The League of Legends 2020 ranked season is almost here and to celebrate, Riot has released a new video that shows off some of the game’s most popular champions facing off all around the League of Legends universe.
The video opens somewhere in the Demacian kingdom as Sylas invades. Lux and Garen attempt to escape into a stronghold, but Sylas beats them there and his men charge through the open gates. Meanwhile, Caitlyn and Vi attempt to stop a gang of thugs, who may even be from Noxus, from releasing Urgot from the medical tank he’s being kept in. At the same time Ezreal is off stealing artifacts from a desert tomb, when he unleashes a horde of void monsters and has to be saved by Kai’Sa.
While the video does a great job of setting up each of these individual conflicts, the real payoff is when the fighting begins. Just as our heroes — unless your heroes are Urgot and Sylas — seem to be beaten, they steel themselves and jump headlong into their respective fights. We’re used to seeing League of Legends champions kicking ass, but it’s always a little more special when they’re gorgeously animated and fighting in ways we didn’t expect — like Vi using her regular fists to beat Urgot instead of her gloves.
The video is set to a new cover of the 2014 World anthem, “Warriors,” originally performed by Imagine Dragons. This new version is performed by 2WEI and Edda Hayes, and features a slower more melancholy arrangement, that’s a little better suited for the video’s somber tones. While we always love seeing Riot break out some original music, it’s almost as cool to see old favorite songs used in brand new ways.
The League of Legends 2020 ranked season will officially begin on Friday, Jan. 10.