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Caedrel and Sjokz' The League Awards in hot water over T1 controversy
League of Legends community event, ‘The League Awards’, conceptualized, organized, and hosted by Marc Robert “Caedrel” Lamong and Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere is under controversy post-event following on-stream comments made by Caedrel with regards to the winners of some of the awards at the event.
Specifically, his comments targeted T1 fans, citing that “I wanted the best team or person to win… I wanted to make sure it was fair. Because in my opinion, a lot of award shows are popularity contests… but then it still happened…”. His comments were made in response to a vocal minority subsection of the attending audience for the League Awards event, who protested T1’s large-scale sweeping of the majority of the awards at the event.
Organizer, Host, On-Air Personality… and Critic?
In a now deleted VOD, Caedrel aired out his grievances at the winners’ outcome of his and Sjokz’s award show, expressing frustration that what he had originally conceptualized as an opportunity to truly recognize the ‘best team or person’, had devolved into yet another popularity contest.
“Even T1 fans knew they shouldn’t have won.”
In his original VOD (now deleted), Caedrel clarified that he felt that while he had no grievances against T1 or Faker and by no means felt they did not deserve to win the award, he was of the opinion that there were better candidates to receive the award, and naming the immense T1 fanbase as a large reason for T1's victory in nearly every category they were nominated for.
T1 won 7 of the 19 categories at the 'League Awards'. T1 players or the organization was nominated in 10 of the 19 categories. They only failed to secure LCK Player of the Year, which went to Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon.
Caedrel's Words Find Him in Hot Water (Again)
This is not the first time Caedrel has found himself at the center of controversy. While there has never been any malice found in his actions and in those previous instances, Caedrels’ rapid rise to popularity over the last 2 years especially has at times greatly restricted and come into odds with his more straightforward personality.
Fans were quick to criticize Caedrels’ wording especially. While his sentiment was understood, it was an odd stance for him to take, considering it was his (and Sjokz’s) event. Criticism was also levelled at the seeming disregard he had for the panelists and esports personalities and players who had partaken in the event to help lend legitimacy to the show’s debut, portrayed through his words and actions.
Caedrel has since released a second video apologizing for his earlier wording in the moment, but pointed to his immense popularity as the reason for how easily his words can be taken out of context.
T1’s Victory: Is it a Sham?
More interestingly, the topic of debate that Caedrel’s words and the ensuing discussion that spawned in its wake is merely a microcosm of the discussion that has continued to surround esports-centric award shows, many of which had controversial winners amongst their ranks even as recently as 2024.
As pure as the idea of recognizing excellence in esports can be, fans and personalities can’t seem to quite agree on what constitutes excellence. The main breaking point comes between how much weightage does recent victories carry over consistency.
Does winning Worlds for example, matter more than consistently performing at or near the top (best in the world) throughout the majority of the year. There’s an argument to be made for either side, and there is no clear answer.
But therein also lies the quandary that award shows such as the League Awards quickly finds itself mired in. T1, winner of the 2024 World Championship and back-to-back World Champion, was crowned the Team of the Year. Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, T1’s Mid Laner and historic GOAT of League of Legends won Player of the Year.
Is T1 really the Best Team of the Year? Is Faker really the Best Player of the Year?
Yes, T1 and Faker showed up when it mattered most at Worlds. Yes, it is an unprecedented achievement. However, how much of that is properly weighed and accounted for, and how much simply comes down to a popularity contest.
Where do teams such as G2 Esports, who won the triple crown of the LEC + Season Finals (colloquially known as the Grand Slam) land on such a scale? Or Gen.G, who dominated the LCK in Spring and Summer, won the Spring Split for a 4th successive domestic title as well as lifted their first MSI title in the organization’s history and the first MSI title for the LCK since 2017.
Perhaps it is time we take a greater look at award shows in general, and if they truly add a meaningful resolution to the year’s discussion on player and organization recognition.
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Featured Image Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
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