Red Bull is hosting a 'simplified' League of Legends World Championship stream for newcomers

(Image credit: Riot Games)

League of Legends is an overwhelmingly complex game. I've been playing since last year—hundreds of hours—and I still don't know what I'm doing. This can make it a little difficult to get into League of Legends' World Championship Series, despite it being the biggest esports event in the world. This year, Red Bull is attempting to ease us noobs into it: It's hosting a special "simplified" stream of Saturday's finals match that's made especially for newer players and those who have never played League before.

The championship match between Chinese underdogs Suning Gaming and Korean superpower Damwon starts at 3 am Pacific (due to it being in Shanghai this year), and Red Bull's simplified stream will start at 2 am Pacific (10 am Central European). It'll be hosted by Frankie Ward (who also co-hosts our own PC Gaming Show) and broadcaster Tom Deacon, with a slew of special guests ranging from notable LoL casters to experts and analysts from its biggest teams. The goal is to break down the game and explain what's happening onscreen in a way that non-players will be able to follow—which will be helpful since regular LoL match commentary can sound like total gibberish to newcomers.

You can watch Red Bull's simplified stream on Twitch or on YouTube and though it'll start early in the morning on Saturday, you can always catch the recording when you wake up. Personally, I'm excited to have some extra options for viewing the final championship and plan on switching between the Red Bull and regular broadcast to see which one I like better. Sometimes it's helpful to have someone explain the "why" instead of just commentating the fight itself.

Again, the final match between Suning and Damwon starts at 3 am Pacific on Saturday morning (click here to check for your local timezone), and the Red Bull simplified stream starts an hour earlier. If you're confused about what Worlds even is, check out our comprehensive explainer here.

With over 7 years of experience with in-depth feature reporting, Steven's mission is to chronicle the fascinating ways that games intersect our lives. Whether it's colossal in-game wars in an MMO, or long-haul truckers who turn to games to protect them from the loneliness of the open road, Steven tries to unearth PC gaming's greatest untold stories. His love of PC gaming started extremely early. Without money to spend, he spent an entire day watching the progress bar on a 25mb download of the Heroes of Might and Magic 2 demo that he then played for at least a hundred hours. It was a good demo.