Photo by Riot Games

With all teams chosen to participate and the rosters finalized, we approach the international All-Star event to determine which is stronger: Fire or Ice.

The spree of international events continues as we quickly near the start of the All-Star Event, taking place from December 10th-13th at the North American LCS studio in Los Angeles, California. Unlike many other tournaments, All-Star is seen more as a silly and entertainment driven event where teams from all around the globe compete in fun and inventive game modes including 10v10, all assassins, and many more. A total of six regions have been selected with each set of three being divided to represent teams Fire and Ice. The winning team will decide the skin for a fan-voted champion to be themed with frost or flame. Teams chosen are as follows:

Team Fire

  • LCK (Korea)

  • NA LCS (North America)

  • LMS (Taiwan)

Team Ice

  • LPL (China)

  • EU LCS (Europe)

  • IWC (International Wild Card)

Each team of players, excluding the IWC roster, was voted in by fans, the only rule being that there was a two player maximum from each team. All players that were voted in were chosen based on the team they were in during the regular split, rather than their current ties. The potential mix and match will surely be the biggest reason to watch these teams in action.

LCK

Photo by Riot Games

  • Top: Gyeong-hwang “MaRin” Jang (SKT)

  • Jungle: Dong-bin “Score” Go (KT Rolster)

  • Mid: Sang-hyeok “Faker” Lee (SKT)

  • ADC: Jong-in “PraY” Kim (KOO Tigers)

  • Support: Min-gi “MadLife” Hong (CJ Entus)

Korea is known to be the powerhouse of the League world, and for good reason. With a recent all Korean final at Worlds, making it Korea’s third consecutive world title in a row, it’s easy to see why all of these players are praised so highly. Every single one of these players are seen as some of the best in their respective roles, especially MaRin and Faker of two time world champions SKT. Despite MaRin’s recent departure from SKT, it will be quite the show to see him reunite with his teammate one last time. This will be Korea’s chance to show that their raw talent is enough to defeat any team, even when most of these players have never worked together.

NA LCS

Photo by Riot Games

  • Top: Marcus “Dyrus” Hill (Team Solo Mid)

  • Jungle: William “Meteos” Hartman (Cloud9)

  • Mid: Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg (TSM)

  • ADC: Yilliang(Peter) “Doublelift” Peng (Counter Logic Gaming)

  • Support: Zaqueri “Aphromoo” Black (CLG)

Well, there’s quite a bit to say about NA’s current situation. Ever since Worlds ended, NA has been a crockpot of drama on all fronts. The biggest note here is the reunion of Rush Hour bot lane: Doublelift and Aphromoo. Doublelift’s departure from CLG was less than sanctimonious, leaving with bad tastes in everyone’s mouth. With things as shaky as they are between the two players, it will be interesting to see if they can put their feelings aside to work together one last time.

In addition, this roster sees the return of both Dyrus and Meteos. Meteos left C9 back in the middle of summer split, leaving Hai Du "Hai" Lam to take over the jungle role. Due to original pick Hai preparing for IEM Cologne, this event will see Meteos’ first professional match in months. We also get to see one final showing from the legend himself, Dyrus. After TSM was removed from Worlds, Dyrus had officially announced his retirement from professional LoL. It seems fans just could not let him go. Will NA's internal conflicts be enough to hold this team back?

LMS

Photo by Garena

  • Top: Chen “Ziv” Yi (ahq)

  • Jungle: Hung “Karsa” Hau-hsuan (Flash Wolves)

  • Mid: Wai Kin “Toyz” Lau (HKE)

  • ADC: Cheng “Bebe” Bo-wei (Taipei Assasins)

  • Support: Kim “Olleh” Joo-sung (HKE)

This past Worlds was when the Taiwan region really got to show the west what they were made of. Both Flash Wolves and ahq pulled upset victories to make it into quarter-finals, proving they were not to be underestimated. All-Star will be the first time most of these players will get the chance to compete internationally, allowing westerners to get a glimpse of the power of the LMS region.

LPL

Photo by Riot Games

  • Top: Tong “Koro1” Yang (EDward Gaming)

  • Jungle: Ming “ClearLove” Kai (EDG)

  • Mid: Song “Rookie” Eui-jin (iG)

  • ADC: Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao (OMG)

  • Support: Chen “PYL” Bo (LGD)

China is a region everyone had high hopes for going into Worlds. After EDG defeated SKT at the Mid Season Invitational, it seemed like they were a shoe in to finals. Unfortunately, all of China has been faltering since then, losing hard in every international event since. Thankfully for them, an event just like this comes around to give them another chance to prove themselves. With several LPL championship winners in their roster, this team is sure to give it their all.

EU LCS

Photo by Riot Games

  • Top: Seong Hoon “Huni” Heo (Fnatic)

  • Jungle: Maurice “Amazing” Stuckenschneider (Origen)

  • Mid: Henrik “Froggen” Hansen (Elements)

  • ADC: Martin “Rekkles” Larsson (Fnatic)

  • Support: Raymond “KaSing” Tsang (H2K)

Quite the powerhouse region, Europe made a big splash this year. Not only did Fnatic end with an unheard of 18-0 record in the summer split, both Fnatic and Origen made it all the way to the Worlds semi-finals. Originally, Origen’s Enrique Cedeno “xPeke” Martinez was meant to take up the mid role, but his recent backseating on Origen caused him to decline. Instead, fan favorite Froggen will finally get his chance to return to the international scene. In addition, this will be Huni’s final time to represent EU, as recent news confirmed he was planning to transfer to NA. After Origen’s strong win at IEM San Jose, can EU hope to win two international events in a row?

IWC

Photo by Riot Games

  • Top: Dmitry “Smurf” Ivanov (HR)

  • Jungle: Dmitrii “Dimajke” Gushcha (ROX)

  • Mid: Michael “Kira” Garmash (HR)

  • ADC: Alexi “LeX” Kitsak (HR)

  • Support: Dmitrii “Dimonko” Korovushkin (HR)

Unlike other teams, this team of mildly unknown players earned their ticket to All-Star via winning the IWC All-Star tournament, beating Turkey by just 10 points. Known as the Commonwealth of Independent States, this will be this team’s first time to represent their brand on a global scale. While most IWC teams are known to be far weaker than the major regions, teams such as paiN Gaming and KaBuM! have proven even the smallest regions can pull out a few victories. This just might be the IWC’s chance to pull off a victory in a world wide event.

Conclusion:
With only a week until the All-Star Event begins, it’s exciting to see the talent that will be on show for everyone to see. Any regions that you look forward to seeing? Any game modes that look exciting? Tune in on December 10th through the 13th to see it all unfold.