Gamers, it’s your time to shine! The search is ON for the next big League of Legends star.
Riot Korea is launching a reality TV show centered on finding the next big LoL star.
LoL THE NEXT
Called “LoL THE NEXT,” the reality TV-style show will be similar in concept to your Western audition shows like American Idol.
The show is designed to pit some of the best rising League of Legends players in the region versus each other.
What’s the prize? A chance to win a potentially career-launching prize as explained by Riot Korea in the program’s official website.
It will be based on many K-pop reality shows that initially showcase a group of upcoming talents, but will later undergo an audition process and a competitive environment.
But instead of your singing prowess or your dance moves, you have to showcase your League of Legends skills to prove what you’ve got.
Audition process
The audition process was only open for 11 days, but there were over 1,000 aspirants.
From a list of 100 players ranked Diamond or above, the show aims to put each player in a rigorous audition process that will eliminate players at regular intervals.
Lol THE NEXT also has an all-star roster of judges:
- Lee “Wolf” Jae-wan – three-time World Champion and formerly of SKT T1
- Heo “PawN” Won-seok – the World’s 2014 winner with Samsung Blue
- Kim “PraY” Jong-in – World’s semi finalist with KOO Tigers and three-time LCK winner
- Jang “MaRin” Gyeong-hwan – World’s winner with SKT T1 and two-time LCK winner
All the judges have either competed in a team together or played against each other, which makes for an interesting dynamic.
Wolf talked about his dream of having various ways for young LoL talents to flourish in an interview with Inven:
“In the process of planning various competitions, I kept thinking to myself, ‘I hope Riot plans a certain kind of competition for us’. Back in my days, the concept of being a trainee didn’t really exist, so you just got picked by a team if you were good in the solo queue ladder. “
“The process of becoming a pro gamer has become immensely more complicated, since you could potentially start off as a trainee in an academy team and have a long journey ahead of you to start for the starting roster. That’s why I kept hoping that Riot will be able to shed spotlight on fresh talent, and I’m glad Riot created a way to do so.”
The players will compete in a variety of challenges until only 10 competitors remain.
The final 10 will be split into two teams, who will then be mentored by 4 legendary Korean LoL pro players.
One team will be coached by Wolf and PawN, while another will be coached by PraY and MaRin.
Final showdown
For the show’s conclusion, a final showdown is slated to happen between the final two teams at LoL Park, the ancestral home of the LCK.
The team who emerges as the winner will be given a “special opportunity,” and a share of 50 million KRW (around $41,770).
LoL THE NEXT’s first broadcast will be on August 2 at 1:30 AM CT.
It will be available to watch on LCK’s official YouTube and Twitch channels.
