In just under an hour, the third annual League of Legends All-Stars event will kick off in Los Angeles, California. Players from across all of the World Championship regions have been voted in by the fans and split into 2 teams: Team Fire and Team Ice.
Here are the story lines worth following:
Get Your Free Skin + IP Boost: The team you cheer for will likely depend on which region you’re from. The team who has accumulated the most points by the end of the event will earn an IP boost, and a special Ice or Fire skin, for all players in the region they represent. Check out the roster below to see which team is representing your region.
NA* Vs. EU: The great battle of the Western regions will kick off the 2015 All-Stars event. The European squad will be confident matching up against the modified North American team, which features a retired Dyrus and a no-longer-LCS Meteos, but we’ve seen worse upsets before. #Kabuum.
Return of the Rush Hour: One of the most shocking roster changes in League of Legends history took place this off-season – Doublelift to TSM. Doublelift would proceed to throw his CLG jersey (which he had worn faithfully for 4 years) into the trash and claim he was no longer friends with his long-time bot lane partner, Aphromoo. Well, now Doublelift and Aphromoo get to play together again! Because we forced them to! With our votes!
The King of Europe Vs. The God… Froggen Vs. Faker: Yes, there will also be 1v1 matches throughout the tournament where players will be awarded points for outplaying their opponents. The match of the night is obvious. It sticks out like a 6-stack Cho’Gath. Froggen, arguably the best EU mid laner of all-time, will take on Faker, unarguably the best player in the history of the game. Hype!
Assassin Mode: Blind pick, assassins only, and you’re not allowed to build anything but boots, damage items, and potions. The later rounds of this will be crazy. Will Faker win both the 1v1 tournament, and the Assassin tournament with LeBlanc? Westdoor on Fizz? Are we underestimating Aphromoo?!
China on Decline?: SKT1 won the Season 5 World Championship without breaking a sweat while LPL champions EDG failed to take a single game off of European team Fnatic. If Chinese teams want to prove that their last few showings were a fluke, beating the LCK’s star-studded lineup is where they should start.
MadLife on Thresh: MadLife may not be the same impact player he was at one point, but he always puts on a show at these All-Star events.
Two Players, One Champion: Tandem mode will involve one player controlling the mouse, and one person controlling the keyboard. If you’re playing with Faker, which do you let him control?
Europe Pushing its Limits: Remember how promising European teams Fnatic and Origen looked after convincing quarterfinal performances at the World Championships? Korea doesn’t remember. Europe appears to be a region desperately trying to close the gap between top regions. They will have another shot at doing that during this tournament.
The All-Star Los Angeles 2015 event begins later today (December 10th) at 5pm (PST) and will conclude on Sunday December 13th.