Across the years, esports fandom has evolved and grown at such a rapid pace that it’s sometimes hard to keep up. One of the key ways it’s grown has been expanding to include all sorts of different fans, who engage with the scene in all sorts of different ways.

A decade ago, esports fanart was few and far between. Now, though, there are creators showing their appreciation for esports players, teams, and communities through art of all kinds. One of these fan initiatives is “LTART”, a project co-created by avid LTA and Team Liquid fan sakaruii (or ruii for short). We spoke to ruii to learn how she got into League of Legends, why she picked TL, and what makes the LTA such a special place for fans.

How did you get into esports?

I started playing League of Legends in 2017, but my laptop was so bad that I could barely play. I quit until 2019 when I started playing again with friends. Around that time, League had missions to watch games on their website for rewards, so that's how I started watching esports. I slowly got more into it and engaged in watching big esports events and the LCS.

What was it about competitive League that drew you in?

I've never been a very sportsy person, but I found the competitive aspect really interesting, especially seeing people compete at a higher level in a game I also play — which is not the case for sports.

All the fan art you and your collaborators do for TL, along with stuff like LCS profiles, isn’t what you usually expect in esports fandom, at least in the West. What has it been like bringing that into the esports space?

I have a background in K-pop fandom, so I was used to fandom practices like fanart and stuff. I've been watching esports since 2019, but didn't start drawing or making content until 2023. As you said, it’s not really standard in the West to have that kind of interaction and fanwork in the space. But there are other people who’ve been here way longer than me, like Elaine. 

When I started doing it, I was actually inspired by orgs and the LCS itself commissioning artists to make promotional pieces. It really inspired me because it gave me the idea that fanart does belong in esports, and there is a niche for that.

How did you become a TL fan? How did you decide that TL was going to be your team?

It was in late 2019. One of my first esports memories was Doublelift getting replaced with Tactical, but I think I became a Team Liquid fan because I remember really liking CoreJJ’s work ethic and attitude towards the game. I also remember watching the “How To Support” series. So, yeah, I’m a big CoreJJ fan, and I’ve been following him for the past five years or whatever. It’s been a while.

What has kept you coming back, even through the… not-so-good years?

Obviously, it's nice when your team wins, but I don’t feel the need to bandwagon onto a different team if they’re doing well. I really like Core, and since he never got benched or replaced, I’ve always been here to watch him play and support the team he's on. Every team has its ups and downs. And every team has slumps and peaks, so it’s more interesting than if your team is always good.

That’s true. You have to experience disappointment to be extra happy when they do well.

Exactly.

So, who’s your favorite TL player to draw?

It can be different every day. Despite everything, I feel like I haven't drawn Core that many times. I think I’ve drawn Umti the most. I have a couple pencil sketches that I didn’t post to Twitter. I remember also really liking one of my Yeon drawings.

Let's talk about the player cards project. It looked like a lot of work, and it was featured on the broadcast, right?

Yes, briefly. I gave them the file so they could print it out bigger.

As I said, it’s a fan initiative that you wouldn’t necessarily associate with esports fans. What has been the most rewarding part of that?

For me, at least, the most rewarding thing about finishing the project and sharing it with the world was the community response, which was super positive. I’ve gotten a lot of really nice comments about both the project in general and some of the artists specifically. It was really nice to receive that and feel like we did a cool thing for the community.

It was also important to me that I was able to share all these fans’ different work and platform them a little bit by sharing them with the LTA audience. Although there’s a small community that really likes seeing this kind of stuff, it doesn’t appeal as much to the general audience. It was really nice to talk to the different orgs, too — a lot of them reached out to me directly to be like, “hey, we can help pay to print out the cards.” It’s really nice to see fanworks be respected like that.

What's it been like following TL all these years?

I just really like the current iteration of the roster, the 2024-25 one. I think you can also tell that a lot of people do as well. The fandom has been very positive in that regard. Over the years… my favorite rosters have been 2020-21, and the one we have now.

If you had to pick one, what would you say is your favorite TL moment?

I think, for now, it has to be winning the LCS in spring 2024. Partially because it was my first time experiencing a TL win, since it was the first one since the 4-peat, right? And I went to the studio for that, so it was a really special moment to me. I think it’s pretty obvious based on the art that I pumped out for that moment. And there were a lot of moments between the players and the team that were just really cute.

What was it like to go to the LCS for the first time?

It was one of the Pride-themed tailgate days. I went with my friend, and it was a really fun experience. For most of the people that I know, they only go to the big finals, or opening week, or whatever, ‘cause a lot of my friends are on the East coast. So, obviously, going to LA all the time isn’t really feasible for them. But I feel like I’ve made a lot of really nice connections with people in the esports fandom, both online and getting to hang out in person. So going to live games is really special to me.

Over the years, some people have questioned what the “point” of the LCS or LTA is when they’re not consistently performing well in international competition. What do you find special about the LTA, and being in community with LTA fans?

From the times I’ve gone in person, everyone has been super nice and passionate. I’m not a very extroverted person, but I had a really easy time talking to people I didn’t know at the live events, just ‘cause we were all there for the same thing. It felt like a really big, welcoming community.

And for me, at least, I like watching live games. Watching VODs of stuff that’s already happened isn’t as exciting or fresh. Having this league in our timezone is really nice. I don’t have that much interest in the LEC or LCK or whatever because it’s way less convenient for me to watch them live.

The community of LTA fans definitely feels much more tight-knit. Do you think that feeling of community has fed your artistic drive?

Definitely. I know for a fact that having a lot of different fanart and artists in the community, we’re all inspiring each other. When we see somebody do something, we’re all, like, “Oh my god, that’s so cool.” I’ve heard from somebody that seeing the photocard collab made them want to start drawing esports fanart, after being a fan for so long.

It’s a positive feedback cycle — the reception from broadcast and people in the scene has been really great. The more I feel comfortable, the more inspired I feel to keep making work. It’s a really special feeling for the artist, and that’ll make them keep wanting to make fanart. I hope I’m enriching the community in some way. I think the LTArt collab does; we’ve inspired different fan projects to pop up, which has been really amazing to see.

Do you have any last closing thoughts on TL Honda or the LTA that you haven’t gotten to talk about yet?

Thank you for having me, first of all. I have a really random TL moment to share — I just remembered it — but back in 2022, I submitted a last-minute entry to the Fan Above sticker contest and I won it. So I got to visit the facility in January 2023, which was really fun. There was a moment where Core had just come back from the Korea bootcamp, and they got him and Ben to stop by the facility for a little bit to say hi and sign some stuff for me. So that was really sweet, because I know he was tired as hell.