Paris (AFP)

Paris hosts Sunday the final of the World League of Legends, the most important event of the year on the esport scene. The G2 Europeans will challenge the FunPlus Phoenix Chinese in an overwhelming Bercy Hall to win the Grail of video game competitions.

Realize: "This is the equivalent of the finals of the football World Cup, explains to AFP Nicolas Besombes, researcher and vice-president of the France esports association.It will not return to Paris before ten years."

League of Legends (Lol) is, in fact, one of the most popular video games in the world with its 100 million active players. Since its inception, it is the engine of esport, just in front of other games like Counter-Strike, Fortnite or Dota 2.

On Sunday, the two teams, consisting of five players, will compete in a fiery Bercy in order to destroy the fortress (called the Nexus) of the opponent.

If the principle seems simple, the game is not yet easy to understand for neophytes.

- Prestige -

"It's a game that may seem hard to understand, in the sense that what happens on the screen is not immediately accessible to people who do not play the game," says Nicolas Besombes.

"But that's not necessarily a drag because, like any sport, you have to understand the rules to enjoy the game," he says, "after all, which includes curling, cricket or football. ? "

Proof of the prestige of the event, the organizers of the "Worlds" had Friday reserved the first floor of the Eiffel Tower for their press conference presentation. And as for the World Cup, last year in Russia, the trophy will be awarded to the winning team in a box of the luxury brand Louis Vuitton.

"It's an emotional moment for me," said Nicolo Laurent, the French CEO of the American studio Riot Games, "About 20 years ago, I was a Paris student and I was having a party in the Champ- de-Mars for the victory of France at the World Cup, tell me that twenty years later, I'm here, at the head of the biggest esport event in the world, it's a pretty good moment for me. "

For this face-to-face, the G2 team, founded by Spaniard Carlos "Ocelote" Rodriguez, should benefit from the support of the French public as a European structure.

- "Trashtalk" -

His players created the sensation in the semifinal last weekend when they defeated SKT's South Koreans, who were big favorites as triple winners of the competition.

Rasmus "Caps" Winther and his family overthrew Palacio Vistalegre of Madrid by neutralizing Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, considered the greatest player of all time on Lol.

If they win on Sunday, they would become the first to complete the Grand Slam, after their victories over the spring season, the summer season and the mid-season tournament.

On the other hand, the FunPlus Phoenix team does not intend to be impressed.

His players handled the "trashtalk" perfectly at the press conference, claiming that G2 had qualified for the final only by chance. "If they had played against us in the quarter-finals, they would not have gone into the semifinals," said Kim "Doinb" Tae-sang.

Champions of China this season, they eliminated in half the defending champions of Invictus Gaming, another Chinese team.

In addition to the 17,000 spectators at the AccorHotel Arena, tens of millions of fans should follow the final online from 13H00 and the game will even be broadcast on the forecourt of the City Hall of Paris.

© 2019 AFP