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How the 'Michael Jordan of eSports' annihilated his opponents to win the 'League of Legends' World Championships - in GIFs
How the 'Michael Jordan of eSports' annihilated his opponents to win the 'League of Legends' World Championships - in GIFs
Dave SmithNov 3, 2015, 04:18 IST
This past weekend's "League of Legends" World Championship showcased the pinnacle of eSports gaming.
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And "Faker" - a.k.a. 19-year-old Lee Sang-hyeok, who plays "Mid Laner" for South Korea Telecom's "League of Legends" team - showed why he's the "Michael Jordan" of his sport.
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If you don't know about "League of Legends" - a gaming phenomenon we've highlighted in our "League of Millions" documentary series - here's an extremely basic breakdown of how it all works:
Two teams of players are tasked with destroying each other's enemy base. You destroy the base, you win.
But you've got obstacles to consider: monsters regularly spawn around the arena, there are tons of turrets and computer-generated "armies" to stop you from completing your goal.
And of course, you have to worry about enemy players, who, like you and your team's players, all have super powers and are trying to destroy your own base.
This is what the arena looks like:WikipediaSee that middle lane? That's where Faker usually resides. From there, he's able to help out his allies on either wing, but he's strong and smart enough to handle all of the carnage you normally see in the middle of the arena.Now, let's jump into this weekend's World Championships, or "Worlds."It was South Korea Telecom (SKT) against a fellow Korean team, the KOO Tigers. YouTube/LoL eSports TVIn the best-of-five games, SKT won the first two games, but KOO came back with a resounding win in Game 3. At that point, SKT needed one final game to win Worlds, but KOO looked ready to turn around the entire series.At that point, Faker stepped in.Here, roughly 10 minutes into the game, Faker takes on two opponents that wander into his area. Despite being outnumbered, Faker is able to turn the tide and even kill one of his opponents just before fleeing to safety.The way Faker dodges one attack right before taking down an enemy and getting away shows how he's able to use the mid-lane effectively, and how well he can react to quick-moving combat situations.Three minutes later, two SKT members are taking on another two opponents, but have managed to single out one character: Gorilla, the big fish guy with the Donald Duck hat (we're really sorry for these descriptions).In the GIF above, you can see how Faker notices the action and comes down just in time to do some massive damage, assisting another teammate, who comes in from the right, to deal the final blow. This is a good show of teamwork from Faker - and it helps his team gain valuable time to position into enemy territory.Another 10 minutes later, Faker takes out two enemy players in quick succession. This is impressive.KOO's Kuro thinks he can take on Faker in a one-on-one situation as their armies duke it out, so he abruptly moves in to try to surprise Faker with a quick early attack. But it's unwise to attack Faker when he's at full health: Faker holds his opponent in place and pommels Kuro until he's KO'd. And with that burst of energy, Faker teleports around the arena just in time to corner a hapless poor enemy player, KOO's Pray. With a bit of help from his teammates, Faker showcases his knowledge and mastery of his character's abilities and once again helps his team move closer to its goal.Ten minutes later, everything collapses for the KOO Tigers.Faker leads a major invasion into the team's home base (not shown here), taking down a number of turrets and killing a few enemy players before helping his team safely escape with enough health for one more attack. After SKT regroups, Faker leads the final attack. The above clip shows the "Michael Jordan of eSports" dispatching three players and driving his team to destroy the enemy base, thus clinching the final game of the League of Legends World Championships.And the crowd goes wild.Whether or not you enjoy eSports, the final game of the 2015 "League of Legends" World Championships is a wonderful display of teamwork at its finest: SKT plays a near-perfect game against KOO, only suffering one death by a teammate (KOO suffered 13 deaths, many by the hand of Faker). If you feel brave enough to watch this video, the real action starts about six minutes and 15 seconds into the video below.
