LCS IRL Blog: 6/28/24
Last spring, I went to LCS for the first time in hopes of meeting my favorite players- especially Jojopyun, Inspired, and Vulcan. Unfortunately, they couldn't go to the studio that week because they got Covid. While I still had fun, I left feeling some regret.
Well… life happens in mysterious ways. Somehow circumstances (family thingz) allowed me to be in Southern California again. I’m going to be here for at least another month, so maybe I’ll swing by again to see TL too (since they didn’t play today).
I’m about an 80 minute drive away from LCS at the moment, so I figured I should visit and tie up those loose ends from last year. I’m less invested and haven't kept up as much as before; most of my LCS knowledge this year comes from my friend Sock. But I’ve still watched most of the C9 games over the year and a sporadic mix of others.
The studio remains the same as my memories, save for the new stage arrangement of the teams facing each other. We get their side view, so we can see them tapping their keyboard and mouse. Somehow I was sitting right in front of where C9 and FLY were seated in both series- the right side of the stage. So I could see them decently well. Man, it was great to see both teams actually there instead of the empty half of the stage EG had last year.
I could also hear the players comming sometimes. Funny enough we could also hear Tomio from the other side of the stage sometimes because he was that loud.
I met some nice people sitting around me who I doubt will see this but were very pleasant to talk to. I’m also grateful that my friend Angie (@numiii) stuck by me all day. During game 1 draft I wasn’t able to show my signs that I’d drawn a few days prior, but the cameraman noticed me right before game 2, said “that’s pretty good”, and filmed the signs right off the bat.
Thanks Kyami for the screenshots~ I told some friends that one day I was going to make this specific Vulcan sign a reality, and I had to follow through.
The games went the opposite of how they went last year. Last year, EG (player fan, not org fan zzz) lost every game that they played in the 2 days I was there, which ended up being a 0-5 due to tiebreakers. That was, to put it lightly, pretty sad. This time around, both C9 and FLY went 2-0. (I’m rooting for them mainly because they have Jojo, Vulcan, and Inspired. No surprises there.)
People may be disappointed at how stompy these series were, and sure, I agree that a closer series objectively would have made for a more exciting watch. But I have nothing to complain about after what I experienced last year. (Except maybe that Jojo picked Corki twice and that was bedge…)
I happily went to the arcade just outside the stage area to line up for meet & greets with the teams. It’s different from last year, when they had only one of the two teams scheduled after every game. Now, both teams have meet & greets after their series, with the losing team going first.
Why the TL shirt? I got it for free in 2019. Look, it was either this or some free EG jersey and you might have to be crazy to show up to LCS in 2024 with an EG jersey.
So I first got a picture with Shopify Rebellion. And Tomio, unprompted, said “Thank you for coming!” I wanted to say more, like congratulate him on being in LCS, but I guess the nerves were still there so I ended up just saying “Yeah thank you!” 😭
Then I waited for C9, which was definitely in demand. Once you get to the front of the line, the Riot staff will take your phone to take your pictures. If you have anything you want autographed, you place it on a little wheeled table, and the players will sign it after the pictures (Riot provides sharpies).
To be honest, everything is still a blur, like did that all actually happen. But I have a video and I guess this all really did happen.
Smiling like a dummy when I walked up, I asked the boys if we could do finger hearts, and Jojo said, “Yeah, of course.”
“Sure,” Blaber said. Then he made perfect finger hearts, looked at his hands, and proceeded to add, “I don’t know how.”
“Just do your best,” I said.
“I think this is right,” Jojo said confidently.
“I think I’m doing it wrong,” Blaber said, but he wasn’t.
(Please don’t mind my shortness…)
I gotta say, Thanatos did the best job with the finger hearts.
I asked Jojo and then Vulcan to take a selfie while the rest of the team looked at my Jojo Pyoggers poster on the table that the Riot staff just slid forward. Vulcan is so tall, and I definitely said to him “You’re so tall” during the selfie. I was apparently shaky and suck at selfies, so my pics with Jojo are pretty scuffed… It’s okay, it’s about the principle of the matter.
When the team saw the poster, they were marveling and saying “Wow, Jojopyun.”
“Jojo poggers,” Blaber read. Then Jojo walked up and said the drawing’s nice. And Blaber asked Jojo, “When are you gonna stream, bro?”
And Jojo said something like, “I streamed a bit.” (Which was like, back in January.) The two of them went back and forth a bit, but I didn’t catch all of it. Some banter, a joke about making a tweet.
After signing, Thanatos pointed at the poster and repeated “Sign for Jojo stream, right?”
“Yes,” I said.
“I’ll stream during the break, don’t worry,” Jojo promised, adding that he would go set up his stream. He’s probably lying, but you never know I guess.
“For sure,” Blaber said very sarcastically.
And then I pulled out the second sign- the Vulcan one- and asked if Vulcan could sign it real quick. He just reacted with an “oh wow” like he wasn't expecting that one. (I know he hates Yuumi but the pun was too good to pass up.)
“Vuuulcan,” Blaber teased, drawing out the first syllable.
Then Blaber told me- “You’re a good drawer.”
“You could be an artist,” Jojo added, peering very closely at the sign.
“Thank you- I’m going to be,” I said sheepishly.
“She already is, bro!” Blaber exclaimed. “She already is! Bro!”
“You are?” Jojo asked, turning to me. This was definitely the funniest moment of the day. I was just really happy he liked and complimented the art, haha.
To be honest, I will be shocked if Jojo actually streams during the break
That was the end; I didn't want to hold up the line of course. I’m not really sure if they realized who I was or not, I couldn’t tell. We’ve interacted on twitter before, just not irl. Regardless, I was and still am thrilled.
Me when Blaber says I’m a good drawer
Blaber is really nice and more talkative than I thought he’d be, and I wish I had talked to him too? I’ve really liked Blaber since his debut in C9, so I’m happy to meet him, since last year he was also sick when I went so he wasn't with C9 at the afterparty. I feel like my respect for him just multiplied tenfold.
Anyways, this wait for C9 took so long that it was already partway through game one of FLY vs DIG. There are 2 TVs in the arcade so you can still keep up while waiting, but just something to keep in mind.
The series was another blowout that I barely registered while on an emotional high from meeting C9, and I still got to show my Inspired sign during game 2 draft. The games ended before 4pm, meaning the 2 series lasted less than 3 hours total. Which is insanely fast.
Inspired somehow saw my friend Kyami’s tweet with the sign after the series and liked it, so he was aware of its existence. Unfortunately, he had to go film PROS and couldn't join the meet & greet with his team. (PROS lineup is sick though- him, Vulcan, and APA.)
Outside the arcade, we ran into Raz and Emily Rand and said hi. They’re super chill and nice to talk to. The line for DIG’s meet was pretty long so I decided to get in when there were only a few fans left.
Since I’ve talked to Jensen last year (told him I’m a fan and got a selfie), I decided to use my few seconds of time to tell Licorice I’m glad he’s back and I’ve been a fan since his C9 days. DIG all seemed to be in good vibes despite the blowout loss. They were smiling and chatting with each other and looked fine, you wouldn't be able to tell they got stomped. Honestly, good mental.
I exited the arcade to loop back to the line for FLY and I literally saw the FLY players standing right there. I saw Inspired talking to someone. I saw his hair and the “INSPIRED” on the back of his jersey and immediately noped out of there. I booked it down the hallway as fast as possible. I was going to get in line and wait, I did not need to be 1 inch away from them before my turn.
But like I said, Inspired only was able to stick around for maybe 1 or 2 fans before he had to leave to record for an hour. I saw them escorting him off and him disappearing into some sort of employees only door. So when I went up, he wasn't there. I still asked the rest of them to take a finger hearts picture. Although I felt slightly awkward about going up with an Inspired poster when he wasn't there, the boys reacted very positively.
Busio even read the text and seemed impressed. I swear I tried really hard to think of something more creative to write and couldn't come up with anything good..😭🙏 I’m glad people still liked it.
Bwipo even kindly added, “He would have loved this. He has PROS right now, that’s why he’s not here, I’m sorry about that.”
I didn't even catch this until I watched the video back later, but Busio immediately looked at Bwipo and followed up teasingly with “[You spoke like] he’s dead. ‘He would have loved this.’”
Busio… 😭
I told them that I would probably wait around for Inspired since I’ve been trying to see him for 2 years and last year I came when EG had covid and couldn't be here.
I thanked the boys and left to wait for the notorious man, myth, and legend himself. We (Angie and I) had to wait a whole hour, but I was more than willing to wait. Idk what really happened that hour. We saw the Riot staff move a lot of stuff around, they work hard. Also near the beginning Papasmithy was there and we told him the situation. He complimented the poster and said I can definitely meet Inspired, so that was reassuring. And we saw a few different pros leaving at different points.
When we saw APA walk out we knew Inspired would be there soon. Finally Inspired walked out this one door and we waved at him. He came over and was very smiley and bouncy. I asked him to sign my poster and he said it looked sick. He wasn't sure where to sign and debated for a bit before saying “next to Busio I guess.”
Thank you Kacper…
Then we took a few pictures, and I felt like he was being considerate by lowering to my height during the selfies 😭. He radiated such friendly vibes. I understand everyone has split and strong opinions on Inspired but I swear, the man was so chill and full of rizz in person.
Angie mentioned to him that I have been trying to meet him for 2 years and that he/EG had covid when I came last year. He said: “Really? That’s so unlucky.”
I know I could have said more, but I didn’t want to take too much time, so I basically was just like “I've been such a big fan. Thank you.”
And at the end he picked up the poster again and said, “This is so cool,” or something like that.
Quad’s signature is so cute (Busio too of course)
I was on a serious emotional high afterwards. I probably still am. I’m happy and thankful that Jojo and Kacper complimented my drawings so sincerely, not to mention their teammates. I wish I could tell myself from last year that everything’s going to be alright. I got the closure I was really hoping for deep down. It’s kind of how I always imagined visiting LCS would be like. I know this is sort of the last split of the ‘LCS’ as we know it, a lot of stuff is changing next year, so I’m glad I got a chance to come back before then.
I went outside to wait for my ride, and during those 10 minutes we saw Inspired leave so we waved bye at him. And then Vulcan walked out shortly after so we waved at him too.
And that’s how my visit to LCS ended.
Sure, I have more I probably could have said in hindsight. Or more I could have asked. Stuff I’m still curious about. But I don't mind that. I’m just happy I got this opportunity. I left feeling really good. I guess it’s a silly thing, I mean I interacted with these gamer men for like 2 minutes max. But plenty of silly things make us happy. Everyone needs some silly happiness in their life.
I think I’m in a pretty healthy state with my LCS fandom. I’m not as overly invested as before which is good. But I’m still casually a fan and able to enjoy it more that way, I think. And for these players, I guess I’ll have a very soft spot for them and a fond memory of them for the rest of my life.
Anyway, if you made it this far, thank you very much for reading.
