumping of TSM supporters following that Game 3 win. “Because it's one game, and also going into that I think TSM was 0-19 against Korean teams. They picked up one victory, and even that victory was only because Samsung White took the piss in Picks & Bans. There's a big debate. Yes, it was great that NA won the game and punished the cocky picks and bans, but it was the cocky picks and bans that allowed them to pick up their win anyway.”

[[{"fid":"20593","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight28.jpg%3Fitok%3Dht61Ywjg","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

Bjergsen isn’t convinced of any White tomfoolery. “I wouldn't say they picked a troll comp,” he says, “but their draft definitely wasn't optimal. They drafted a full scaling comp with a blind-pick Kassadin when one of PawN’s core champions, Yasuo, was open. We got a big lead at Level 1 with two kills, and I would like to believe we could have snowballed that even against a better [comp].”

Based on his extensive past observation of White, MonteCristo offers the sort of characteristically blunt assessment he’s come to be known for. “That game was a total fucking joke,” he says. “White counter-picked themselves and just face-checked brushes at Level 1. Even after the game in Korean interviews, Mata was saying, ‘Yeah, we didn't really try in that game.’ They were already up 2-0, and then they just smashed TSM in game 4. Samsung White has always been a team that, if they were confident, they would just troll pick. They would pick compositions that were absolutely terrible and win with them anyway.

“They even did this during Korean playoffs. There was one OGN game in particular that I was really mad about,” MonteCristo continues, “because I kept having to say on-air that their composition was terrible, and it was. And they were just crushing their opponent anyway. I remember getting off the stage afterward and watching them walk out of the booth and just start laughing hysterically. They were just a very confident, trolly team, and they'd always been that way. So yeah, it wasn't really surprising to me to see them do that at Worlds.”

AMERICA’S GOT TALON

Cloud9 got off to a promising start in its own Quarterfinals series against Samsung Blue, grabbing a convincing victory in Game 1. That win, combined with the defeat it had recently dealt to NaJin White Shield in Groups, stoked the belief of fans. But that hope would unravel quickly as Blue roared back with three unambiguous arguments for their supremacy over the white-and-blue.

[[{"fid":"20594","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight29.jpg%3Fitok%3DnGDFE5a9","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

“The series [against Blue] was a tad sad,” reflects Hai "Hai" Du Lam. “I remember we almost won one of the games where we were on the Nexus, but it was a fun time. Maybe my Talon can get them next time! Even though we lost, I thought we did well. TSM and us both got out of Groups, which people didn’t really expect NA teams to be able to do, so that was nice.”

“North American fans had a really easy time at Worlds,” says Jatt, “They didn't actually suffer heartbreak, because you never had the expectation that they were going to beat the teams that they lost to. So it was a very procedural Worlds for North America. 'OK, we got two teams to Quarters, best we've ever done, then we lost to the two best teams. Alright, that's fine!'

[[{"fid":"20595","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight30.jpg%3Fitok%3DF-RGMhLg","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

SISTER AXE

Samsung White vs Samsung Blue -- the two strongest contenders in the tournament. Sister teams in the same organisation. Despite colliding in the Semifinals, in the minds of many spectators this was the Worlds 2014 Final in all but name. Blue had knocked White out of Champions playoffs at the Semifinals stage in both Spring and Summer of Korea’s 2014 OGN season. Such a juicy setup, but then: anticlimax. White stampeded over Blue in three straight games, never leaving the outcome in doubt.

“Blue was not in a good place when it came to [Worlds 2014] for whatever reason,” says MonteCristo. “They didn't look as strong as they had previously. Dade didn't show up as much as I thought he would. He hasn't ever had a strong performance at Worlds and he didn't end up having a strong performance at this one. I don't know what gets into his head at these international events.”

[[{"fid":"20596","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight31.jpg%3Fitok%3DfGnn0SX6","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

The fact that the only team realistically capable of taking down White got so thoroughly dismantled makes you wonder if White had any vulnerabilities at all.

MonteCristo contends that “because White was just stomping people and getting such massive leads in the early game, which is pretty normal for them, we never really saw a late game from Samsung White. They were winning games so fast that I don't even know if their [late-game teamfighting] vulnerabilities were still there or not. They only dropped two games. And in the most serious games versus Blue, they didn't do any kind of trolling or shenanigans or anything like that. They just 3-0'd them. Because I think that they were afraid of Blue from previous Best of 5s, so they gave that series their all.”

As the two Samsung teams converged on centre stage at the series’ conclusion to share a bow for the Busan crowd, something unexpected happened. Blue’s mid laner Dade peeled off his coveted ‘general’s jacket’ and handed it over to PawN in a show of tremendous deference.

“The passing of the jacket was a major, major thing,” says Quickshot. “For those who don't know how important the jacket was to him, he never took it off. He never washed it. He wore it every single game. It was very famous for smelling like sweat and being disgusting. Because it didn't matter the temperature, he'd wear that thing all the time. Handing over the general's jacket, it was massive, especially for Korean fans.”

STATE OF THE WARD

To understand what it looks like to play against Samsung White, you can obviously watch any of the VODs from Worlds 2014. But to understand what it feels like to play against Samsung White, you have to instead watch The Silence of the Lambs, specifically the sequence near the end of the film in which detective Clarice Starling pursues the serial killer Buffalo Bill into a multi-room basement. Right after she bursts through the door and raises her pistol, the killer cuts the lights, plunging the room into pitch blackness.

A second later you hear a hum like a camera flash recharging and the perspective shifts to Buffalo Bill’s green-tinted view through a pair of night-vision goggles. The killer patiently stalks his prey, watching Starling stumble and paw her way around the room in, literally, blind terror. There’s something utterly disconcerting about the combination of the killer’s intent and the vulnerability of his hapless quarry. To step into the jungle during a game against Samsung White is to reenact Silence of the Lambs’ basement scene.

[[{"fid":"20597","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight32.jpg%3Fitok%3D7Acson2N","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

“Starting only a few minutes into the game, White’s jungler and support would roam together and control the map by putting down vision and invading the enemy jungle,” says Tabzz, recalling scrims Alliance had played against Samsung White. “If you didn't mirror or counterplay this, it was very easy to instantly lose the game. Samsung White was especially flawless at this, and I believe it is why they won the whole tournament.”

“This [lights-out strategy] was something that a lot of teams hadn’t realised before the World Championship,” adds MonteCristo, “or at least before Samsung White taught people a lot about how to play the jungle and how to play pressure around vision, and how to use your support and jungle together to create that pressure and vision. They at that time were really on another level when it came to doing that, and they did it in ways that none of the other teams really understood at that moment.”

Watch the series against Star Horn Royal Club. After any given skirmish, you’ll notice White dropping flurries of smart pings on the mini map signalling where enemy wards have recently been placed so that they can be quickly wiped out to let the fog roll back in. In short, Samsung White’s winning strategy involved the way it leveraged the colour black.

ON TOP OF THE WORLDS

YellOwStaR rose early at 7am on a Sunday morning so he could get online and catch the start of the 2014 World Championship Final. He’d competed in the very first World Championship in 2011, in Jönköping, Sweden, in front of 200 spectators, and was curious to see how much of a difference three years can make. “I was really interested in how it looked, how many people showed up. It was really impressive to me. People coming from around the world just to watch the Final? To me, it's like whoa, this is mind-blowing. I’ve been taking part in LoL tournaments since the beginning so I remember every single one. 2014’s World Final showed how far the sport has come.”

[[{"fid":"20598","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight33.jpg%3Fitok%3DW5qWlxnT","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

From the opening moments of the series’ first game, the sea of spectators packed into Sangam World Cup Stadium could tell that Star Horn Royal Club, as strong as they’d been throughout the tournament, were a faint flickering speck next to Samsung’s galaxy.

Eight minutes into the first match, you see Royal Club’s top laner Cola just farming away, feeling nice and safe in the shade of his own turret. Then Looper’s Maokai strolls past the turret toward him, unconcerned, tosses a sapling like a beer bottle into the street and pounces Cola’s Ryze with Twisted Advance. Dandy’s Jarvan instantly follows up the dive, making it a 2v1. Then PawN’s Jayce, who heard there was a party in top lane, bloodies Ryze’s nose with a Shock Blast before joining the dogpile himself. By the time Royal Club’s mid laner hears the distress call and Teleports top to assist, Cola’s flat on the ground and it’s Corn’s turn to get popped. Juggling the turret aggro between one another like a Cirque du Soleil troupe, all three members of Samsung White skulk away with a sliver of health remaining. Calculated.

White closed out Game 1 in just 24 minutes -- 16 kills to 1, 10 turrets to 1. And Game 2 was even more of a slaughter -- 26 kills to 8, 9 turrets to 0. It was looking as though Worlds 2014 would hold the dubious distinction of being not just one of the largest esports events in history but also the most lavish public execution as entertainment spectacle since the late 18th century. At this point in the Final, you half-expected to survey the crowd to find 40,000 League fans under their seats, cowering in fear that Dandy might, on a whim, dive off the stage and turn his ruinous ganks on those assembled.

Uzi, the player that Imp had earlier hailed as the best AD carry in the world, prevented the ignominy of a White sweep by wresting back Game 3 with an incendiary performance on Tristana. It would be Royal Club’s only victory against White. Sadly, an uzi magazine can only hold so many bullets.

[[{"fid":"20599","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight34.jpg%3Fitok%3D1HvagQAz","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

As Royal Club’s chances of a miraculous reverse-sweep veered closer and closer to nil, darkness descended over Sangam World Cup Stadium. The Summoner’s Cup belonged to White. Pyrotechnics whistled off the stage into the night sky as the rock band Imagine Dragons performed their jaunty, hand-clapping hit “On Top of the World”. The Samsung White players took turns smooching their new trophy in the endearingly awkward and staged manner of a just-married couple indulging wedding-reception guests clamouring for PDA.

“Even disregarding the fact that the Dragons were on stage, I remember distinctly that being a proud moment,” says Rozelle, “Because we'd taken a ton of beatings for closing ceremonies over the past couple years. That was the first time we'd pulled off an epic closing ceremony that really did the event justice. We’d taken player feedback and turned things around.”

The 2014 World Champion had accomplished their own turnaround. Overshadowed and twice-thwarted by Samsung Blue in the preceding Korean playoffs, White had just delivered the closing remarks of their argument for who deserved to sit atop the world of competitive League of Legends. Granted, it’s a bittersweet moment in retrospect. Five Koreans winning League’s loftiest honour in front of a stadium full of their fellow Korean citizens. A good night, sure, but also a goodbye. All five members of White, on the verge of departing Korea to play in China’s pro league in the 2015 season, scattered across four different teams. The Korean Exodus in microcosm.

Walking out of Sangam World Cup Stadium toward the parking lot, I looked over my shoulder one last time prior to boarding my hotel shuttle, knowing I might only experience an event of this magnitude once in my lifetime. The stadium lights were still burning, sending columns of light stretching into the night sky.

[[{"fid":"20600","view_mode":"centered","fields":{"format":"centered","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"tagName":"IMG","src":"http%3A//admin.prod.lolesports.com/s3/files/styles/centered/public/warriorsoflight35.jpg%3Fitok%3DRa8EJ-2y","type":"media","attributes":{"class":"media-element file-centered"}}]]

Those light particles are still travelling through space as you read these words. Samsung White’s 2014 lineup has its own long tail. They’re arguably the strongest, most cohesive League of Legends team that’s ever prowled the Rift. Even though Looper, Dandy, PawN, Mata, and imp have disbanded, the feats they performed together in Worlds 2014 linger indelibly, beacons of inspiration for players gazing along the curvature of League history in search of the sport’s most luminous constellations.

***

Re-live these 2014 Worlds highlights:

Jason Killingsworth is a senior writer for Riot Games, based in the company’s Dublin office. When he’s not being a beacon of deadpan journalistic objectivity, he paints Origen and Fnatic logos on his bare chest and babbles like a demoniac at his laptop screen. He can be found on Twitter @RiotWhiski and has previously written about the history of lane-swaps in professional play.

And if you're looking more, check out last year's retrospectives on Season 1, Season 2, and Season 3!