LoL: Top 5 Highlights of the Red Bull League of Its Own

On Sunday, the Red Bull League of Its Own event took place at the Accor Arena in Paris. Just a month and a half after the conclusion of Worlds, the reigning double world champions, T1, made their way from Korea as the guests of honor, competing in show matches against several European teams with massive fanbases: NNO, Gentle Mates, Los Ratones, Karmine Corp, and G2 Esports. While most of the matches were played with special conditions to ensure a more balanced competition, the day was a celebration of League of Legends. It seems both the audience and the players found plenty of fun in the experience. Let’s take a look back at the five highlights of the day.

Having been present with T1 at this year’s Worlds, Martin "Rekkles" Larsson had not had the opportunity to play a game or fully experience the electric atmosphere of the crowd. His last major connection with the European audience dates back to his time with Karmine Corp in 2022, during the KCX 2 event, also held at Bercy. On Sunday, Rekkles was one of the most active players, participating in a game with Los Ratones—his new team founded by Marc Caedrel" Lamont for 2025—and playing the final two matches on the botlane with T1 against Karmine Corp and G2, two of his former teams.

Notably, T1 role-swapped entirely in their match against G2, allowing Rekkles to step back into his old ADC role, where he picked his signature Sivir, this time with none other than Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok as his support on Bard. By the end of the day, Rekkles stood out as the only player to remain undefeated throughout all his games. Despite returning from a year in Korea and transitioning to the support role, he proved one undeniable fact: Rekkles is still the King in the North.

And, of course, an honorable mention goes to Faker’s entrance. The GOAT’s presence alone never fails to make the crowd erupt at full volume.

The event provided a first glimpse of what could develop into one of the greatest rivalries in the league this year. One of the most anticipated moments was Marint "Yike" Sundelin’s first encounter with his former teammates. And he showed a lot today on his Viego. Both teams played very seriously, and Karmine Corp eventually took the win in a very entertaining match. Kim "Canna" Chang-dong, Martin "Yike" Sundelin, and Vladimiros "Vladi" Kourtidis dominated their opponents, while Caliste "Caliste" Henry-Hennebert displayed some impressive mechanics alongside Raphaël "Targamas" Crabbé. Despite the immense pressure of playing in front of 20,000 spectators, they kept their composure and delivered a top-tier performance.

While everyone seemed to be having fun throughout the event, there was also a clear sense that the players were playing with their hearts. This passion for the game suggests that the 2025 season could see two teams unafraid to create bold plays and push the pace, as we witnessed on that memorable day.

For many players, the chance to face T1—specifically Faker—was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The Unkillable Demon King, playing with a relaxed and highly aggressive style throughout most of his games, especially those where he was not in the midlane, found himself the victim of several solo kills over the day.

In a very surprising manner, all the current pro players were outplayed by their opponents throughout the three 1v1s. Indeed, Caliste lost to Lucas "Saken" Fayard in a classic Yasuo vs Yasuo matchup. The club legend showed Europe’s potential future prodigy that he will always be the big brother. The final score was 2-1.

Rasmus "Caps" Winther also lost to Dylan "Tiky" Sorrentino, a widely popular French streamer, in another regular matchup, this time Yone vs Yone. It was an extremely mechanical and tense match, lasting almost ten minutes. In the final engagement, Caps became a bit too greedy, and Tiky managed to trap him with a last dash-Q under the tower. The final score here was also 2-1.

But the most impressive moment of the day came from the 1v1 between Adrien "Alderiate" Wils, another widely appreciated French streamer who could be considered the "French Topfather", and Choi "Doran" Hyeon-joon. The T1 toplaner picked Kled, only to be utterly destroyed by Alderiate’s Tryndamere. The French streamer, who is usually quite low-key, picked his signature champion, which he has been playing since his very first streams over 10 years ago. He took the stage and shocked the new T1 toplaner, who will likely have nightmares about that Tryndamere: Alderiate destroyed Doran 2-0 in just three minutes. This moment proves that Solo Queue in Europe continues to cultivate some unsuspected talent.

At a time when everyone is buzzing about the Fearless Draft, set to be implemented in all major leagues next year, the League of Its Own event reminded us of another draft mode that proved to be both refreshing and entertaining. Used exclusively during the first game of the day, where T1 faced off against NNO, the two midlaners from each team swapped roles during the draft phase and selected champions for their opponents. This naturally led to some wildly unconventional drafts and, unsurprisingly, some questionable in-game performances.

Beyond the outcome of the match, and while this mode is obviously not suited for professional-level play, it was intriguing to see players stepping into the coach’s role and exciting to watch them play champions we rarely, if ever, associate with them: Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyeong on Katarina, Mun "Oner" Hyeon-jun on Draven, and Doran on Xerath.