The League of Legends Pro League’s Edward Gaming have won the 2021 League of Legends World Championship. Immediately after the Chinese first seed took down South Korea’s DWG KIA to complete the 22-team gauntlet that was Worlds 2021, fans of the team erupted in wild celebration.
From parades of fans flooding the streets to ridiculous antics like shaved heads and swirlies, EDG’s big win came with a little bit of everything.
Edward Gaming fans parade in the streets after Worlds 2021
Shortly after the Worlds 2021 grand finals concluded and Edward Gaming were crowned champions, Riot Games CEO Nicolo Laurent shared a clip on Twitter showing thousands of fans gathered in the streets at 2 a.m. local time in China.
2am in China. People seem… happy! #Worlds2021 pic.twitter.com/rZJrMAwAdU
— nicolo (@niiicolo) November 6, 2021
Laurent replied to that tweet with an even more colorful scene: a band of Chinese fans rushing down a public street lead by a (mostly) unclothed flag-bearer.
I mean… REALLY happy! #Worlds2021 pic.twitter.com/kCWsqgpJP5
— nicolo (@niiicolo) November 6, 2021
An alternate angle of that shot showed the same group of runners before they rounded the bend.
The party rages on pic.twitter.com/4Ihuru1PKr
— The Esports Writer (@FionnOnFire) November 6, 2021
Meanwhile, thousands of the LPL’s college fans gathered on their dorm balconies to chant for the World Champions.
There were even mini motorcades to broadcast the public service announcement that EDG had won Worlds 2021.
The speaker is playing:
EDG won the championship
EDG niubi
on repeat pic.twitter.com/4YyODKMl8z— Ran (@ran_lpl) November 6, 2021
But the scene behind the scenes got quite a bit wilder.
Chinese fans deliver on “What if EDG won?” bets
According to Twitter user @ran_lpl, who follows the Chinese League of Legends scene closely, and our own Tyler “FionnOnFire” Erzberger, one of the big things among the LPL fanbase were betting challenges. Many fans essentially committed to going through with crazy antics if Edward Gaming ultimately took down DWG KIA in the Worlds 2021 finals.
I’m seeing videos of people:
Running naked on the streets
Washing their head in the toilet
Washing their hair while standing upside down while being naked
Running in hundreds on school campuses
…These are all people who are doing their “what if EDG won I would…” challenge
— Ran (@ran_lpl) November 6, 2021
Some of these fans committed to shampooing their heads with cola…
I don’t even know what’s going on anymore pic.twitter.com/RUAQb6b8rF
— The Esports Writer (@FionnOnFire) November 6, 2021
Dunking their heads in toilets while performiing upside-down swirlies (this is wildly unsanitary and should not be emulated)…
Weibo right now is POPPING pic.twitter.com/jiYqXltQkV
— The Esports Writer (@FionnOnFire) November 6, 2021
Or even shaving their heads completely.
EDG fans made promises on Weibo that if somehow they could beat DWG KIA and win #Worlds2021 they would do something crazy
Now that its actually happened, fans are celebrating by actually doing what they promised pic.twitter.com/KRSwkTh5oF
— The Esports Writer (@FionnOnFire) November 6, 2021
Look, there were a lot of bets involving punishing your own head for some reason, OK? But not all of these organized celebrations that took place were of the wild and untamed variety.
One of the more impressive celebrations to come out of the post-Worlds 2021 frenzy saw a group, thousands-strong, gathered together to put on a synchronized light show for the world to see.
China legit popping off right now over EDG winning #Worlds2021 pic.twitter.com/6Ulsm53IXj
— The Esports Writer (@FionnOnFire) November 6, 2021
