Fortunately for professional League of Legends enthusiasts – as well as anime fans – every LCS team has had a distinct narrative surrounding them this split. Various expectations have been shattered, reached, and exceeded, with some teams still needing the patented Training Arc to really come out the gate swinging come Summer.

It was too tempting to not draw parallels between the league’s finest and some of the most iconic Shonen protagonists to date, so here we go.

Disclaimer: I may use Goku, Naruto, Luffy, and the like but it’s for relatability purposes, and definitely not because I am a normie. Long live Gundam.

Teams will be organized based on their current standings as of the writing of this article.

Cloud9 (11-0): Monkey D Luffy (One Piece)

Hey, Zac stretches, Luffy stretches, and Zac defined Cloud9’s Season 3 dominance. Memes aside, it’s hard to really encapsulate North America’s currently most-wanted, since the perennial second place team has gone through a complete overhaul in the off-season.

Compare this to One Piece’s timeskip, and you have quite a poignant metaphor – Luffy back after training, determined to never lose another friend again on his way to the treasure waiting at the end of the Grand Line, and a rejuvenated C9 squad that refuses to lose another championship final.

…shit, does that mean losing MVP jungler Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen is like when Luffy lost Ace? 🙁

We could’ve gone with Saitama from One Punch Man but that would only be while they are undefeated. Come on upset potential…!

Flyquest (8-4): Izuku Midoriya (My Hero Academia)

Green color scheme similarities aside, these two have a lot in common – including that they both burst onto the League of Legends scene at a similar time. The main reason why I have drawn this parallel is because they are both wholesome, positive (see: Treequest), in-tune with their surroundings and still have so much more to show despite their constant underrating.

My main gripe with this comparison is that Izuku will one day become the greatest hero the world has ever seen – Flyquest will likely not even be able to claim the title of the greatest team North America has ever seen, but I’ll be damned if they won’t capture our hearts while trying.

Team Liquid (6-6): Gohan (Dragon Ball Z)

NOT GOKU SO WE DODGE THE OVERUSED COMPARISON. On a serious note though, Gohan was stronger than Goku around the time of the Cell Games, and even took down the arc’s eponymous villain when no-one else could.

Team Liquid have the legacy and world-saving (until they actually get to Worlds) record of Goku, but the fact that they’re spending the entire arc (read: Spring Split) powering up means that they don’t have access to the immediate power Goku brings to the table.

Thus, Gohan. Also Super Saiyan 2 is cool as hell.

Team SoloMid (6-6): Vegeta (Dragon Ball Z)

With a tendency to go even against… well, pretty much everyone this split, thanks to weekend records that are either 2-0 or 0-2 with no in-between, I had to carefully prune through EVERY ANIME EVER and look for someone who went from useless to powerful to right back to useless again only to smash everything the next episode.

Vegeta was both fearsome and a source of comic relief throughout the original Dragon Ball Z, before falling to utter irrelevancy come the sequel – much like how TSM were North America’s elite until they fell off of a cliff in terms of relevancy. Now on their way back up to the top, hopefully their arduous journey finds them more success than whatever the heck Toriyama did with Vegeta’s arc.

Fortunately for TSM, Vegeta is still badass, even if Goku is the one shouldering the hope of the world serial after serial.

Team Dignitas (5-6): Satoshi/Ash (Pokémon)

Catching all the legendary veterans – and a new face to boot – Dignitas started their return to the LCS in a triumphant manner, taking the League by storm and opening with 4 wins in a row. Unfortunately, they fell apart shortly after – much like Ash has a tendency to do so just as he is about to battle the Pokémon League of whatever respective region (bar Alola).

Also black and yellow is Pikachu’s color scheme, and suddenly that owl mascot looks ten times less appealing to me.

Immortals (5-6): Jotaro Kujo (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders)

I was apprehensive towards Immortals’ complete rebranding and re-entry to the LCS in a similar manner to how I am apprehensive towards any anime made after 2005, but hey.

They can have Jojo due to the green color scheme and the fact that outside of a very loyal fanbase, following these franchises can be… an intimidating prospect. Jotaro is also consistently underestimated by any enemy he faces, similar to how Immortals aren’t currently at a winless record.

Also, Jake “Xmithie” Puchero definitely fulfills the role of guiding mentor for the rest of this squad, similar to Joseph Joestar.

100Thieves (5-7): Yukihira Soma (Shokugeki no Soma)

A promising new student enters one of the most prestigious schools in the world and shocks everyone by rapidly rising through the rankings – sound familiar?

Unfortunately, despite star tendencies – and a supporting staff anyone could be envious of – defeats mar his record at a semi-regular turn. This comparison would be more accurate if 100 Thieves actually won as much as Soma, but everyone’s favorite red-haired chef has lost his fair share of bouts (including one very, very irritating one that has yet to be animated – no spoilers).

Evil Geniuses (5-7): Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto)

This comparison was one hell of a lot more poignant until Evil Geniuses were revealed to be… kind of mediocre. Coming into the LCS as North America’s fan-favorite’s literally evil twin as they snatched up key parts of Cloud9’s 2019 roster, it’s a long and arduous journey for power for one of the League’s newer faces.

A redemption arc for an old organisation post-restructuring is also a key point as to why we look at this so aptly, and with EG’s determination to make an enemy out of everyone in the league we could have gone for Katsuki Bakugou from My Hero Academia but instead went with peak mid-2000s emo kid anime favorite.

Maybe they can use Sharingan to copy some decent macro?

Golden Guardians (5-7): Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Able to transmute losses from wins, and Yuri “Keith” Jew from marksman to support, I am somewhat proud of this analogy. On a serious note though, I believe that Golden Guardians have the capability to rise through the ranks – similar to Ed – and make it evident that they will stop at nothing to get to their goal.

The thing is, while Ed’s goal is incredibly clear the entire series – get he and his brother’s bodies back – Golden Guardians don’t… really have a clear aim. I don’t think they want to win the LCS, but I’m also pretty sure that they don’t want to lose… again.

Ok…

Counter Logic Gaming (2-9): Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach)

The forgotten member of the “big three” of mid-2000s Shonen Jump manga/anime franchises (alongside the aforementioned Naruto and One Piece), CLG are a shadow of their former selves. Peaking in League’s early days and shocking fans worldwide with a return to form over four years ago, CLG haven’t been to Worlds since 2016 and find themselves at the bottom of the LCS standings.

Bleach started fantastically, and had distinct designs both character and outfit-wise. The music in the anime was impeccable and I cannot begin to stress how much better Ichigo was as a character relative to the other Shonen protagonists of the time.

The only thing is, maybe the guy you thought was the coolest in the world when you were 15… isn’t actually all that cool? I sincerely hope that CLG can prove me wrong, since Bleach’s ending still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but let’s see where we end up. This comparison was actually too legit. I am done. Imagine if they weren’t last place. I’d have quit halfway through.

Probably to try and finish watching Bleach.