SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2026
Five days. That's all that's left between us and the first League of Legends World Championship on American soil in four years — and Riot just gave the whole thing a soundtrack. "Know My Name," the official Worlds 2026 anthem, is out now, performed by True Damage: the virtual hip-hop group Riot built out of five of its own champions, back for the first time in seven years, according to Riot’s official announcement. The song premiered Thursday evening, and the animated music video that came with it isn't really about this year's tournament at all. It's about one man: Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, and the dynasty he just finished building.
Let's be honest about what Worlds anthems usually are — a famous name, a big budget, a video that could be selling anything. "Know My Name" is the opposite move. Riot handed the biggest stage in its music calendar to a band that only exists inside its own game, and then aimed the entire video at the most decorated player in the game's history. According to Inven Global, the track dropped on the official League of Legends YouTube channel and streaming platforms Thursday at 6 PM PDT (October 9 KST), and per Riot's own announcement, this is the 13th Worlds anthem — and the first ever performed by one of Riot's virtual artists.
The crew: four real voices, five champions
True Damage is the right kind of fictional. The group is five champions — Akali, Ekko, Qiyana, Senna and Yasuo — brought to life by real vocalists, and they haven't been heard from since debuting at the 2019 World Championship Finals opening ceremony with "GIANTS," according to Inven Global. Seven years. That's how long fans have been waiting for this comeback.
The voices are mostly new this time around. Soyeon of i-dle is back as Akali — the only holdover from the GIANTS era, per TalkEsport's look at the new lineup. Senna is R&B singer Coco Jones, Ekko is Chicago rapper Vic Mensa, and Qiyana is Mexican singer Sofía Reyes, while Yasuo holds it down as the group's DJ and producer with no credited vocalist this time, per Inven Global and TalkEsport. Riot revealed the cast on September 29, per esports.gg, and the pre-save campaign ran for a week before the drop.
Maria Egan, Riot's Global Head of Music and Events, told Inven Global the choice was about the moment: with this year's World Championship ending in New York, True Damage was the most fitting act to carry the anthem. And she's right — a virtual hip-hop group walking into Brooklyn makes a kind of sense no outside act could.
The video: one career, animated
Here's where it gets good. The music video is a full-career retrospective of Faker, animated — and Inven Global's scene-by-scene breakdown reads like a highlight reel of the last decade. It opens on the early championships: highlight plays on Ahri, Ryze and Orianna, the champions that carried Faker to his Worlds titles in 2013, 2015 and 2016. Then comes the long walk: Faker alone through the trophy-less years, with the symbols of the teams that lifted the trophy in his absence — starting with Samsung Galaxy — rising up behind him, per Inven Global.
And then the cavalry arrives. Gumayusi, Keria, Oner and Zeus gather at his side — the ZOFGK roster that relaunched the dynasty. Inven Global's breakdown walks through the rest beat by beat: a standout Akali performance to seal Faker's fourth title, a Galio Hero's Entrance rescue of a surrounded Zeus to claim the fifth, a smiling goodbye to Zeus after that win — and then the 2025 final against KT Rolster, a teamfight ignited by Doran's Explosive Cask, a stellar Anivia game, and the three-peat: Faker's record sixth Worlds title.
The video is stuffed with easter eggs from across LoL esports history — opponents, iconic moments, the works. Half the fun of watching it is going to be pausing to spot the references; Inven Global notes that hunting them down adds a whole second layer to the watch. Riot also tucked a bonus into the game itself: per Inven Global's Worlds cheat sheet, the featured Worlds 2026 skin is True Damage Know My Name Yasuo.
Six titles. Three in a row. Nobody else.
Let's put the numbers on the table, because they're absurd. Faker enters Worlds 2026 with six World Championship titles — 2013, 2015, 2016, 2023, 2024 and 2025 — and no other player in League of Legends history has won as many, per Dot Esports and Strafe. T1's run from 2023 to 2025 made them the first team ever to win three consecutive World Championships, capped last year by a 3-2 win over KT Rolster in the final, per Inven Global.
And Faker is no stranger to the anthem videos. he was, according to Strafe, one of the central figures in "RISE" (2018), appeared alongside Rookie and Caps in "Phoenix" (2019), and took center stage in "Heavy Is The Crown" (2024) — which portrayed T1 defending its throne after winning Worlds 2023. At this point he's basically the recurring lead of the entire genre. The anthem video that doesn't include Faker would feel like a mistake.
Five days to Los Angeles
All of which is prologue, because the tournament is five days out. The Play-In Stage runs October 15-18 at the Riot Games Arena in Los Angeles, per Inven Global's Worlds cheat sheet: four teams — Karmine Corp, Cloud9, MVK and Brazil's second seed — in a double-elimination bracket where every series is a best-of-five and every match day starts at 11 AM PDT. Only the winner survives to the Swiss Stage.
Then it moves to the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas, for the Swiss Stage from October 23-31: sixteen teams, best-of-ones and best-of-threes, three match wins to advance and three losses to go home, per Inven Global. The quarterfinals and semifinals stay in Allen from November 3-8, and the Grand Final lands at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on November 14 at 11 AM PST. Nineteen teams in all — the first World Championship held in the United States since 2022, per Inven Global, GosuGamers and Insider Gaming.
The tournament slogan is "This Is Our Moment," per Wikipedia citing Riot's announcement. And you don't need anything special to watch: Kinja's Worlds 2026 guide notes that no subscription or cable login is required — it's free on Riot's Twitch and YouTube, same as always. Riot's Pick'Ems return too, alongside Crystal Ball, with new rewards this year — and the timing couldn't be tighter, because Crystal Ball and Play-In picks open today at 4 PM PDT, per Inven Global. If you want the full team-by-team picture before Thursday, our Worlds 2026 countdown preview has it. And if you want the drama before the games even start: China's TOP Esports may be heading to LA without their starting top laner — ZUIAN's US visa was denied twice, and 369 is stepping back in, per our report on the visa mess.
October 8 at 6 PM PDT (October 9 KST); the group's first return in roughly seven years. Animated by WIZZ and CRCR; a full-career tribute to Faker and T1's 2023-25 three-peat. 19 teams; Pick'Ems and Crystal Ball picks open today at 4 PM PDT; free to watch on Riot's Twitch and YouTube.
