La plus belle des équipes

The story of the most beautiful League of Legends team, telling a tale of friendship and perseverance rather than technical strategy.

South Korea dominated League of Legends in 18 months to become the world's best players, winning world championships multiple times.

The LCK shrinks from 16 to 8 teams in 2015 to avoid conflicts of interest between teams with the same sponsor, triggering mass layoffs.

Gorilla, an excellent support, leaves his club to join Huya, a Chinese streaming platform with no budget, and picks other players rejected by other teams.

• Lie: invisible player with few memorable moments • Couro: solid but always on weak teams • Pray: great player but accomplished nothing in years, thinking he was too old • Smeb: very young top laner considered worst in the league after a catastrophic first season

Their first LCK opponent is SKT, Korea's most powerful monster with Faker. The team gets completely annihilated, with Faker mocking them during the match.

The team changes name from Huya Tigers to Ge Tigers, indicating financial problems since the sponsor whose name they use pays salaries and living conditions.

Coach Nofe proposes they wear funny costumes every week to win over the public and build support, since nobody supported them.

• Victory over Im, but people say it's worthless • Victory over Samsung, attributed to Samsung's inexperience • Victory over Giner using the Juggernaut Maokai strategy, invented by the Tigers that day

The Tigers become incredibly inventive: using the banner twice, mid-lane Mundo, ADC Urgot, unpredictable combinations nobody plays.

After their first preseason loss, players realize they're united by all hitting rock bottom. They sing before matches to calm their nerves and develop extraordinary chemistry.

Team synergy lets them handle pressure by playing relaxed, like hanging with friends, despite huge competition stakes.

Smeb's father doesn't speak to him for a month when he announces wanting to become a pro player. His older brother negotiates with parents to let him play while finishing school.

Smeb attends high school at night, trains all night, sleeps 2-3 hours and returns to high school. He maintains this rhythm until graduation despite two full-time jobs.

At 17 in the LCK, Smeb gets crushed by competition. He lacks sleep, experience, and mental toughness. The press blames him for his team's failure and he gets benched after 6 months.

The Tigers believe in him and have the jungler play around him. Smeb regains confidence and becomes an exceptional player, dedicating his first MVP to his older brother in the audience.

After their first loss to SKT, the Tigers only lose one more time two weeks before season's end, playing nearly 3 months undefeated.

Even at 14-0, the Tigers keep doing absurd and creative things, not for marketing but because they simply wanted to.

The Tigers reach the finals facing SKT with 10 times more spectators than a normal match, Korean deputies present, and 80% of the crowd favoring SKT.

Faker takes the mic and taunts the Tigers, saying he knows they won't ban Malzahar. Three Tigers players raise their hands in response, showing their confidence.

SKT arrives with a thick book on how to obliterate the Tigers, having completely figured out their playstyle.

• SKT 3-0s the Tigers crushingly • Never give Lie an advantage to help Smeb • Ban or take all the champions the Tigers want to play • Faker doesn't need to play, he sits dejected on the bench

SKT crushes them both strategically and mechanically, showing that even with an excellent first season, facing SKT in finals wasn't realistic.

Everyone thinks it was a miracle they reached finals and another chance would come in years.

The LCK forbids teams from having more than two uniforms, probably because of the Tigers. The team changes name again to Coup Tigers.

The Tigers start losing to teams they easily beat in spring. They become very slow to adapt to game changes.

• Mental shock from the SKT finals • Lack of training time due to financial problems • Individual errors from low morale • Inability to quickly adapt to game updates

Over summer, the Tigers gradually regain their level, not enough to win playoffs but enough to accumulate just enough points for Worlds.

Winning the LCK only makes you favored for Worlds. True glory comes from winning the world championship.

• Not many favor the Tigers • Koreans know they weren't very strong in summer • The rest of the world doesn't know the team • Everyone expects SKT to win

The Tigers have an easy group and advance quickly, facing CLG and Flashwolves without real challenge.

The Tigers face the third Korean team, become even stronger and more adaptable by copying American strategies.

Fnatic has two top laners: Soaz (Smeb's teammate in his first team and only person who supported him when he was bad) and Huni (the person Smeb almost lost his job to).

The Tigers face their friends, making the semifinal very personal for Smeb.

Smeb transforms completely into a monster during this series and crushes the Europeans mercilessly.

A team nobody knew before reaches Worlds finals, which was considered impossible for a team with no budget.

Coup TV announces closure just before Worlds finals. It was the last sponsor the team tried to promote, and it also failed.

• Sponsors stopped spending months ago • The team arrives at the airport separately, no team vehicle • No resources for players • Salaries became zero

When invited to the main League of Legends talk show, when asked if they earn 100,000 or 200,000 dollars per year, they laugh because the real answer is zero. They play on personal savings.

Without facilities and no AC, the Tigers move all their computers into one player's apartment. Unable to turn on AC, they eventually train in Seoul's PC bangs.

Why play an entire season with no salary? Because in Korea, as long as SKT exists as world champion, you don't exist. Winning Worlds is everything.

• Emotional plea from Tigers to Korean fans • Request that fans chant their name • Comparison with other teams' support • Need for at least two people cheering for them

The Tigers win one game against SKT when SKT makes a mistake for 20 minutes. They lose the other three games.

The team smiles on stage after losing, which endears them to people's hearts. Smeb will later bitterly regret smiling when he was so sad and angry.

Lie retires after finals, being most affected despite his popularity. He was the least impactful jungler on the team.

• No major Korean club would recruit four players together • Players have offers from other clubs • The rational solution would be to scatter • But that means no title and no revenge against SKT

Find a small sponsor paying just enough to rent a small facility and pay internet. No salary, just survival for one more year together.

The team rebrands as Rox Tigers. Rox means rocks in Korean, symbolizing their friendship as strong as a rock when they had neither money nor opportunity.

Instead of signing a known jungler, Rox Tigers recruit Peanut, a player nobody wants because he spent most of last season on the bench.

Peanut is criticized for playing like a solo queue player, ganking constantly and not caring about teammates.

The Tigers didn't recruit him because he was particularly good tactically. They just liked hanging out with him.

Like the other players, putting Peanut in a good environment made him progress phenomenally. He becomes the second-best jungler in the world.

• 89% win rate over 18 games (16 wins) • Only notable loss to young Samsung with Crown and Ambition • Mid and support injured but continue dominating • Gorilla suffers wrist issues from sleeping curled up all winter without heat

Peanut transforms the team: instead of ending matches in 50 minutes with a final teamfight, Rox becomes the fastest team in the entire LCK.

Among the five players with the most kills, three are Rox Tigers despite shorter matches than average (30 minutes), killing more in less time.

• Barely places wards (one every 3 minutes on average) • Last in monster farm at 10 minutes • Second in gold earned at 10 minutes • Called 'Battle Ward' because you always know where he is by killing the enemy jungler

Rox Tigers reach finals with flawless performance, terrorizing everyone through spring.

Peanut doesn't play very well in semifinals, discovering the pressure of big matches, which costs Rox the semifinal.

SKT plays remarkably well, particularly Faker. In the last teamfight, Faker unleashes a devastating zone attack while Rox tries to kill a SKT player who barely survives.

SKT wins 3-1 but this time much closer. Rox doesn't get massacred in any game, showing they're much stronger than in 2015.

Knowing they'll never have another sponsor, players know this is their last month playing together. This gives them just enough motivation to give everything.

• Pray becomes the most efficient support ADC in the world • Perfect synergy between Pray and Gorilla • Couro can hold anyone except Faker • Peanut best jungler in the world at this point

When the year-end list of 20 best players in the world comes out, it's not Faker at the top, it's Smeb.

Rox is unstoppable again and dominates playoffs. They reach finals for the third consecutive time.

Rox get surprised in semifinals by KT Rolster, Korea's third team, instead of facing SKT directly.

Some supporters start wondering if it's a real victory if it's not against SKT.

Rox finally reach finals facing SKT after two years of suffering, playing in terrible conditions without heat or salary.

Rox Tigers win the 2016 summer playoffs finals, winning the LCK. It's the culmination of two years of sacrifice and unshakeable friendship.

Everyone knows SKT remains favored. Rox, a rejected team with no sponsor, must face League of Legends' greatest dynasty.

Rox pass groups and reach semifinals by bracket luck, not facing SKT first, contrary to expectations.

It's Smeb's chance for revenge against teams that rejected him. All Rox players have something to prove against SKT.

Rox know this is potentially their last chance. Winning Worlds is the ultimate goal to be considered champions, not just second best.

Zac became extremely strong right before Worlds and all teams worldwide struggle to find an answer against him.

Rox decide to play Miss Fortune support, an absolutely unorthodox position, to counter Zac. It's an extremely risky strategy in a semifinal.

SKT expects a mistake and thinks Rox will gift them a game. But commentators instantly recognize it's intentional because Rox are innovators.

The Miss Fortune support strategy works and Rox win the first game of the series.

SKT's legendary coach forgets to ban Nidalee, a character too strong to leave for Peanut.

SKT's jungler never played Nidalee professionally and didn't practice with the champion. He must pick it to not give it to Rox.

Peanut is imperial on Nidalee while SKT's jungler must handle this sudden responsibility on his shoulders at elimination distance.

Despite team errors, Faker plays just as well, trying to compensate for his jungler's problems, but it's not enough this time.

Rox are pulling off one of League of Legends' greatest performances in history against the game's greatest dynasty.

At a critical moment when the score is very tight, Faker walks alone in the top of the map. It's when Rox can catch him to unlock the game.

When the first spell comes out of the bush to target him, Faker, with absolute confidence, sees his team's situation could lose momentum and calmly says 'I'll make it out.'

Even playing flawlessly, SKT wins 3-2 the series. Rox lose by a very tight score because of SKT's incomparable level of performance.

• Pray joins Afreeca Freecs • Gorilla and Couro stay together and join Longzu • Smeb joins KT Rolster, his last team with a chance to win • Peanut joins the enemy

Despite separation, players remain friends long after their shared pro career.

Each player has great careers at their new clubs, but nobody was as lovable as when they played together for Rox Tigers.

Though they didn't win Worlds, Rox Tigers became esports' most lovable team, winning hearts even in a country that respects only winners.