The Worlds 2020 finals are only a couple of weeks away and apart from the best of 5, we have one more thing to look forward to. Yet another finals opening performance is set for this year and with AR, amazing songs and tons of flying particles, we couldn’t expect less than perfection. Before then though, let’s see which Worlds finals openings were our favorite.
5. Worlds 2013 Opening
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO5P7-LxzTE
The last 3 years of Worlds championships took the stage for a show full of AR enhancements. However, the 2013 show still deserves a medal for making a statement for the tournament. The opening includes everything. An orchestra playing a chilling version of one of the most classic League of Legends themes, an electronic performance of Lucian’s main theme, and a show from Limp Bizkit to tie it all together.
This is the last time we’ll see a Worlds opening being presented on a small stage. All future openings are large scale and it’s all thanks to the 2013 performance.
4. Worlds 2018
The year of the K/DA wouldn’t be complete if not for the virtual K-Pop girl band on stage. Before Fnatic and Invictus take their place on the stage to play the finals best of 5, K/DA in AR and their singer partners made a huge entrance which was then succeeded by an incredible “step-into-Runettera” cross over with Ahri bringing the Worlds cup to the stadium.
As if all these weren’t enough, The Glitch Mob, Mako, The Word Alive, and Bobby of iKON would later take the stage to perform a remix version of “Rise” which accompanied the entrance of both finals teams. Simply priceless!
3. Worlds 2014
The 2014 Worlds finals opening is considered by many the most complete performance ever in League of Legends history. Why is that? The first half is comprised by hard drums and a national vibe, similar to what we see happening to the opening of the Olympic Games. Imagine being in the stadium and feeling those drums in your core.
The second half of the performance is by iconic Imagine Dragons with Warriors. Warriors is possibly the most memorable LoL song by an artist and is till now one the big love of all fans. After the 2014 opening performance, the bar was set incredibly high for the years to come.
2. Worlds 2017
The first year with an AR performance, the 2017 opening set another high bar for the finals. The first part comprised of yet another national dance with Against the Current taking the stage afterwards with Legends Never Die.
Even though the Costanza’s performance started as a classic much like Imagine Dragon’s, it all shifted gears when the Elder Dragon appeared within the stadium. Sadly, it was visible only through video using a 3D engine and it was only until 2 years later that Riot would invest in in-stadium 3D graphics to spice up the openings even more.
1.Worlds 2019 Finals Opening
The 2019 finals opening is the epitomy of Worlds and it’s hard to think that any future performance will be able to surpass that. In Paris’ stadium, the whole front of the stage is covered with screen-net, bringing 3d graphics inside the stadium. Starting off with a short performance for Awaken, the music show begins and it’s only when True Damage enter the stage to unveil their first song Giants that we realize that size of what we see.
Giants isn’t even the highest point of the performance though as Phoenix comes up and that performance is as smooth as one can get. It’s hard to even consider how long it took artists and 3D modelers to comprise that result.
It all comes down to Worlds finals 2020 to show what more Riot Games can bring to the table. This year, the stadium will find only 6.000 spectators within but that doesn’t mean that we won’t have a hell of fun from home. That is until the next one at least. This year’s finals will be on October 31st with two of the semifinals’ teams fighting to become the 2020 world champion.
