This is it, the last nomination category of GosuAwards 2012 for League of Legends and the most unquantifiable of all. It is one whose nominees cannot be judged by tournament results, winnings, number of recorded interviews or prize pools.
Those are the ones that make LoL colorful, ones that distinct it from other eSports and give it its unique flavor. They're what makes the fan smile, cry and make meme. These are the stories and faces of LoL or what keeps the scene vibrant and motley between matches.
Snoopeh’s stare
Widely is it known that CLG’s Scotsman has adopted one other important skill besides terrorizing enemy teams with pretty much every jungler in the game. That’s of course instilling fear in cameras by just staring at them.
S2WC cameramen are still shaking, we’re certain.
Ocelote’s passion
Over the years, the face of SK Gaming has left few people who are indifferent to his persona. Ocelote is loved as much as he’s hated but nobody can deny that the famous captain is as colorful as they come. Ocelote’s passion and love for the game have left their mark at not one or two tournament and whether he’s screaming with (or at) his team, crying from joy (or sorrow), jumping in celebratory fashion (or taking a vocal approach to expressing dissatisfaction), he’s always a sight to behold.
Mr. Pillow
While other teams have some sort of legitimate subs, TSM have… the Pillow. Always inseparable from Dyrus, the Pillow has been seen posing for post-win photos, giving interviews or being triumphantly raised like normal teams do with actual players.
A grand member of the dynasty of eSports pillows indeed!
”See hero, kill hero"
Apparently, it is extremely easy to be as good as M5. After all, Genja laid it all out for you during IEM Kiev.
After that, this quote frequently reappeared at every event that M5 attended or whenever another roster tried to desperately mimic their style. You’ve heard it pronounced by Deman in Russian accent a hundred times by now and why the hell not. As with all great things, there’s ingenuity in its simplicity and, as with all great things, it can rarely be replicated with the same success.
”Everyone is trash”
While on the topic of quotes, we cannot close our eyes for Doublelift’s ever-enduring cockiness easily summarize in the three words above.
There are, of course, a ton of other versions of this sentence but all of those are supportive of Doublelift’s half-jokingly, half-dead-serious overconfidence in his own skill. To this day, the quote is revisited after every CLG match whether they win or lose. It has given many journalists a strong title for their interviews. It has rung true through so many instances of Doublelift owning bot lane that a large portion of the fanbase started to wonder “Is he really the best AD carry in the world?”
Toyz’s Story
On top of all its fierce competition and drama of the bad sort, the S2WC saw a story that was genuinely touching. A rare breed, we agree. It was a story of brotherly hug and a sincere “I am proud of you” spoken by a mentor to his student.
Just before TPA went on to play their semi-final against Sword, Toys shared his tale of how he played Maknoon for the first time a year ago, how he got stomped, how he realized there’s always someone better regardless of what your Elo is and how he made it his goal to one day conquer the mountain that is Maknoon. What of the end? Well, the end brings tears to the eye.
"I'm at a loss for words right now. Yes, it's only the semifinals, but for me, the nobody, I've proven something. 2:0 Najin. Maknoon came over, gave me a hug and said quietly, "I'm proud of you." That just sent me over the top. I consider Maknoon one of my mentors, and regardless of who won, he's still one of the players I respect the most..."
”Confirmed on Saint’s stream”
Usually, news and updates on the intricate workings of a certain field would come from journalist entities but such is not the case with LoL drama. Catching fire during S2WC when SV called out who will win a game and when a disconnect would strike.
Today, every almost every redditor is familiar with the phrase and if you wonder if some LoL gossip is true or not just CTRL+F for “confirmed on Saint’s stream”. That’ll answer your question (kind of...).
The S2WC fiasco
In our “Most memorable tournament” nominations, we talked about how S2WC was not exactly what Riot had in mind. What an understatement!
The World Championship will forever remain in history as the tournament that gathered so much hype momentum that it could not keep itself together and crashed. Literally. Technical issues, cheating incidents and postponed matches clouded what was supposed to be the flawless conclusion of a very successful year for professional League. It was designed to shove Dota’s “The International” and its immaculate production in the ground.
It failed and despite that the tournament did come to an end eventually, the words “as planned” simply do not have a place here. Dota supporters had a field day on forums and Riot received an instructive slap to the face.
First progamer ban
In early December, Dignitas’ jungler IWillDominate entered the annals of professional League and not in the way he would’ve liked: Christian Rivera became the first ever progamer to be banned from championship games.
Ordering a ban period of one year, Riot gave a very clear indication that one does not simply f**k with the Tribunal and the Summoner’s Code. The severity of the punishment (which most of the time would mean the death of one’s eSports career), got people discussing whether or not this was a bit over the top and the topic stayed on community boards for quite a while as it should have: this was, after all, a precedent that nobody really imagined.
Regardless of its late coming, Riot’s loud “Behave or be gone” statement pristinely indicated how Season 3 is going to be like. This is a story that will be remembered often in 2013, be sure of that.
