| "Warriors" | ||||
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| Single byImagine Dragons | ||||
| Released | September 18, 2014 (2014-09-18) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:50 | |||
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| Imagine Dragons singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Warriors" onYouTube | ||||
"Warriors" is a song by Americanpop rock bandImagine Dragons, released on September 18, 2014, designed for the2014League of Legends World Championship. It also appears on the deluxe edition of the band's second studio album,Smoke + Mirrors (2015). "Warriors" is arock,arena rock andindustrial rock song, written by the band members, Josh Mosser, andAlex da Kid, the latter of whom produced the song along with the band. The lyrics tell a story about "heroes" who built a land "from dust". The song premiered with itsmusic video on theLeague of LegendsYouTube channel; it showcases a competitive gaming team losing but not giving up until reaching the final. It spent years as the most viewed video on theLeague of Legends YouTube channel until the music video for "Pop/Stars" byK/DA overtook it.
Following "Warriors",League of Legends began a tradition to release aWorld Championship song every subsequential year. "Warriors" is a fan-favorite amongst theLeague of Legends World Championship songs and generally places highly on rankings of them by publications. It has also been used in various media, including films and TV shows, and was used as theofficial song for the2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. In 2020,League of Legends premiered its tenth season by releasing a cover of "Warriors" with2WEI and Edda Hayes.
"Warriors" was written by Imagine Dragons membersDan Reynolds,Wayne Sermon,Ben McKee, andDaniel Platzman, along with Josh Mosser and Britishrecord producerAlex da Kid, and produced by the band and Alex da Kid.[1][2] It was designed as a collaboration with themultiplayer online battle arena gameLeague of Legends, which was the band's favorite game at the time, while the band was taking a break from working on their second studio album,Smoke + Mirrors (2015). "Warriors" served as the anthem for the game's2014 World Championship.[3][4] Following "Warriors",League of Legends began a tradition to release aWorld Championship song every subsequential year.[5]
"Warriors" was officially released as a single on September 18, 2014, throughKidinakorner andInterscope Records.[6] Upon its release,Riot Games posted on their site regarding the song, "To kick off the start of the action, we set out to craft a war cry to rally behind in a creative collaboration with Imagine Dragons. Whether you're a solo queue warrior or fighting off the LCS jitters –- every moment counts."[7] The song also appears on the deluxe version ofSmoke + Mirrors.[1]
In a 2021 interview withNME after the band released "Enemy" as a second collaboration with Riot Games for theLeague of Legends-adaptive showArcane, Reynolds said that working with Riot Games "just came out organically" while playing for the 2014 World Championship inSeoul. He also explained that "Nothing was forced, it was just fun. Playing Worlds was some of my favourite memories".[8]
"Warriors" is an "anthemic"[9] and "constantly building"rock,[10]arena rock,[11] andindustrial rock[12] song that is two minutes and 50 seconds long.[6] According toUniversal Music Publishing Group's sheet music at Musicnotes.com, it is inE minor with a drivingtempo and a 2 feel, with a metronome of 152 beats per minute. Reynolds' vocals range twooctaves throughout the song, from B3 to B5.[13] Alan Wen ofNME said that it "has the vibe of a tournament anthem"[8], while Ashima Grover ofLeisureByte described the song as a "Herculean track".[11] ForDiffuser, Chuck Armstrong called the song "grandiose", featuring "hard-hitting" pianos andsymphonicorchestral elements and said that it could be a "'let's get pumped up' jam".[14]
Lyrically, "Warriors" tells a story about "heroes" who built a land "from dust".[10] It "speak[s] to and speak[s] about both pro players andLeague of Legends players", which has been described as what sets itself apart from other World Championship songs. The song opens with the line "As a child, you would wait / And watch from far away", which Amanda "Tania Mae" Tan ofONE Esports called "incredibly powerful". Other lyrics include "We are the warriors that built this town / From dust" and "Will come / When you'll have to rise".[15]
"Warriors" premiered with the debut of itsmusic video on theLeague of Legends YouTube channel on September 17, 2014, to promote the 2014League of Legends World Championship.[14] The music video showcases a team losing in competitive games but not giving up as they do so until reaching the final.[10] The scene aligned with the second verse of the song was particularly noted for involving two teams competing on opposite sides of a table onSummoner's Rift, "a perfect reflection of 90sLAN gaming culture".[15]
The music video was the most-viewed video on theLeague of Legends channel for years until April 2019, when it was surpassed by the music video for "Pop/Stars" byK/DA, which had over 215 million views at the time while "Warriors" had over 214 million.[16] By 2021, the music video had received over 336 million views, which at the time, was still the most views on aLeague of Legends World Championship song,[15] and as of September 2025, it has over 446 million views.[17]
"Warriors" is a fan-favorite amongst theLeague of Legends World Championship songs.[18] Grover called it one of the game's songs that "still reign supreme", saying that it "sticks the landing" and is "one of the grandest songs to invoke goosebumps".[19] In a 2025 ranking of the World Championship songs, members of theEsports.gg staff ranked it the third-best World Championship song out of the ones from 2014 to 2024, saying that it is "timeless", a "classic", and "an anthem that has stood the test of time", with members praising its build-up, chorus, and lyrics.[20]
ONE Esports ranked it first in a 2024 ranking, with Kristine "Kurisu" Tuting saying that "Even after more than a decade, admit it you keep coming back to this classic".[21] In anotherONE Esports article, Tan similarly called it the best World Championship anthem and explained that every following World Championship anthem made her go back to "Warriors". She praised the song's lyrics for being a "true reflection of theLeague of Legends grassroots scene" when "Warriors" was released.[15]
ForFanbyte, Victoria Rose named "Warriors" the best of the first six World Championship anthems, saying "You absolutely cannot go wrong with something simple and universally powerful. That's what makes 'Warriors'so damn good." She emphasized that it "is just perfectly simplistic. [...] It's an industrial rock song! You gotta dosomething." Rose also praised the lyrics as "approachable", "empowering", and "tell[ing] a story", and saying that "even if you don’t understand English, you just learn the phonemes and roll with it, because the melody works that well". She concluded by calling it "a perfect stadium anthem".[12]
Esports Insider also ranked the song first place in a 2025 ranking, calling it "iconic" and saying it "suits its role as aLoL Worlds theme [very well]", calling its lyrics "about as epic as they come". They also claimed that "Warriors" is a "constantly building rock tune [that] culminates in an epic orchestral crescendo that is enough to get even the most blasé people hyped up." They also praised its music video as "inspirational".[10]
"Warriors" was used in the trailer for the 2015 filmThe Divergent Series: Insurgent and the final[22] trailer for the 2017 filmWonder Woman.[23]Slate's Matthew Dessem said regarding the latter trailer that when the song was paired with "slow-motion footage ofWonder Woman single-handedly fightingWorld War I [...] the answer is a resounding 'who did you think was in charge here, anyway?'" He also said that "World War I [...] was decidedly less badass than an Imagine Dragons song, perhaps because Wonder Woman wasn't there". Furthermore, he continued by stating that theWonder Woman trailer would "seamlessly" blend in with other "terrible"DC films by using the song in the trailer, usingThe Skin I Live In as an example of being a "more interesting movie buried under all the kickass guitar" withElena Anaya playing as a female counterpart ofFritz Haber.[22]
Additionally, "Warriors" appears in the South Korean horror showSweet Home. Alice O'Connor ofRock Paper Shotgun said that the song worked as "the show's anthem for heroic moments".[24] It was also used as theofficial song for the2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.[25]WWE Network also used the song as the official theme song for theWWE'sSurvivor Series 2015.[26]
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In October 2023,San of South Koreanboy bandAteez released a dance performance to "Warriors" to the group's channel. Choreography for the performance was also provided by BBtrippin and Tarzan. In the performance, San makes "powerful" moves and facial expressions to "establish the vibe and fervour of the song's vibe". The performance was met with praise from the group's fans, who compared his dancing toRyomen Sukuna ofJujutsu Kaisen and said that it "can stand out as a music video on its own". Grover called it a "ferocious anthem" and remarked that "Even without the ATEEZ members by his side, his power-hungry roar can be heard from a distance".[11] In December 2023, San also called "Warriors" one of his top picks for songs to listen to while traveling.[27]
Chrissy Costanza ofAgainst the Current sung amedley of "Warriors" along with the2019 World Championship song "Phoenix" and the2017 World Championship song "Legends Never Die", the latter two of which she both performed in, to open thefinal of the2025 World Championship.[28]
In 2020,League of Legends collaborated with German composer team2WEI and Edda Hayes for a cinematic music video with a cover of "Warriors" to begin the game's tenth season. The cover was described as "grim, choral, and bwampy",[29] as well as "slow and melodramatic".[30]
The music video begins with three concurrent scenes: a battle in a castle, a brawl in a building, and a creature-produced artifact.[30] Throughout, it includes nine priorLeague of Legends champions with their own mini-stories.[31] The video involvesLeague of Legends characters Jayce, Lux, and Galio teaming up to win against Sylas and his followers. It also sees Marksman Champions Ezreal and Kai'Sa fight against various creatures and Vi be assisted by Cailyn for her sniper skills.[32] Turing called the video "absolutely spine-tingling" and that "Hayes' powerful vocals + 2WEI's composition = eargasm" when writing about the cover forONE Esports.[31] Despite his minimal experience withLeague of Legends, Robert N. Adams ofGameRevolution praised the video as "some of the finest animation [he had] seen repping a video game in recent memory".[30]
Credits adapted fromApple Music andSpotify.[1][2]
Imagine Dragons
Additional personnel
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
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| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[49] | 3× Platinum | 180,000‡ |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[50] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
| Germany (BVMI)[51] | Gold | 200,000‡ |
| Italy (FIMI)[52] | Gold | 25,000‡ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[53] | Platinum | 30,000‡ |
| Norway (IFPI Norway)[54] | Platinum | 10,000‡ |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[55] | Platinum | 60,000‡ |
| Sweden (GLF)[56] | 2× Platinum | 80,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[57] | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA)[58] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000‡ |
| Streaming | ||
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[59] | Gold | 1,300,000† |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
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1 The 2020 Mid-Season Invitational was cancelled and replaced by the2020 Mid-Season Streamathon due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. | |||||||
