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Riot big up League of Legends Season 3 final with appropriate anime pomp

League of Legends

It’s difficult to convey the force of the impending clash of League of Legends’ real-life champions at LCS Season 3’s final. They might be cause enough to evacuate downtown LA, but they look like skinny teens in black polo shirts.

Consequently, Riot have turned to the art form best-practiced at portraying standoffs between figures of great power: anime.

The three-minute trailer looks like Daft Punk’s Discovery film Interstella 5555 to me, which means it probably looks like Space Battleship Yamato to people who know about such things. It’s packed with fan service, and you’ll enjoy it no matter how many hours you’ve emptied into the King MOBA:

The LCS Season 3 semifinals happened in the Galen Center just a few days ago, where Taipei Assassins were announced the best team in the world last year. But it’s the world-famous LA Staples Center that’ll host theLCS Season 3 finals– a venue ordinarily home to grown men bouncing orbs or manhandling sticks for sold-out crowds of tens of thousands. And American Express will sponsor the event, just as they might for a real sport made of sweat and bright lights.

The universe is trying to telegraph something here: LoL is big. Bigger than any other eSport has ever been, and getting bigger all the time. That’s something best celebrated with specially-commissioned anime, surely?