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2018 Lore Tournament! (Vote for your favorite stories of the year)

RiotBioluminescence·12/6/2018, 9:26:00 PM·42 votes·23,626 views

https://i.imgur.com/5M8hku5.jpg

[EDIT] VOTING IS CLOSED! Frozen Hearts (248) wins, vs An Explorer's Journey (129)

Frozen Hearts will go on to battle Confessions of a Broken Blade on the 15th!

Introduction

Hello lovely people! So 2018 is coming to a close (holy Rammus that was fast) and I thought it'd be fun to look back at the stories that we got this year. And pit them against each other in pseudo-deadly combat!

There was a bunch released - but I'm only going to be considering main-universe Runeterra stories, written content only, and for the sake of brevity, I won't include champ bios. So no comics, skin-universe, etc.

That leaves us, this year, with 25 contestants!

I'll be pitting two stories against each other, every day at 1:30pm PST, until the 29th of December (if I don't get hit by a bus). Today, we begin with...

#FROZEN HEARTS vs AN EXPLORER'S JOURNEY (6th December)

In Frozen Hearts, by David Slagle, little Nunu asks his mother a question and she tells him a story. In An Explorer's Journey, by Matthew Dunn, we read Ezreal's handwritten account of the discovery of a vault beneath Zaun.

Which of these stories spoke to you the most? Do you love snuggling by the fire listening to Nunu's mum telling you how the world works, or are you more of a fan of pomade and it's many (and unexpected) uses? Do you have criticisms of the characterization? Grammar? Were there things about these that made you happy or mad? Take this as an opportunity to revist these stories and identify what worked, or didn't, for you. It can be hard to get a discussion going on a story when it's no longer flavor of the month - so I'm hoping maybe this can be a second chance for us to air some opinions!

If this post works, there should be an image showing the schedule for the upcoming lore matches, at the top and also linked HERE, but alternatively, here they all are written out:

6th December: Frozen Hearts vs An Explorer's Journey 7th December: The Black Powder Plot vs Human Blood 8th December: The Girl Who Came Back vs At the Edge of the World 9th December: Leaving Weh'Le vs Art is Life 10th December: The Cage vs The Shadow Door 11th December: Stone Cold vs Hunter of Shadows 12th December: Stains on a Name vs The Monster of Kalduga Outpost 13th December: The Dreaming Pool vs The Curator's Gambit 14th December: Then, Teeth vs The True and Ghastly Tale of the Beast of Boleham Tower 15th December: Confessions of a Broken Blade vs <winner from 6th December> 16th December: <winner from 7th December> vs <winner from 8th December> 17th December: Twilight of the Gods vs <winner from 9th December> 18th December: The Eye in the Abyss vs <winner from 10th December> 19th December: Where Icathia Once Stood vs <winner from 11th December> 20th December: From the Ashes vs <winner from 12th December> 21st December: Whom Does the Desert Know? vs <winner from 13th of December> 22nd December: The Principles of Strength vs <winner from 14th December> 23rd December: QUARTER FINAL: <winner from 15th December> vs <winner from 16th December> 24th December: QUARTER FINAL: <winner from 17th December> vs <winner from 18th December> 25th December: QUARTER FINAL: <winner from 19th December> vs <winner from 20th December> 26th December: QUARTER FINAL: <winner from 21st December> vs <winner from 22nd December> 27th December: SEMI-FINAL: <winner from 23rd December> vs <winner from 24th December> 28th December: SEMI-FINAL: <winner from 25th December> vs <winner from 26th December> 29th December: FINAL: <winner from 27th December> vs <winner from 28th December>

Abbreviated image here: https://i.imgur.com/9Nn2s1E.jpg

I've posted this at 1:30pm PST, and I'll try to aim for that time for counting up the votes (this is daily!) and posting the next match! (Sorry, in advance, all you Red Name Tracker fans who aren't so into the lore. Yeah there's going to be a lot of this.)

52 Comments

ModKnightsKemplar12/6/2018, 9:44:29 PM9 votes

This is such a neat idea!!!

So ready for the rest of the tourney, although it seems my pick is losing so far for this round :(

6FlagsFunnelCake12/6/2018, 9:54:36 PM8 votes

Frozen Hearts was really cute and a great way to show off Nunu's character and his relationship with his mom. However I feel like it was just kind of...there. Nothing really interesting happened other than Nunu's mom telling him small stories and how the Notai live and stuff.

"An Explorer's Journey" however confirmed a sudden revelation that Zaun was originally a Shuriman settlement and that there is a huge catacomb of Shuriman treasures in the deepest, darkest parts of the city. The story itself was also a hell of a lot more entertaining and exciting, coupled with some nice pieces of art too!

All in all, my vote is Explorer's Journey.

RiotCarnival Knights12/6/2018, 10:29:08 PM7 votes

{quoted}

no skin-universe

sobs in cowboy

Metallikaiser12/7/2018, 2:26:43 AM6 votes

Waiting to vote for Eye in the Abyss, that story was flawless, and instilled in me a great desire for a new champ that comes from those ranks of Lissandra's soldiers.

Cetri12/6/2018, 10:30:48 PM5 votes

Ooh, some of these match ups are really gonna be tough to decide. Specifically looking at Pyke vs Veigar and Aatrox vs Nocturne .

Fine Ionian Silk12/6/2018, 9:45:16 PM4 votes

This is a hard one, both of the stories are pretty darn good, having character displayed in each of them and being written in an overall great way! I'm going to have to give my vote to An Explorer's Journey, from a matter of me just liking explorers. Both of them are most definitely amazing though!

ModJikker12/6/2018, 10:23:07 PM4 votes

Gah you paired Nunu's story with his mom with my Freelo Explorer's expedition? How am I supposed to pick?!?

Probably gotta stick with my fav champion, but I love both of them.

Eleshakai12/6/2018, 9:59:58 PM3 votes

Nunu > Ez

Moonboy6512/6/2018, 10:06:41 PM3 votes

Frozen Hearts is better imo, i really liked the relationship between Nunu and his mother

GreenKnight12/7/2018, 2:18:37 AM3 votes

We can't vote for those pre-retcon. Well, waste of time for me, then.

Ifneth12/6/2018, 9:53:03 PM3 votes

Frozen Hearts, no doubt. Not a fan of a story where one of my first and favorite champions turned out to be a scum-bro.

CauseSCIENCE12/6/2018, 10:35:55 PM3 votes

Can we skip to The Principles of Strength, the clearly superior story.

Papuga12/6/2018, 11:29:55 PM2 votes

This is my first time reading both stories and my vote goes to Frozen Heart's. Both were well written and I enjoyed both immensely though I did feel somewhat overwhelmed as my lore knowledge is still sub par.

I think Frozen Heart's had a more concise and complete concept to the story and the story telling aspect reminded me alot of other fantasy novels I read while younger. The setting is also much more suited to December so couldnt help but relate to it. Nunu's character also really matched his in game personality which was another positive. Similarly Ezreals story but I haven't played as much of him since his rework as I have nunu.

As for Ezreals story I felt it could have been fleshed out a bit more. The personality and humour were there but the exploration aspect didn't quite hit the mark. I would have liked more details with regards to the place he was exploring, the challenges he faced and major successes. The diary format was fun and very appropriate plus the first person account was refreshing but it also felt a bit disjointed. Both geographically and timewise.

Spideraxe12/6/2018, 9:46:40 PM2 votes

Voting for my boy Matt Dunn this round

ChunLii12/6/2018, 9:56:05 PM2 votes

I just want to say Principles of Strenght and From the Ashes were the two best stories of the year for me. Those two deserve to go far in this tournament imo.

Naalith12/7/2018, 1:06:57 AM2 votes

I was about to make a strong case for what the top 4 stories should be, but then I realized I have a second top 4 that could easily tie the first top 4 I thought of originally. How can you expect us to vote in the later rounds if you make too many good stories?

Gilgayu12/7/2018, 1:11:20 AM1 votes

Vote for Nunu ;D

Nunu's mom, "Do you know what passion is, Nunu?”

Nunu, “Is it when the barbarian kisses the warmother?”

This is an actual quote lolol

Btw this is "Frozen Hearts" and this is "An Explorer's Journey"

:D

Kaduva12/6/2018, 9:52:54 PM1 votes

yo can i just get a one word yes or a no.

ClonieMor12/7/2018, 4:06:58 AM1 votes

I can't decide between Twilight of the Gods, The Eye in the Abyss or Where Icathia One Stood for winning, all just too good.

FéliXXX12/7/2018, 6:08:36 PM1 votes

does zed get some buffs if i vote? :D

AbiwonKenabi12/7/2018, 6:18:04 PM1 votes

Aw, I like the Ezreal story, but there is no way he is beating out the heartfelt, adorable story of Nunu and his mom. :/

SomethingUnknown12/7/2018, 7:52:59 PM1 votes

I like both, so I'm not voting ;(

EROTIC RAID BOSS12/7/2018, 9:05:44 PM1 votes

I like ezreals lore overall but not this short story lol. It seemed kinda pointless

Camille Ferrøs12/7/2018, 9:20:28 PM1 votes

i cant vote..I click on that vote button and nothing happens

Elen12/10/2018, 11:33:06 AM1 votes

Any chances we'll be able to vote for other stories anytime soon? For me the voting is stuck on Frozen Hearts VS An Explorer's Journey for 4 days.

Fishing Boat12/11/2018, 4:19:11 AM1 votes

Is this all stuff from this year? I guess that might mean my favorite, Ekko's Lullaby, isn't in the running. A close second for me would probably be the newer one from the eye in the abyss or where icathia once stood

ez mental boom12/11/2018, 4:29:32 AM1 votes

why cant i downvote