What a crazy time to be alive. We currently live in a pandemic-ridden world, you can get whatever you want to be delivered to you in two days, and video games are considered as sports..... wait what? That's right, you're not misreading it at all. If you haven't heard, chances are you're living under a rock. E-Sports is a rapidly growing industry and it's come a long way in infrastructure and professionalism. Not to mention, did you know companies like Honda, RedBull, BMW, Geico, Verizon, StateFarm, and many more are sponsors for E-Sports organizations? I know, let that sink in for a little bit.

I could ramble on for pages about E-Sports, but for this article, I'm going to scope in on one specific title. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, the title goes by "League of Legends". Developed and published by Riot Games in 2009, League of Legends is a five-versus-five MOBA, which stands for "multiplayer online battle arena". Commonly referred to as "League", it's been at the forefront of E-Sports for years. Ever since the 2013 League of Legends World Championship Finals sold out Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, and accrued a total of 32 million views with a peak of 8.5 million concurrent views on Twitch.tv, people knew this was only going to get bigger.

So..what's so big about a bunch of nerds playing computer games?

The term "League of Losers" is all too familiar with me. But let me tell you, this game has grown to heights I would have never expected it to reach when I was in middle school. This game is far beyond just a game, it's a community and even people's livelihoods as players or content creators. You'd be surprised at the amount of money some of these players make, especially "Faker". If you're a League of Legends fan, there is no way the name you haven't heard of this household. Making his debut at the young age of 17, the Korean Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok won the 2013 World Championships in his debut year. Along with his first win, after winning back-to-back Worlds titles in 2015 and 2016, Faker has become the winningest League of Legends player in history. Nicknamed "the Unkillable Demon King" or even "God", Faker is a legend among the E-Sports scene. According to this article, Faker's base salary was rumored to be over $2.5 million and he signed a contract extension in 2019 with the Korean organization, T1, and is now a part-owner of the organization. Along with Faker's rise, E-Sports has become a force to be reckoned with. Just a tip: be careful who you call loser next time.

Speaking about Faker, why is this Worlds thing so big you may ask? The World Championships is the League's biggest event of every year. As you can tell from the title, it's an international event where League teams from around the globe come together to fight for glory and to hoist the "Summoner's Cup". Unlike some other E-Sports, League doesn't hold many events outside of domestic competitions. There are only two annual international events held for League: the "Mid-season Invitiational" or MSI, along with the World Championships or commonly referred to as "Worlds". These two events are what teams play for, and Worlds is for all the marbles. However, this year's MSI was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so now we would only be getting one out of the two events we had been expecting. The good news is that Riot Games promised us a kick-ass Worlds 2020 to make up for the cancellation of MSI. This year, the World Championships will be held in Shanghai, China, and will kick off on September 25th with the grand final on October 31st. With domestic competition in several regions being moved to online, people had growing concerns over how Worlds would be structured. Many members of the community had questions as they couldn't understand what was to come from, what they were expecting to be, an online international event. The previous article clarified that the tournament will be held in-person in Shanghai's Pudong Soccer Stadium, which is home to SIPG F.C. There, teams will be staged and playing to an empty audience to lower the risk of spreading COVID-19, similar in concept to the NBA Bubble. Don't worry, every single player, coach, and staff member is subject to a 14-day quarantine in their own individual hotel rooms upon entering China (which look damn nice by the way).

At least there's something to look forward to, right?

This year has been a rough year for everyone, including everyone in the E-Sports scene. Expected events, tournaments, and many other things have been canceled due to the pandemic and it seemed like there wasn't much to look forward to in the gaming world. Like the light at the end of the tunnel, we have something grand to expect in competitive League of Legends. If you're still not interested, many well-known artists throughout the years have collaborated with League for Worlds and other events, such as Imagine Dragons, Zedd, Logic, Madison Beer, Against the Current, iKON's Bobby, (G)-IDLE, Bea Miller, and many more. This year, Riot has collaborated with Jeremy McKinnon, MAX, and Henry Lau. With competition becoming more fierce every year, we are expecting nothing less than jaw-drops, an amazing opening ceremony, and some hype gameplay.