Players review: a mockumentary that gets what League of Legends is

To the modern-day gamer, the 2005-edition Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard — with its unwieldy size, LCD screen, and membrane keys — feels like a relic from a bygone era. It’s gaudy and embellished in all the wrong ways, a product of a time when PC gaming as an industry was rapidly evolving and everyone was still trying to find their footing in this new and strange landscape.

The G15 is a star in the 2022 Olympics, and it has found new life. Players, Un new mockumentary American VandalTony Yacenda, Dan Perrault and Tony Yacenda discuss a fictional League of LegendsFugitive Gaming is an esports group. Though it’s a satire of sports docuseries like Last Dance And Formula 1: Survive by Driving, Players The effort to understand what makes esports so special is hard-fought, and most of the time it succeeds. Details of League of Legends may seem daunting for those who’ve never encountered the game before, but at the core of all that is an affecting sports drama that knows exactly what it wants to be — a funny, loving, sometimes gross homage to the everythingness of professional gaming.

The first season primarily follows Fugitive’s 27-year-old veteran player Creamcheese (Misha Brooks). The show aired at the time, Creamcheese is a professional player who played for six seasons and has quickly become one the most popular personalities on the pro scene. Still, he’s continually failed to capture the one thing that every pro player dreams of: a championship.

He’s hopeful that 2021 will finally be Fugitive’s year, but interference from team president Nathan Resnick (Stephen Schneider) sees popular Twitch streamer and teenage phenom Organizm (Da’Jour Jones, quietly compelling) being added to the starting roster on short notice in the interest of ad dollars. Organizm’s risky play style and unwillingness to communicate quickly create friction with Creamcheese, who refuses to see his dream of victory jeopardized.

Photo by Trae Patton/Paramount

Photo: Lara Solanki/Paramount

League of LegendsEsports has seen a lot of growth and change over the past decade. The scene’s grassroots character has been lost to the commercialization of esports. Players and teams have changed, but the community that dominated it is still there. That can lead to feelings of confusion and loss. Players’ central narrative threads. In the first episode, Creamcheese gives an interview about his “lucky keyboard,” a G15 that he’s used in nearly every game of League of LegendsHe has played every instrument imaginable. Close-ups are shown of the keyboard, in all its grimy, stained glory.

As unpleasing as it may be to think of how many years’ worth of takeout crumbs lie between those keys; the G15 serves as an excellent metaphor for Creamcheese, as Creamcheese is when we meet him. Like Creamcheese, he is also a product from a different time. When he started out, it was just him and his friends playing on folding tables in someone’s kitchen. Even though Fugitive’s players now live in a mansion backed by sponsors from Red Bull to Buffalo Wild Wings, it’s clear that Creamcheese is still dwelling on the old days — his past glories, and his past mistakes.

This frustration is what causes him to resent having to follow Creamcheese’s lead. Unfortunately, due to their in-game roles, the team’s success is essentially completely dependent on whether Creamcheese and Organizm can work together. The subsequent push-and-pull between them and the way their relationship develops is the show’s beating heart.

American Vandal The true crime documentary genre was satirized by using this often self-serious format to tell stories of spray-painted dicks, and other poop crimes. Similarly, Players’ Humor This approach works well if you accept the absurdity of professional gaming covered with the same gravitas as the 1990s Chicago Bulls. At first glance, it could seem like an attack on the legitimacy and credibility of esports. However, it is just as a Vandal It was also able to get to the core of the juvenile crime’s poignant humanity, as did the FBI. Players It is not because of its absurdity that esports are so amazing, it’s actually the opposite.

Photo: Lara Solanki/Paramount

As someone who’s been embedded in the esports space for several years, I often think about what a strange little subculture it is that we’ve created. It is amazing. It is funny that millions will tune in to watch people play video games, and it’s funny that pro gamers are treated like rock stars. And yet, just because something is absurd doesn’t make it less meaningful. A thing is important as long as it’s important to someone, and to some people — like Creamcheese, and like Organizm — esports is the most important thing in the world.

You will find many viewers with zero knowledge. League of LegendsAnd Players Organizm makes it a point to use talking heads to discuss gaming concepts. Organizm’s clueless but supportive brother Rudy Jr. (Luke Tennie) is especially helpful in this regard as an audience surrogate. Unfortunately, the show is often overexplanatory, particularly during the first three episodes.

To ease the pain, some episodes have included jokes about nonsensical things in their earlier episodes. League of Legends and gaming culture can be, though they don’t always land as it isn’t always clear who the jokes are supposed to be for. For example, in the opening of the first episode, real-life analyst Joshua “Jatt” Leesman laughs about how “back when Creamcheese started playing, you could still one-shot people with AP DFG Tristana.” Lines like these end up sounding a little You can also specific, to the point where those who aren’t in the know might wonder if they’re missing the joke, even though not being in on the joke is sort of the point.

Luckily, jokes come and go quickly, and where one doesn’t quite work, one that does comes along shortly after. Even though the first half takes some time to build up, the second half is much more serious and character-driven, which makes for riveting storytelling. Players This video invites you to see the world and its absurdities, and shows how people live their lives.

Thought Players The authentic representation of the League of LegendsAlthough it is a great platform for esports, with its real-life brand and LA influencer events, one thing about esports is not right. It doesn’t push the envelope nearly enough when it comes to confronting the truly ugly side of gaming. The show isn’t afraid to joke about how gross it is when a group of young men with no life experience live together, but it skirts around topics of prejudice in gaming spaces. In a short, inoffensive segment, Xenophobia towards East Asian players is briefly discussed with respect to Nightfall (Youngbin Chung), a Korean player. Although the show is intended to establish its characters, and does not have to address these issues directly, it seems wrong to ignore such an important blight in the esports world.

Photo: Lara Solanki/Paramount

Still, much like in American Vandal and Players’ cast is populated with people who are wholly believable as inhabitants of the show’s world. The standout is Brooks as Creamcheese, who anchors the series with a performance that’s both hysterically funny and genuinely sympathetic. Creamcheese is brash, arrogant, and obnoxious — the kind of guy you’d never want to be stuck talking to at a party — but you still want to root for him because you can tell there’s an insecurity lurking under the surface that he doesn’t quite know how to access. He is vulnerable for just a few seconds and these are the scenes that make him stand out. Players’ most impactful moments.

Many of the show’s side characters will also feel familiar to esports fans. It helps that Fugitive players Nightfall and Bap (Noh “Arrow” Dong-hyeon) are played by former League of Legends pros. Pros

Esports are temporal. Esports is a temporal sport. People leave and things change all the time. The player that you enjoyed the most five decades ago may still be around today. Sometimes they vanish. It’s not about hoping things will be the same forever. It’s about how you feel in the moment, whether you’re a player on stage or just a spectator in an arena. One thing remains is the sensation of being alive and breathing in a place filled with people feeling the same.

Thought Players is satirical, it’s not mean-spirited. Its (considerable) humor comes from sincerity and an appreciation of the reasons why esports attract us and keep us returning for more. It’s easy to become invested in Fugitive’s story, even if you don’t know a thing about League of Legends. New viewers may never learn what a Baron steal actually is, but the way Fugitive’s players throw themselves into each other’s arms in elation or slump over in devastated defeat — that’s a language that anyone can understand.

Three episodes from the first season of PlayersSeason 1 is now available on Paramount Plus. New episodes drop every Thursday.