What Makes a League of Legends Player?

Whenever I meet someone new, I ask them if they play League. Some are embossed in League attire, while others are a quiet, ‘I used to play a bit’. Some are caught up in the roster drama, and can depict their own fan-fiction of storylines. While others can only imagine a double lift as a trendy word for squatting. I meet people every day, some I hope to dynamic queue with, and others that have ‘heard of that game before’. Thinking back to Worlds 2014, when Warriors was heard around the world, I question what a League of Legends player is depicted as. Observing the characters in the music video, I humble myself in style, appearance, and attitude. Is this what Riot thinks of a League of Legends player?

At this moment, 44 million people have witnessed what Riot imagines League players to look like. When I watched Warriors, by Imagine Dragons, live in concert, I was brought back to my moments of League. I was thrown into the ecstasy of hilarity, teamwork and the #LCSBIGPLAYS. I was reminded of comms, the rage of not picking the freshly purchased skin, and most of all, myself. I believe that for you to be what you want to be, you need qualifications. Those qualifications need not be educational forms of approval, but experience. Your experiences in life shape what you become as a person. Therefore, if you’re a writer, you have to write. If you’re a gamer you have to game. But if you’re a player, are you a League of Legends player?

I play every day. I watch the LCS when I can. I have my favourite pro team and I have an endless playlist of YouTube videos by my favourite League Personalities. I try to be a big part of League, to reciprocate the fact that it’s such a big part of me. You could call it a relationship, and like every relationship, it’s a two way street. What League does for me, I hope to do the same for it. I’m not looking to be a champion, or a Pro Player. I may not own every piece of League Merchandise, I may have not watched every single game, and I may not play every champion. I wake up everyday with sunlight cascading off the sheen of my Katarina poster, and I jump on League. I’d call myself a League of Legends player.