Every Hidden Reference in League of Legends Worlds 2025 Anthem "Sacrifice"

Every year, the League of Legends Worlds anthems are loving tributes to the fandom and players that form the esports ecosystem. This year, the 15-year anniversary of LoL Esports, is no different. In fact, Riot upped the wow factor with the highest number of references, easter eggs and tributes ever in a LoL music video.

“Sacrifice” is the Worlds 2025 anthem. Delivered by Chinese artist G.E.M (鄧紫棋), the song perfectly pairs with the theme of this year’s competition – Earn Your Legacy. However, even as fans bask in the beauty of the animations and vocals, keen eyes will catch the never-ending references sprinkled throughout the video. A love letter to the community, this is one you cannot miss out on.

Revisiting Iconic Moments in LoL Esports History

The music video follows 4 players, each representing one of their signature champions as they pilot through an iconic Worlds moments that they were a part of. They are: G2’s Rasmus “Caps” Borregaard Winther on Sylas, GAM’s Đỗ “Levi” Duy Khánh on Karthus, Invictus Gaming’s Kang “TheShy” Seung-lok on Aatrox, and T1’s Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok on Azir.

Each moment is glorified and reimagined as an epic battle in the vastness of space as the players traverse in a wild but somewhat familiar landscape, littered with League of Legends iconography and references.

TheShy – A King Ascending Back to the Top

TheShy’s explosive entry to the League of Legends esports scene was marked by mechanical brilliance and a Worlds title, instantly cementing him as one of the greats of the game. Since then, his career has had ups and downs, notably marked by a return to the Worlds Grand Finals stage in 2023, where his team, Weibo Gaming, faced T1 for the Summoner’s Cup. Following their loss, TheShy was absent for the 2024 LoL competitive season, returning under the familiar IG banner at the start of 2025. Now, he has returned to the Worlds stage once again.

Sacrifice begins by following all four of the players in turn as they traverse different landscapes and obstacles to reach the center of the cosmos. For TheShy, he crosses a field littered with the swords of the Ruined King (Viego) before leaping into the air. The cliff he takes off from has an extremely subtle nod to the “D” binding on which he keeps his Flash Summoner Spell.

Later in the music video, we see TheShy partaking in his own battle sequence. It’s a recreation of their semifinals match against G2 in 2018. Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo’s Kai’Sa and Wang “Baolan” Liu-Yi’s Braum are clashing against Petter “Hjarnan” Freyschuss’s Sivir and Perkz’s Lissandra. As TheShy leaps in, we even see a glimpse of Camille and Irelia, no doubt references to Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski and Martin “Wunder” Nordahl Hansen.

Caps – The Best Europe Has Ever Offered

No other midlaner has come close to the peak and longevity of Caps. From his early years on Fnatic to today, where he continues to be the centerpiece of G2, he is indisputably the greatest the West has ever produced.

Following their Grand Finals appearance in 2019, G2 looked poised for a repeat performance the next year. At Worlds 2020, in the Quarterfinals against Gen.G, Game 3 watchers were treated to an absolute Sylas masterclass.

In the music video, we see one of those iconic sequences. Starting with Caps sidestepping the Twisted Fate cards from Gwak “Bdd” Bo-seong. To the side, Kim “Life” Jeong-min engages on Luka “Perkz” Perković’s Jhin with a Leona Ult. Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk fires arrows as Kim “Clid” Tae-min’s Nidalee spear flies over Ruler’s shoulder towards Caps. In the last moment, we see a golden hourglass in Cap’s eye as he activates Zhonya to dodge the spear, then fire a Crystal Arrow towards Ruler.

Levi – The Hero’s Arrival

Compared to the last sequence, this one tells of an epic recovery. Levi has long been GAM’s franchise player and considered one of the best Jungle talents to come out of Vietnam. During their epic battle against TES at Worlds 2022 Group Stage, the scene opens with a kneeling Levi and Đặng “Kati” Thanh Phê’s Sett in front of him with their besieged Nexus in the distant horizon.

In this iconic moment of Worlds, TES is knocking on their door in the Bo1. 4 of GAM’s members have fallen and TES is knocking on their door. Elimination is on the line for both teams. Levi is the first to respawn. As Levi rises, the pages on his book flip through as he begins charging Requiem. An insane detail included are the printed lyrics for different Worlds anthems including 2023’s GODS, 2021’s Burn it all Down, 2019’s Phoenix and 2016’s Ignite.

Levi casts his ultimate, saving GAM from elimination while simultaneously eliminating TES from 2022 Worlds. The backdrop of the nexus even briefly shows the champions TES were playing: Ahri, Nami, Lucian and Renekton.

Faker – All Roads Lead to Him

In perhaps the most iconic modern-day Faker moment, the chosen sequence is from the fateful clash between T1 and JDG at Worlds 2023. It’s the semifinals, Game 3. Choi “Zeus” Woo-je and Seo “Kanavi” Jin-hyeok are already clashing on the Aatrox and Wukong respectively. Ruler has his sights on T1’s towers (his Asia Games’ medal makes a cameo appearance too!). Then Faker appears.

Rendered in light, Faker often takes the form of a deity in many of Riot’s LoL music videos and this time was no different. On the Azir, he performs the dreaded Shurima shuffle on Ruler, deciding the battle’s outcome in an instant.

A Tribute to the History of Worlds

Multiple shorter cameos flicker through. Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao, Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu and many other players, including the four, show in a vast field, connected to a central core which they all look towards.

As the field of view expands, we are treated to the final seconds of the music video and a slideshow filled with more references. These include:

• DFM Shunsuke “Evi” Murase’s Thumbs Up
• GAM TK Nguyen Finger Guns pose
• Deft eating a taco
• Bin tossing his jacket to the crowd
• Pyosik celebrating, posing as Kindred
• Flandre’s 2480 days to reach the Worlds Finals
• G2 members lifting Caps to celebrate
• Cameo from Jojo the Eagle!
• Faker’s broccoli
• Beryl cameo
• Dyrus retirement announcement
• Faker’s crying moment after losing in the Grand Finals of Worlds 2017 and the mirrored moment when Keria cried after losing in the Grand Finals of Worlds 2022.
• Rekkles cheering after Fnatic made it out of Groups after starting 0-4 at Worlds 2017
• Albus Nox Luna celebrating after defeating ROX Tigers at Worlds 2016.
• The augmented reality Elder Dragon from Worlds 2017 Opening Ceremony
• And Maciej “Shushei” Ratuszniak, immortalized as the first ever World Champion in League of Legends history, lifting the Summoner’s Cup.

We then zoom out again and we’re greeted by the Summoner’s Cup as a bright image in the starry night sky, surrounded by countless constellations and even more references!

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Featured Image Credit: Riot Games

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