There are few constants in League of Legends esports. Between rosters shuffles, players retiring, and legacies ending. However, there are a few things you can always count on. NA will always choke, the broadcast will always be delayed, and Sjokz bringing fans across the world some of the biggest moments the game has ever seen.
From the goofy “Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa, too much headbanging danger for our lives.”, to the emotional, “I’m really sorry to all of my fans, that I let you down.”, to the savage “We did check your solo queue records on Jinx it wasn’t fantastic, but it was great in this game.”.
Sjokz is one of League of Legends’ most recognizable faces. But maybe more importantly, Sjokz has helped define a key element of modern esports broadcasts and brought players’ personalities to esports fans.
This is her story.
Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere was born on June 16, 1987 in Sint-Andries, Belgium. Now known best as the face of the EU LCS, Sjokz didn’t start her career in League of Legends as a pro, in the same way that many casters and analysts do these days. In fact, she didn’t start as a League of Legends fan at all since her first gaming love was Unreal Tournament. As a kid growing up in Belgium, Sjokz played plenty of video games, but found her way to Unreal Tournament.
UT was one of the first massively popular online shooting games, with plenty of guns, modes and features to keep players interested. Sjokz, for her part, played Instagib Capture the Flag on clan Prepare For Your Doom, even playing in several LAN tournaments and winning a Nationcup with team Belgium, “We were Champions of the NationCup with Team Belgium, so in the Nations Cup Belgium would win and actually in the Euro Cups, and on LAN parties I played my team. We would always come in second to a team called Majestic 5. We would be in Prepare For Your Doom, and it was kind of a rivalry.”.
But after graduating from high school and going to university to study history, she had to drop playing the game competitively to focus on her studies. But as her time at university was closing out, she began to panic.
Sjokz didn’t feel like she was ready for the real world. She felt like she needed more time. She didn’t know what she wanted to do, she didn’t know where to go, so she decided to stay in school. “And I was very much attracted to the history side of everything, so I decided to do history for four years. Over the course of those four years, I actually discovered that I liked to be a sports reporter a lot more.”.
She moved to Brussels to study Journalism, then back to Ghent to get a teaching degree. With six years in school and three degrees, Sjokz entered the working world. But still had no idea what she wanted to do. “You’re in the system where it’s all about studying, getting your grades, but you also have relative freedom you know you get to kind of plan your own time, and then when that’s over you go okay, am I gonna be, a 9-5 person, am I gonna have kids, you know I don’t know. Live remotely and just do my job and then I’ll retire, and all those thoughts were just in my head and I’m like, is this for me what do I want to do!?”.
She worked various temp jobs, but when she wasn’t working, Sjokz was at home, playing video games. And then, an old friend from her Unreal Tournament days introduced Sjokz to a new game.
League of Legends wasn’t new in 2011, but it was still growing, and its pro scene was still being built out. Sjokz had never played a MOBA before, but she was hooked. The competition, the scene, it reminded her of her time playing Unreal Tournament in her care-free high school years. “One of my old clan mates said, “This is free you should try it, it’s fun.” and basically I was really attracted to the fact that it was just really fun. It was a really good game, to play with five people, to be on TeamSpeak and you know it was a learning curve. I was really bad, I mean I’ve never been great at League of Legends, but it was just so incredibly fun.”.
By day, Sjokz waited tables, cleaned houses and answered phone calls, but by night? She was back to staying up late, playing games with friends. And then one fateful night, Sjokz stumbled across a stream that changed her life.
“Must have been in 2012 and it’s in Hanover and uhm, I think it was Counter Logic Gaming but it was like HotshotGG and Saintvicious and all those people so really like old school and I remember watching a lot of that in my first couple of you know discovery steps competitive League.”
This game that Sjokz had been playing for months now had a competitive scene, just like Unreal did, but it was bigger in every way. Tournaments were more glamorous, prizes were higher, and perhaps most notably, the superstars were already there. She wasn’t the best player in the world, but she knew in that moment, that she needed to be part of the League of Legends community. So, she got to work.
Sjokz found her way to SK Gaming, who hired her to write news about tournaments and team changes. It was a small job, but she made it into something more. Her articles eventually got her a job as SK’s lead editor for League of Legends, and eventually into the role that let her truly break into the scene: the host of Summoner’s Recap.
“Hey guys, I’m Sjokz and this is the Summoner’s Recap, your weekly League of Legends news fix in just a couple of minutes.”, “Hey guys and welcome to the Summoner’s Recap live from Austin Texas.”, “Hey you guys, I’m Sjokz and this is the Summoner’s Recap, still your weekly League of Legends newscast.”.
Summoner’s Recap was an early video show for League fans looking to get caught up on the scene. It wasn’t perfect, but the community rallied around it for both its content and the personality behind it. “French casting duo Chips and Noi, French… Chips et Noi?”. Sjokz cared about League, and it showed. Which meant more people came knocking at her door to get her in their videos. She was a regular guest on Whose League is it Anyway, a popular League personality talk show.
“Yes hello, my name is Eefje ‘Sjokz’ Depoortere and I’m drinking Martini Bleu which is I know some kind of not really champagne, just a little under that but still really good. And you know because we have something to celebrate man, we all did good this year.”. And got a chance to start travelling to events and interviewing players at tournaments around Europe. “Hey guys this is Sjokz and I’m here with our star player Ocelote who is feeling a bit better than he was yesterday but probably still not totally over what happened.”.
Those opportunities got her a gig covering US esports tournaments for the CyberSportsNetwork, going to MLG Dallas, “Hey guys this is Sjokz here at MLG Dallas with IWillDominate, jungler for team Dignitas.”, Lone Star Clash, “Hey guys this is Sjokz here for CyberSportsNetwork, from the Lone Star Clash 2 with Aphromoo, AD Carry for team Fear.”, and the LPL Finals in Las Vegas, “I’ve been here since, I arrived two days ago, and yesterday was like the training, getting used to stuff day and it was really fun. We played some arcade games got to know a lot of new people so.”.
Going back home, Sjokz’s parents and government were putting pressure on her to find traditional, steady work. The whole time, she was still working temp jobs while covering League of Legends, and she was running out of money.
“They were right in essence because I was like in that hybrid between being a student, and between being a freelancer and there wasn’t really a lookout to a steady job so things were getting… Things were getting quite difficult I knew a decision or I had to find a job or I had to quit and leave everything behind.”.
With the LCS on the horizon, things looked great for players, but content creators, Sjokz included, just weren’t sure what it would do to their space.
In December, Sjokz went to IEM Cologne when one of the producers approached her to do a quick interview with a fan for the broadcast. “So at one point I was approached by one of the higher ups or people involved with the broadcast thing at ESL. And they just said, “Do you want to do this (I believe it was a fan interview or like a fan check in)”, And then that kinda qualified as a sort of first step or audition, I wouldn’t say I completely didn’t realize I definitely just kind of realized it but I wasn’t that savvy in like business wise in what they were trying to do so I just did a good job, apparently, and that came back to me later on.”.
ESL was gearing up to run the first season of the EU LCS, and just a few weeks after that interview, she was hired to do player interviews on the broadcast. And she’s never looked back.
Since joining the EU LCS broadcast, Sjokz has become one of the biggest names in League of Legends. She’s on League of Legends’ fans screens every week, whether it’s for LCS matches, “Hello everyone, I’m Eefje ‘Sjokz’ Depoortere and to the second day of our week 2 coverage of the League of Legends European LCS Summer Split.”, All-stars, “I’m Eefje ‘Sjokz’ Depoortere on duty and it’s here on this stage that we’ll be crowning the winners of the 2013 League of Legends All-Star tournament later today.”, the analyst desk, “I have an amazing poker face.”, “it’s actually really good, like I’m not even saying it.”, “I’m not even saying it just to say it’s actually really good.”, or hosting Worlds, “Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the League of Legends Season 3 World Championship.”. Which means she’s also been there for some of League’s biggest moments.
Sjokz was one of the voices that kicked off the inaugural season of the EU LCS, marking a new era of not just League of Legends, but esports in general. That same year, she was also one of the host of Worlds, the most watched esports event in history to that point, played in a sold-out Staples Center. “Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the Season 3 World Championship Finals!, I’m Eefje ‘Sjokz’ Depoortere coming to you live from the Staples Centre here Los Angeles California.”. Being there effectively made Sjokz one of the faces of professional League of Legends. She was on every broadcast, every fan and casual watcher got to recognize her between games. “Just making one person’s day, is the best feeling in the world like when we have a show and then the fans are watching they come and they’re like, “Can we take a picture.” or “Can we talk to you guys for a second.”. Of course, that’s the coolest thing about the job that you see. You just talk to these people who love the exact same thing that you love, every single day. There’s no better feeling in the world.”. It also showed off just how good she could be at adapting to bad situations, “What a game to start everything off here in Europe, I mean, people said that you guys didn’t look as good in the off-season, but it looks like you had quite a lot of preparation. Tell us about preparing for this huge first match up.”, “Well we prepared, we practice.”, “It’s kind of annoying but you’ll be fine.”, “We prep- You should have taken first interview with this noise.”. From there, her personality began to shine through.
Sjokz has said that developing a personal connection to the players she interviewed was important, and that always comes through in the absolutely brutal slams she delivers to certain players. “I just assume that they’re really good cause they’ve always been good.”, “Wasn’t 50/50 for Alternate yesterday I’ll tell you that.”, “Ohhhhhh…”, “Hey this isn’t fair.”, “Gotta be honest you guys got smashed by Gambit there.”, “And what did you take from that, what did you learn from that.”, “Smashed? Oh well?”, “We have bragging rights, we won three games, they won in points.”, “Everyone’s a winner.”, “Ahhh… That’s something losers would say.”.
And at Worlds 2015, Sjokz showed she can be more than just the savage, fun interviewer. She stood in front of an emotional Dyrus, offering him a literal shoulder to cry on while he gave his retirement speech. “I’m really sorry to all of my fans, that I let you down.”, “Dyrus, it’s only normal for someone like you who tries so hard their best to feel this way in this particular moment. But all these people, really genuinely, support you. And there are so many people who do because you’ve built up an incredible career, every single NALCS game. Six times in the finals in the NALCS. 5 times at the World Championship, that can’t be underestimated. And they’ve always been there for you. What do you want to say to them?”, “Now it’s time to open a new book. Right now my story ends here.”, “I think, there is nothing left to say, you have influenced the lives of so many people and you’ll continue to do that thank you so much willing to do this.”, “And one more time for Dyrus, his incredible career, and the fact that he was willing to talk to us here.”, “I don’t wanna take anything away from that moment and Dyrus the way it was, but it was definitely also a very important career moment for me, it’s when I also got a bit of recognition for being able to kind of gel in all circumstances, because of the way I handled that interview and, just as a fan because people often forget that we are still fans you know, we’re viewers. It was awesome to be a part of this guy you know who was an absolute huge legacy who was just opening up and at the biggest stage that existed for League of Legends, it’s absolutely wonderful.”.
League fans can always expect Sjokz on the desk, but her constant presence has helped define one of the most important things to League of Legends’ continued success: the players’ personalities. “Finally they’ve been clapping all along so would you like to finish with a couple of words for all the TSM fans out here.”, “Give me this.”, “Not as easy as I wanted it to be.”, “It’s not riding a bike.”, “Yeah I feel like a child.”, “That’s so easy.”, “You remember one of the first times you were gonna be on the desk, and you were like, “I’m not sure if I should do this.” And you’ve changed since then.”, “Yay!”.
Esports has a reputation for wooden players. The stereotype of your average esports player is that of someone cold, detached, bad at socializing. And while it’s not necessarily true of every esports athlete, it’s hard to convince people they should be watching tournaments if the players aren’t given the chance to overturn that stereotype. That’s why Sjokz interviewing players between games was so important in the early days of the EU LCS. Sure, she was doing it beforehand, but LoL’s community was still relatively small, and her interviews weren’t raking in hundreds of thousands of views. But every one of those League fans was watching the LCS, and having Sjokz after nearly every EU game, interviewing players to humanize them did wonders for getting people attached to the real people behind the incredible plays. “You get to live through a lot with these guys, you see whenever they win or lose, you can talk to them you ask them sometimes behind the scenes how they’re doing, and if they’re alright. And you discover more and more step by step, but it’s really a yearlong process. And it took several years for me to get comfortable with people in general but the fact that you just see them and you can talk to them about a lot of things, makes you be able to break down a bit more boundaries when it comes to on-air interviews.”. And that relationship with the players is at the heart of what makes Sjokz so unique.
A couple of interviews in a tournament, doesn’t do as much as multiple interviews every week, with honest genuine answers from players who are willing to open up to someone, who became their friend as the seasons went on. “So I think the best for me was to just come here and meet all the fans. And obviously see her pretty face every morning makes it a lot better.”, “Wow.”, “You’ve gone all red Sjokz.”, “Yeah I’ve gone all red.”.
She’s been in the scene so long at this point, that the players know her and trust her. But it wasn’t just the players personalities that fans warmed up to over time. They also warmed up to Sjokz herself ,Who through ubiquity and skill, became one of the biggest names in League. But thanks to her personality, also one of the most beloved.
“Alright stop. Sonic wave and listen, Jankos was back, was as bright as Lee Sin. He hit the Q, the kick and more, but it wasn’t enough to settle the score for Ice Ice Baby.”, “Was that me?”, “Sjokz. Sjokz”, “It sounds like Soaz but, ahh thank you so much guys.”. There are a few things that League of Legends fans have grown to count on, but the fact that they count on Sjokz to bring them closer to the players, closer to the people who seem untouchable, makes her incredibly important to the League of Legends experience.
Sjokz is on stream every week, and while she isn’t doing as many interviews these days, she’s responsible for drawing League fans in. For making people care about League of Legends and its superstars. She’s been there for some of League’s biggest moments, some of its most emotional moments, and every goofy headbang in between.
When many people think of League of Legends, they don’t just think about the superstars. They think about Sjokz, who brought those superstars to them.
