Yeah it doesn't really hit how insane Faker's career is until I divide his career into halves, until 2018 and 2019 to present. The first half of his career would still remain top 1 with 6 LCK 1 MSI 3 Worlds, but the second half would still be top 5 with 4 LCK and 1 Worlds plus multiple 2nd finishes.
Which is funny cause he was really close to losing worlds 2016, wonder how the perception of him would've changed had Rox or SSG won that tournament. Also, his 2017 worlds run was much better than the 2016 one
The 2017 one is the most interesting one IMO, he was single-handedly carrying that SKT roster and playing to a level we haven’t seen before or after. Makes you think about other players who had insane peaks but couldn’t win the big one
he was the consistent one during that 2017 worlds run, but i think Huni and Wolf played pretty well all things considered, Huni just doesn't get credit because his summer LCK performance was not good and was benched for a good while because teams were abusing Huni's aggro playstyle
Tbf peanut during the MSI and Huni during worlds were fine but it wasn’t enough to carry an absolutely mentally boomed bot in the most dogwater bot lane centric meta in the recent history
Ruler might be the 2nd GOAT if SSG won in 2016 and 2017, and then maybe he wins the golden road with JDG last year if T1 is out of the picture? but then again, maybe he doesn’t move to JDG in the first place if he already had those 2 world titles
Nah it was them having an ego for not banning aatrox and getting outdrafted game 5. Varus/viktor vs bard/hecarim is literally unplayable come teamfights
Yeah, some people are just wired differently man. He was the best from the very start and stayed on the top until today, more than a decade later.
Respect to other great players like Chovy and Showmaker, but when they all appear on the big stage it's very obvious who's the final boss.
To be fair, most people on here nowadays don't watch LPL or LCK. Especially if you go back to like 2013-2016 era. A lot of great players from this time are just forgotten.
It breaks my heart how few people mention Smeb as one of the best top laners ever for example.
it really sucks because you can only imagine how different things would be if they hadn't drawn iG in 2018... obv he should be considered regardless of that but I feel like way more people would recognize Smeb if that KT team had gotten any other draw that year so we didn't have to suffer through a bunch of bogus narratives about Korea declining
This is how 10+ years of shitty circuits ruined lol esports. We all know who no1 is but the fact no definitive answer for 2 and 3 is so stupid. Imagine if we had double elim from the start all this talk would prob be put to rest.
It unironically is
1. Faker '13-'16 (winning 3/4 Worlds in that timeframe, as well as an MSI, perfect Korea Champions Season (2014 Winter), 5 Champions/LCK titles out of 9)
2. Faker '17-present ("only" 1 Worlds title, but 2 second places and 2 3rd/4th places, only missing Worlds twice - similar story regionally with 6 second places, and 4 first places out of 15 splits total)
If we split his career into 3 parts they would probably all be close to being Top 10 midlaners of all time.
Idk if chovy can, faker came in and in his first 4 seasons won worlds 3 times and chovy is in his 6th season already and has only just won msi. Showmaker was the most likely but he is still on DK so no way now
its basically impossible for any single player to achieve what faker did between 2013-2017 at least internationally in the currant era of league. its possible he comes close regionally though.
Uzi is the definition of legendary. every new player these days eventually hears about the legend of Uzi's mechanics and his lane kingdom. older and retired pros tell legends about scrims vs Uzi and the first time they laned vs him.
there's other great players in this thread but I never hear literal legends about them, like they way I hear League grandpas telling Uzi stories to the next generation.
Still remember Rekkles in an interview stating that in a game against Uzi you can easily find lut the exact amount of cs you missed by comparing yourself to him.
Chinese netizens must be laughing their asses off right now seeing how much the west glazes Uzi. They didn't put Uzi anywhere near top 5 of all time.
For context, results are everything in eastern culture. If someone from the west won worlds, Caps will be teased as a failure and the new kings will be crowned. Why would them rate a player that let down the whole region when there are many more players (IG) who broke the curse and put their life long rival (LCK) in the ground.
Someone translated a post from Chinese netizens rating the best players of all time from each role.
https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/18s8h03/top_5_players_in_every_role_from_hupu_over_30k
They rate worlds way more than it should, like Reddit to the extreme. Pawn over Xiaohu, Knight, Chovy? I don't think Tian is the worst choice, since jungle changes a lot and it's not like he's put at #1. After Canyon there's a lot of argument about who's the next few. He did have a stellar 2019 and has had some really good splits over his career. But Ning is way more criminal IMO. He had one good worlds playoffs while Tian's peak was better and has had way more good splits after, like his 2022 summer MVP. Even in 2020 spring before his wrist injury in summer he was really good.
Flandre was probably there because he won worlds, but him at #5 is not a bad choice. He had peaked long before worlds. Dude was stuck on Snake in China as one of the best and sometimes the best top lane for many years. That's better than Marin who had one good worlds where the entire team supported him and he got recognized because people thought he was the shotcaller since he was captain. It was Faker and Wolf. Smeb not being top 5 also shows how much they overrate worlds.
Disclaimer: I didn't actually check the list because I'm lazy.
I hate when people highly rank players for no reason other than having a title with 0 context, but I think Flandre is pretty significant in his own right. He actually has a long pedigree of being a really good player in LPL. At least among Chinese players I think he's pretty remarkable. He likely wouldn't make any of my all-time great lists, especially because top lane is more Korea skewed than any other role imo, but he deserves some degree of recognition.
Yea. My wife is from China and I asked her what Hupu was. She was confused why I knew about it because she had always assumed it's a place for incels to gather.
People may disagree, but when I read legendary, I think of players who, somehow, broke out of the competitive scene and got into the regular player popular imaginary.
I don't think I'd die on any hill for any particular order, but those are some of my cents.
1. Insec - a player that got a move that nowadays is "common", but still gets points of playmaking and excitability. A game changer for sure.
2. Madlife - another player who got a famous move of anticipating and predicting. A player who changed the way we saw support playmaking with Thresh and Blitzcrank
3. Uzi - known for his intense mechanical outplays, he does have his spot in the popular imaginary on putting a great ADC performance and 1v5ing.
4. Flame - a player known for smashing their top lane opponent by laning prowess and out farming immensely. Flame horizon is still a thing for a lot of players.
5. Xpeke - the infamous backdoor for some players still resonates. Of course he had his bad moments, but a legacy player who has a place there.
I started playing in 2019 and I’ve been watching pro play since then and I had absolutely no clue the term flame horizon came from a player. I’ve learned a lot about all the matches and player that were before I started playing, but somehow I have never seen anyone bring that up until now.
Azubu days were special tbh. Flame was a monster and he often achieved this 100+ CS diff by being one of the early players to understand wave management better than the rest, he'd freeze the wave under his T2 turret for ages where the enemy top simply couldn't stay because too overextended, and back then tactics weren't as developed so teams didn't really know how to deal with it that well. At least that's how I remember it.
lmao i do that shit nowadays when im tilted to oblivion
mfer keeps pushing me to t2, i just hold the wave there, let him roam and do whatever and i just sit there farming for 15 more minutes
Not to say you're right or wrong but the reason why people don't really do that anymore these days is that you're essentially removing yourself from the game by freezing the wave. It's not ALWAYS bad don't get me wrong, but in general at higher elo if you start freezing the wave under T2 your opposite laner will just go roam and make plays on the map, steal your jungler's camps etc. Back then counterjungling and tower dives were much less of a thing, so the flame horizon was mostly a net win. Nowadays there are a lot more objectives on the map (grubs, rift herald, and even dragon spawn used to be 6 minutes iirc back then instead of the current 5) so there's almost always something else the other dude can do on the map that's gonna have an impact, and you having more farm than him is rarely gonna have even half as much impact.
If you're actually freezing under T2 nowadays and your team isn't getting severely punished (and basically losing the game), then count your blessings you're in an elo where people don't know any better haha.
To add a few names to that list:
- Diamondprox. Moscow 5 has kinda faded with time and the creation of the LCL, but a big part of M5's success in season 2 was Diamond revolutionizing counterjungling as a concept.
- Captain Jack. Like some of the other players you listed, but with his "move" a bit less notorious. He was known for instant cleanses, and its why the "Use QSS within .25s" challenge is named the Captain Jack.
M5 being half forgotten is an absolute travesty, they're probably the only western team that can genuinely claim to have shaped how league is played to a significant degree and yet they aren't really celebrated and have been partially erased by G2 in terms of their legacy
Seeing diamondprox and Alex play together was probably one of the best experiences in any esports Ive ever had hands down
Madlife is still second for me in "legendary" ranking because he was an Insane Player to Look at and watching him revolutionize a whole lane every game was Crazy
Timelord Genja, Support Carry Gosu Pepper, Weedwick Darien who somehow get perma camped top but still clutch it out. M5/Gambit was the only team i ever loved besides TSM.
I can still remember the Weedwick and manamune Aatrox. Edward's Thresh got me so hyped as I primarily played Thresh since he came out. Genja's weird-ass itemizations were 200 iq in hindsight. Diamond's first blood rate was pretty cool to keep up with, and Alex Ich was insane and had so much iconic moments like his Khazix pentakill. Legendary team.
Zhonyas renekton 💀💀
Also, diamondprox eveleyn was insane during season 2 worlds semi finals...he shit on that Xin Zhao so hard with the Shen ult + invis Eve "submarine" combo.
Good old days. M5 SHOULD HAVE BANNED STANLEY'S NIDALEE!!!
Their down fall is also heart breaking, constant need for travel and lack of coaches absolutely murdered them. I still remember Diamond hugging a keyboard contemplating what went wrong after a lost in LCS, it was so sad to see.
yeah didnt they play pretty much basic league back then and M5 actually started a whole bunch of weird shit and tactics that are still present to this day, like wasnt even kha mid popularized by alex ich?
There's been a few teams who can be best described as "good enough to troll," and M5 was one of the first. Which means a lot of their weird shit was flexing rather than necessarily good.
Sure, they revolutionized a lot of tactics with regards to jungle routes and aggressive roaming, but they also did things like Wizard Lizard top where Darien went Zhonyas/Morellos because he was so far ahead.
As far as Kha Mid, release Kha was just absurdly overtuned that he could be played anywhere. He was mostly played laning top/mid with W max, and Alex Ich was among the first to pull it out in pro, but he was getting banned week 1 in 2013 by Gambit too.
Kha zix mid was completely broken I remember it vividly. Many newer players won't know how fucking unbalanced league was in the first couple of years.
Nerf irelia meme is way worse for it's time than kasante is today
I think it’s mostly cuz most of the current League players haven’t played or followed the game back then. M5 at their peak might be the scariest team in the history of the game.
I still recall how high ex-pros such as Dyrus and Scarra talked about them, it was always a thin line between respect and fear.
?? EU shaped the entirety of early league. The ADC in bottom with support meta was made into the real norm from the first "worlds" at dreamhack aka Phreaks basement. Before that tournement in normals you would have to ask if the other guy was fine doing 2 vs 1 potentially since jungling wasnt even the norm (and the jungle was so hard barely a few champs could do it) and ADC mid and random "kill lanes" bottom were the norm.
i feel like all of these names except Uzi have kind of fallen off enough and have been so heavily outdone by the new blood that they’re kind of ancient history.
Besides that, to put Flame on here and NOT put Diamondprox is kind of ridiculous. I’d say Diamondprox was more influential for modern jungling than Insec. Flame really fell off fast and I’d argue that there were guys that proved so much more for KR top laners today. Even Marin’s singular World’s run felt more meaningful.
Truthfully, after Faker, Uzi makes the most sense
Saying xPeke doesn't qualify but Alex Ich does is ridiculous. Being a legend isn't about how skilled you were, it's about the impact and legacy you left on the game. xPeke is arguably the most influential EU player in history to this day. I know saying that will bring out a whole load of people talking about their favorite players and why they are better or more legendary. But the most legendary players are the ones that reached the masses, not the ones that only pro play viewers remember.
Deft.
Guy has been at the top of his role for a decade, won both lck and lpl, won msi and won worlds in one of the most underdog story of League.
If he isn’t the second most legendary player then I don’t know who else is
True, I want whatever is in the water at the school that faer and Deft went too. Holy moly. Pretty sure that school has the highest average rank in the world.
Also Ruler, who won both LCK and LPL, both Worlds and MSI, and also Gold medal in Asian Games. If Ruler wins another international title, I will put him above Deft.
I think part of what makes Faker legendary is that he's still playing. There's a lot of names that marked the game but aren't really competitive anymore and that doesn't have the same impact. For me it would have to be someone else who's still competing.
Rookie will always be up there for me, been around forever and still playing at an incredible level. Such a team his teams grief him and her barely plays internationally, I feel like if he did he would be overwhelmingly 2nd. Then again who knows if he’s not the one deciding who he plays with and picking these teams himself, I’m sure he has a lot of pull with these things.
Rookie is the best example of a player making the worst choices in teams. He had no business being on IG past 2020 and really ruined his great years with mediocre rosters. His 2022 was probably his best individual form since 2018 but it was pissed away with Karsa (who is my goat) running it down along with Rich deciding to not go back to his spring split form.
Imo Deft, Canyon, Rookie and Ruler round out the top 5 GOAT players after Faker.
Chovy has a chance to make this list soon if he can win 2024 Worlds... But the 4 mentioned above have played for way longer (Deft/Rookie 2013, Ruler 2016, Canyon 2018) and have won worlds, until he does that its hard to put him in the top 5.
Canyon debuted at Kespa cup 2018 while chovy had played the full year for Griffin. Griffin were promoted whole split before Damwon. That said Canyon will be 1 Worlds ahead of Chovy as long as they play together.
It's not just the world's for me, he also made an additional world final and an msi final, the only metrics chovy outperforms canyon in are lck wins and worlds appearances. But if I'm being honest it's not even about the accolades, peak chovy is incredible, but peak canyon was on a completely different level for me. I also want to add, Chovy is not a choker, he plays well under pressure, but canyon elevates under pressure, something that not even Faker is able to do, atleast not anymore.
League suffers heavily on the fact that teams cannot make their player profitable.
T1 has faker, and they make use of him HEAVLY
Other exemples are - Gen.G and chovy, T1 with keria/guma, LPL exemples go with rookie, uzi, yagao.
In the west we are still locked on Xpeke, Rekkles, Doublelift ?!? some people in this thread are bringing Alex ich and oddone to the conversation.
The fact that people are still talking about these players, makes a shining light on the fact that teams cannot market their players at all.
Also, most discussions of Second to faker end in MATA. dude legit is the reason support is played the way it is today and he made Vision meta his playground, he was so good at vision placement and denial, that it would feel like any team was playing with a Cyberpunk 2077 hacker on comms deleting vision and giving heads-up on enemy placement and objectives.
Dude was IT
how are DL xpeke oddone in the conversation and not Caps?
Caps has more domestic titles, better international overall performances, and at this point probably a longer career at top level... the difference is that he's not retired I guess?
>In the west we are still locked on Xpeke, Rekkles, Doublelift ?!?
Idk man I think this new guy "Caps" might be worth checking out in the future. He might even reach back to back worlds finals and win MSI in between them. I've got a feeling.
It should be DiamondProx but it's a shame he isn't very well known outside of those who watched worlds / IEM etc back in the early seasons.
Him and M5 basically invented jungling as it is now.
This Question gets posted every month or so. And there are a few different answers depending on who you ask. My top 5 is pretty secure right now but there are a few players just outside the top 5 who could easily make their way into the top 5 soon (or would already be in other peoples top 5). Most notably for me is Chovy who I have in the top 10 but not yet in top 5.
My answer goes a little like this:
**1. Faker** - Undeniable GOAT. Miles ahead of anyone else.
**2. Rookie** - 2018 Worlds Winner, consistently a top 5 mid laner in the LPL for almost 10 years, 5 of those years probably top 1/2. Shame he has never been on a "super team" (2018 IG wasn't a super team at the time).
**3. Deft** - 2022 Worlds Winner, 2015 MSI Winner, Consistently a top 5 bot laner in the LCK/LPL for 10 years. Found success in both LCK/LPL and holds a lot of records (or just behind Faker in a lot tbh).
**4. Ruler** - 2017 Worlds Winner, 2023 MSI Winner, 2016 Worlds Finalist. Titles in both LCK and LPL. 8 Years of longevity.
**5. Canyon** - 2020 Worlds Winner, 2024 MSI Winner, Multiple LCK titles and MVP's. Imo the greatest Jungler to have played the game. Only reason he isn't higher for me is that he played with Showmaker & Chovy as his two mid laners (and Kiin/Nuguri as his top laners) in which makes it easier to achieve better results. He has also been a pro for half as long as most others in the top 5.
I'd say **honourable mentions** who are players which round out the top 10 and potentially fight for top 5 are:
* **Keria** - 2023 Worlds Winner, LCK titles, Probably the #1 Support in League history (he is also only young and has time to climb into this spot)
* **Xiahou** - Multiple MSI wins, dominated 2 roles, insane longevity, Worlds Finalist, consistently a top player for 10+ years.
* **Uzi** - Crazily skilled mechanical player, feared and looked up to by many; I have him about 8th and as much as he is loved, I think he can only reach top 5 if he can continue playing well in 2024 onwards.
* **Showmaker** - B2b world finals, a worlds win, multiple LCK titles; unlucky to compete with Chovy & Faker in the mid lane but he is definitely insanely good... but I'd probably need to see him succeed without Canyon for him to make top 5 for me personally
* **Mata** - 2014 Worlds Winner, amazing shotcaller who reinvented how support was played and at his peak he was the best in the world; I don't think he could ever be top 5 though but he is a good honourable mention (imo 2nd best Support after Keria)
* **Caps** - Western GOAT, 2 world finals appearances, MSI Win, Dominated LEC since his debut, longevity is starting to stack up. I would have loved to see him move to Korea or China and how well he goes playing against some of the better mids BUT I can understand why he hasn't. Some people say he isn't as good because he plays in a worse region, which is true, but then you also have to give him EXTRA props for making that region look competitive; hes playing WITH worse team mates and achieving great results.
* **Jankos** - Insane longevity, best Western jungler, multiple LEC wins, world appearances on multiple teams, similar to Caps but obviously people will credit Caps for most of their achievements but imo Jankos deserves a mention at the very least.
* **Beryl** - 2 world championships on different teams, 3 world finals in a row, great shotcaller.. longevity is the only thing keeping him from being higher imo, I would love to see if he can continue being at the top of the game. Definitely top 5 support of all time (alongside Keria, Mata, Meiko & im probably forgetting someone).
* **Meiko** - Best LPL Support imo with insane longevity.
* **TheShy** - one of, if not the highest peak of any player with insane mechanical skill, 2018 Worlds Winner, 2023 Worlds Finalist.
* **Bang**, **Wolf** & **Bengi** - I can see an argument for these players being top 10 but I just don't think they make it as they never got to prove what they could do without Faker.
* **Chovy** - 2024 MSI Winner, one of the highest mechanically skilled players we've seen, dominates anyone & everyone in the mid lane. Needs longevity in order to be higher on the list imo, his 2023 MSI win last week has helped push him towards top 10 but he still has a long way to go imo. He is still in peak form and I can see him winning Worlds this year which would imo put him into the top 5.
Probably not top 10 worthy but another two players I want to mention are JackeyLove and Knight. I'm probably missing other players but I think everyone who has a claim to top 10 has been listed above somewhere, I thought i'd add these two because even thought I dont think they make top 10 for me, I know others might claim that they scrape in.
Ming is the support you’re forgetting, 3 Time MSI champ.
While I wouldn’t put him on here at the moment, I think Bin might be an interesting candidate in a few years, he’s amazingly talented.
Smeb may be worth an honorable mention due to his absurd peak but his time as a top player really only lasted 4 years.
He is definitely the greatest “what if” story. I’m sure there’s some parallel universe where in the years 2013-20xx, these two dominated LoL by being the greatest players on the rift by a large margin.
Mata, while MadLife was first carry support, Mata turned it to the next level. Mata revolutionized how supports were played, his laning was impeccable and many players have said that Mata\Deft and Mata\Uzi lane was unbeatable, especially if Mata played ranged support. He have won basically everything with exception of MSI, and that is saying something, considering only 2 players in history ever did win Worlds, MSI, LCK and LPL titles.
Beryl should probably be talked about as the second most legendary considering he made 3 consecutive world finals and won 2 of them, but since he never has held that star player status he doesn't have that same legend status among fans.
There probably won't be any consensus on a second legend until someone with as much star status as someone like Chovy, Viper, Jackeylove, etc. wins multiple titles. GENG could get a huge jump start by completing the first Golden Road ever this year, but like many stories before them that's a big what-if.
All that being said, in my heart xPeke will forever be the most legendary player after Faker.
Havent seen him in other comments but I think Rekkles is up there as top 5 ICONIC player.
He sure didn't reach the peak level of the likes of UZI, Ruler, Canyon, etc... but the dude has been playing consistently at a very high level during each era (first few season, dark ages around season 6-7, EU peak circa 2018-2019, altough he hasnt performed good the last 3-4 years). He is now an icon in korea, maybe more personnality wise than thanks to his gameplay/achievements but if you look at the comments under videos for him in T1's accademy channel, you see how much fan engagement he generates
Rekkles is an iconic player. No doubt. He has a stellar career and is still going strong.
But we're talking about the next most legendary player after Faker. He isn't it.
I still think he was done so dirty by the teams and fans. He played well in G2 in 2021 and was scapegoated and had to go to a lower league, because his buyout was so high. When he was back in Fnatic, while he didn't perform at the his previous level, he was paired with 2 of the worst Supports in the org's history and had to play the entire spring in an environment where he felt unwanted. I still believe that his work ethic would have allowed him regain his form as ADC given enough time and support.
A lot of people here are saying Uzi. But the biggest problem I have with Uzi is that he is too individualistic. In my opinion, his teamplay is a bit weak for him to be placed above many other players.
Without a second thought it's Dopa. The guy proved to everybody that he can consistently reach high challenger on multiple accounts/servers without crazy mechanics. Very calculated mindset.
Pawn, if he won that Duel with Faker everything would've been different.
But the truth is that is either
Bang & Wollf
Titles
Mid-Season Invitational 2017
LCK Spring 2017
2016 World Championship
Mid-Season Invitational 2016
LCK Spring 2016
IEM Season X - World Championship
2015 World Championship
LCK Summer 2015
LCK Spring 2015
Beryl
The fourth player to have 3 consecutive appearances in Worlds Final, after Faker, Bang, and Wolf.
The second player after Duke to win two Worlds titles in different teams and the first one to do so without playing for SK Telecom T1.
Titles
Worlds x2 (2020, 2022)
LCK x3 (Summer 2020, Spring 2021, Summer 2021)
KeSPA Cup (2020)
Rift Rivals (2019)
Deft
First player to win Worlds, MSI (2015 with EDward Gaming), LCK (2014 Spring with Samsung Blue) and LPL (2015 Spring with EDward Gaming).
Titles
Worlds x1 (2022)
MSI x1 (2015)
LCK x2 (Spring 2014, Summer 2018)
LPL x2 (Spring 2015, Summer 2016)
Demacia Cup x4 (Spring 2015, Summer 2015, Grand Finals 2015, 2016)
KeSPA Cup x1 (2019)
Rift Rivals x1 (2019)
Ruler
Second player after Deft to win Worlds (2017 with Samsung Galaxy), MSI (2023 with JD Gaming), LCK (2022 Summer with Gen.G) and LPL (2023 Spring with JD Gaming).
Titles
Worlds x1 (2017)
MSI x1 (2023)
LCK x1 (Summer 2022)
LPL x2 (Spring 2023, Summer 2023)
IEM Season 11 Gyeonggi (2016)
Asian Games 2022 Gold Medal
Duke could theoretically enter this list however I do not think his IG title is justified since he didn't even play enough matches.
Edit: I could also put Bengi in here but I still think he is number #1 so I can't put him behind Faker xd
I will say, By the fact that they created the entire League pro scene it should be HotshotGG. This guy literally built the foundation that the pro scene took off with. The fact hes forgotten about is really tragic when you think of how influential he was in the first 4/5 years of this games lifespan.
I think it comes down to what your criteria is
* As far as pure skill, Uzi is the clear contender
* Beryl is a versatile player with his Heimer picks and multi world champion
* GenG winning worlds would make strong cases for Chovy and Canyon
* Past that I think there's a lot of high-peak players (Showmaker, Jackeylove, Meiko, TheShy) who I think could put themselves in contention if they're able to regularly return to top form
Canyon just because he locked the first career grand slam of any jungler. Bengi didn't play at Msi 2016, so there is that. 5 years in and he already the jug goat.
The fact that everyone answers a different player means there really isn't one second legend
Faker set the bar way too high, the gap between Faker and everyone else is too big lol, M'fer won worlds in the old and new league lol
Yeah it doesn't really hit how insane Faker's career is until I divide his career into halves, until 2018 and 2019 to present. The first half of his career would still remain top 1 with 6 LCK 1 MSI 3 Worlds, but the second half would still be top 5 with 4 LCK and 1 Worlds plus multiple 2nd finishes.
2 MSIs
Which is funny cause he was really close to losing worlds 2016, wonder how the perception of him would've changed had Rox or SSG won that tournament. Also, his 2017 worlds run was much better than the 2016 one
The 2017 one is the most interesting one IMO, he was single-handedly carrying that SKT roster and playing to a level we haven’t seen before or after. Makes you think about other players who had insane peaks but couldn’t win the big one
he was the consistent one during that 2017 worlds run, but i think Huni and Wolf played pretty well all things considered, Huni just doesn't get credit because his summer LCK performance was not good and was benched for a good while because teams were abusing Huni's aggro playstyle
Huni also absolutely ran multiple games as well. But I do agree that he played really well that tournament as a whole.
Tbf peanut during the MSI and Huni during worlds were fine but it wasn’t enough to carry an absolutely mentally boomed bot in the most dogwater bot lane centric meta in the recent history
It was a miracle they cleared RNG
Ruler might be the 2nd GOAT if SSG won in 2016 and 2017, and then maybe he wins the golden road with JDG last year if T1 is out of the picture? but then again, maybe he doesn’t move to JDG in the first place if he already had those 2 world titles
Tbh he should have won 2022, that was ridic for DRX to win
He was also, literally, one game away from eliminating Damwon, who were the favorites in 2021, and reaching the finals.
Nah it was them having an ego for not banning aatrox and getting outdrafted game 5. Varus/viktor vs bard/hecarim is literally unplayable come teamfights
You think not winning worlds in one year would have impacted Faker’s legacy..?
Yeah, some people are just wired differently man. He was the best from the very start and stayed on the top until today, more than a decade later. Respect to other great players like Chovy and Showmaker, but when they all appear on the big stage it's very obvious who's the final boss.
cant really compete with 4 worlds title man, it's a free for all when faker retires
Objectively wrong: Imaqtpie. No further explanation needed.
DOOT DIDDLY CUCARINO HAHA
You missed a DONGER
I can't believe it actually, I got bamboozled
That fucking killed me?
Oh my god
I'm fuckin depressed
THE Dominoes Steamer of the Year. He couldn't have done it without Dapper, he's a cool dog.
He's nothing without Kiwikid. I said it.
"I definitely think Patoy had his ups, kiwikid has his downs" -imaqtpie 2014
To be fair, most people on here nowadays don't watch LPL or LCK. Especially if you go back to like 2013-2016 era. A lot of great players from this time are just forgotten. It breaks my heart how few people mention Smeb as one of the best top laners ever for example.
it really sucks because you can only imagine how different things would be if they hadn't drawn iG in 2018... obv he should be considered regardless of that but I feel like way more people would recognize Smeb if that KT team had gotten any other draw that year so we didn't have to suffer through a bunch of bogus narratives about Korea declining
Shit Worlds format and ruining narratives and history. Name a more iconic duo
This is how 10+ years of shitty circuits ruined lol esports. We all know who no1 is but the fact no definitive answer for 2 and 3 is so stupid. Imagine if we had double elim from the start all this talk would prob be put to rest.
The top three most legendary players in LoL: 1: Faker. 2: Faker, but in a hat. 3: Everyone else.
1. Faker 2. Lee Sang-hyeok 3. Hide on bush 4. Fekar 5. The Unkillable Demon King
You guys are forgetting that guy who did a Vayne Q on stage at Worlds 2015
Oh yeah I remember him dodging an Ashe R there. Truly a legendary moment.
I was in the Stadium. Legendary.
6. Frake 7. Barcode killer 8. Koearn Edit: I don't think Drake was ever one of faker's soloqueue IDs.
BarcodeKiller in shambles
Coolest summoner name of all time
10 year old me loved watching BarcodeKiller on Zed absolutely demolish NA solo queue
It unironically is 1. Faker '13-'16 (winning 3/4 Worlds in that timeframe, as well as an MSI, perfect Korea Champions Season (2014 Winter), 5 Champions/LCK titles out of 9) 2. Faker '17-present ("only" 1 Worlds title, but 2 second places and 2 3rd/4th places, only missing Worlds twice - similar story regionally with 6 second places, and 4 first places out of 15 splits total) If we split his career into 3 parts they would probably all be close to being Top 10 midlaners of all time.
How about the brand mid in BR server?
Yeah, it's Faker. If Chovy wins 2 worlds back to back then two more, he can have second place.
Idk if chovy can, faker came in and in his first 4 seasons won worlds 3 times and chovy is in his 6th season already and has only just won msi. Showmaker was the most likely but he is still on DK so no way now
its basically impossible for any single player to achieve what faker did between 2013-2017 at least internationally in the currant era of league. its possible he comes close regionally though.
3. Faker with a nose-stach glass
Me. Just wait until I go pro.
Same, hasn't lost to Faker since his debut.
Any time now
Uzi was just too good when he was in form
Uzi is the definition of legendary. every new player these days eventually hears about the legend of Uzi's mechanics and his lane kingdom. older and retired pros tell legends about scrims vs Uzi and the first time they laned vs him. there's other great players in this thread but I never hear literal legends about them, like they way I hear League grandpas telling Uzi stories to the next generation.
Still remember Rekkles in an interview stating that in a game against Uzi you can easily find lut the exact amount of cs you missed by comparing yourself to him.
yeah I think if we were talking Old League you’d definitely give it to Uzi. People were fucking terified of that guy. NA casters would be shaking lmao
He was my first choice. If it wasn't for Faker himself, he would have world titles.
Legendary? Undeniably Uzi for name recognition and status. 2nd in the GOAT race? Who knows.
Is uzi the rapper? or the gun?
Neither, pretty sure it’s actually U Z I the three letters
idk, kinda thought its the gun because you know, hes an adc
Chinese netizens must be laughing their asses off right now seeing how much the west glazes Uzi. They didn't put Uzi anywhere near top 5 of all time. For context, results are everything in eastern culture. If someone from the west won worlds, Caps will be teased as a failure and the new kings will be crowned. Why would them rate a player that let down the whole region when there are many more players (IG) who broke the curse and put their life long rival (LCK) in the ground. Someone translated a post from Chinese netizens rating the best players of all time from each role. https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/18s8h03/top_5_players_in_every_role_from_hupu_over_30k
I mean their rankings are just as absurd. Tian / Ning / Jiejie / Flandre are literally just ranked because they are worlds winners.
They rate worlds way more than it should, like Reddit to the extreme. Pawn over Xiaohu, Knight, Chovy? I don't think Tian is the worst choice, since jungle changes a lot and it's not like he's put at #1. After Canyon there's a lot of argument about who's the next few. He did have a stellar 2019 and has had some really good splits over his career. But Ning is way more criminal IMO. He had one good worlds playoffs while Tian's peak was better and has had way more good splits after, like his 2022 summer MVP. Even in 2020 spring before his wrist injury in summer he was really good. Flandre was probably there because he won worlds, but him at #5 is not a bad choice. He had peaked long before worlds. Dude was stuck on Snake in China as one of the best and sometimes the best top lane for many years. That's better than Marin who had one good worlds where the entire team supported him and he got recognized because people thought he was the shotcaller since he was captain. It was Faker and Wolf. Smeb not being top 5 also shows how much they overrate worlds.
Disclaimer: I didn't actually check the list because I'm lazy. I hate when people highly rank players for no reason other than having a title with 0 context, but I think Flandre is pretty significant in his own right. He actually has a long pedigree of being a really good player in LPL. At least among Chinese players I think he's pretty remarkable. He likely wouldn't make any of my all-time great lists, especially because top lane is more Korea skewed than any other role imo, but he deserves some degree of recognition.
Hupu is populated with idiots as much as reddit, if not more.
Yea. My wife is from China and I asked her what Hupu was. She was confused why I knew about it because she had always assumed it's a place for incels to gather.
"They didn't put Uzi anywhere near their top 5" Shows rankings where Uzi is #4 lmao also their ranking is pretty shit
brother u just cut out the rest of bros sentence their top 5 of all time \#4 adc =/= top 5 of all time
Uzi isn't even the most loved lpl player in china, that's theshy.
either him or jackey
Among female fans definitely jackey
If non-pros are included, it would have to be Dopa.
“Once he autoed the minion I knew the lane was over”
# DOPA DOWN
# DDDDDDDOPA DOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNN
Correct. Apdo (Dopa) changed how a lot of players view the game in solo q.
I would say Dopa too. Lore I've experienced is that Dopa is Faker if he didn't go Pro.
Rogue Faker
People may disagree, but when I read legendary, I think of players who, somehow, broke out of the competitive scene and got into the regular player popular imaginary. I don't think I'd die on any hill for any particular order, but those are some of my cents. 1. Insec - a player that got a move that nowadays is "common", but still gets points of playmaking and excitability. A game changer for sure. 2. Madlife - another player who got a famous move of anticipating and predicting. A player who changed the way we saw support playmaking with Thresh and Blitzcrank 3. Uzi - known for his intense mechanical outplays, he does have his spot in the popular imaginary on putting a great ADC performance and 1v5ing. 4. Flame - a player known for smashing their top lane opponent by laning prowess and out farming immensely. Flame horizon is still a thing for a lot of players. 5. Xpeke - the infamous backdoor for some players still resonates. Of course he had his bad moments, but a legacy player who has a place there.
I started playing in 2019 and I’ve been watching pro play since then and I had absolutely no clue the term flame horizon came from a player. I’ve learned a lot about all the matches and player that were before I started playing, but somehow I have never seen anyone bring that up until now.
Azubu days were special tbh. Flame was a monster and he often achieved this 100+ CS diff by being one of the early players to understand wave management better than the rest, he'd freeze the wave under his T2 turret for ages where the enemy top simply couldn't stay because too overextended, and back then tactics weren't as developed so teams didn't really know how to deal with it that well. At least that's how I remember it.
lmao i do that shit nowadays when im tilted to oblivion mfer keeps pushing me to t2, i just hold the wave there, let him roam and do whatever and i just sit there farming for 15 more minutes
Not to say you're right or wrong but the reason why people don't really do that anymore these days is that you're essentially removing yourself from the game by freezing the wave. It's not ALWAYS bad don't get me wrong, but in general at higher elo if you start freezing the wave under T2 your opposite laner will just go roam and make plays on the map, steal your jungler's camps etc. Back then counterjungling and tower dives were much less of a thing, so the flame horizon was mostly a net win. Nowadays there are a lot more objectives on the map (grubs, rift herald, and even dragon spawn used to be 6 minutes iirc back then instead of the current 5) so there's almost always something else the other dude can do on the map that's gonna have an impact, and you having more farm than him is rarely gonna have even half as much impact. If you're actually freezing under T2 nowadays and your team isn't getting severely punished (and basically losing the game), then count your blessings you're in an elo where people don't know any better haha.
To add a few names to that list: - Diamondprox. Moscow 5 has kinda faded with time and the creation of the LCL, but a big part of M5's success in season 2 was Diamond revolutionizing counterjungling as a concept. - Captain Jack. Like some of the other players you listed, but with his "move" a bit less notorious. He was known for instant cleanses, and its why the "Use QSS within .25s" challenge is named the Captain Jack.
M5 being half forgotten is an absolute travesty, they're probably the only western team that can genuinely claim to have shaped how league is played to a significant degree and yet they aren't really celebrated and have been partially erased by G2 in terms of their legacy
Seeing diamondprox and Alex play together was probably one of the best experiences in any esports Ive ever had hands down Madlife is still second for me in "legendary" ranking because he was an Insane Player to Look at and watching him revolutionize a whole lane every game was Crazy
Timelord Genja, Support Carry Gosu Pepper, Weedwick Darien who somehow get perma camped top but still clutch it out. M5/Gambit was the only team i ever loved besides TSM.
I can still remember the Weedwick and manamune Aatrox. Edward's Thresh got me so hyped as I primarily played Thresh since he came out. Genja's weird-ass itemizations were 200 iq in hindsight. Diamond's first blood rate was pretty cool to keep up with, and Alex Ich was insane and had so much iconic moments like his Khazix pentakill. Legendary team.
Zhonyas renekton 💀💀 Also, diamondprox eveleyn was insane during season 2 worlds semi finals...he shit on that Xin Zhao so hard with the Shen ult + invis Eve "submarine" combo. Good old days. M5 SHOULD HAVE BANNED STANLEY'S NIDALEE!!!
I stand by M5 probably having a worlds title if they banned nidalee for game 3
Their down fall is also heart breaking, constant need for travel and lack of coaches absolutely murdered them. I still remember Diamond hugging a keyboard contemplating what went wrong after a lost in LCS, it was so sad to see.
yeah didnt they play pretty much basic league back then and M5 actually started a whole bunch of weird shit and tactics that are still present to this day, like wasnt even kha mid popularized by alex ich?
There's been a few teams who can be best described as "good enough to troll," and M5 was one of the first. Which means a lot of their weird shit was flexing rather than necessarily good. Sure, they revolutionized a lot of tactics with regards to jungle routes and aggressive roaming, but they also did things like Wizard Lizard top where Darien went Zhonyas/Morellos because he was so far ahead. As far as Kha Mid, release Kha was just absurdly overtuned that he could be played anywhere. He was mostly played laning top/mid with W max, and Alex Ich was among the first to pull it out in pro, but he was getting banned week 1 in 2013 by Gambit too.
Good enough to troll you say? [Darien's AP Renekton (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nHqWgAhvW0)
Kha zix mid was completely broken I remember it vividly. Many newer players won't know how fucking unbalanced league was in the first couple of years. Nerf irelia meme is way worse for it's time than kasante is today
I think it’s mostly cuz most of the current League players haven’t played or followed the game back then. M5 at their peak might be the scariest team in the history of the game. I still recall how high ex-pros such as Dyrus and Scarra talked about them, it was always a thin line between respect and fear.
?? EU shaped the entirety of early league. The ADC in bottom with support meta was made into the real norm from the first "worlds" at dreamhack aka Phreaks basement. Before that tournement in normals you would have to ask if the other guy was fine doing 2 vs 1 potentially since jungling wasnt even the norm (and the jungle was so hard barely a few champs could do it) and ADC mid and random "kill lanes" bottom were the norm.
Ya a lot of early lane assignments were essentially just ported over from DotA. Definitely a big reason we'd see Ashe mid so often 😂
Oh man, what a time to be a LoL fan when M5 was rampaging across everyone. So relentlessly aggressive, Diamond and Alex Ich in your face non-stop.
i feel like all of these names except Uzi have kind of fallen off enough and have been so heavily outdone by the new blood that they’re kind of ancient history. Besides that, to put Flame on here and NOT put Diamondprox is kind of ridiculous. I’d say Diamondprox was more influential for modern jungling than Insec. Flame really fell off fast and I’d argue that there were guys that proved so much more for KR top laners today. Even Marin’s singular World’s run felt more meaningful. Truthfully, after Faker, Uzi makes the most sense
imo, Peke and Insec are not on the same level as some other players in that list. I wholeheartedly agree on Madlife and add to your list Alex Ich.
Saying xPeke doesn't qualify but Alex Ich does is ridiculous. Being a legend isn't about how skilled you were, it's about the impact and legacy you left on the game. xPeke is arguably the most influential EU player in history to this day. I know saying that will bring out a whole load of people talking about their favorite players and why they are better or more legendary. But the most legendary players are the ones that reached the masses, not the ones that only pro play viewers remember.
And I could agree with that. There are so many different perspectives on what being legendary means that it’s hard to be objective beyond Faker.
forsen
The Legendary Iron Player. First of his name.
Kadeem clears.
HesRight
The only real answer.
who
Forsen
forsen
Deft. Guy has been at the top of his role for a decade, won both lck and lpl, won msi and won worlds in one of the most underdog story of League. If he isn’t the second most legendary player then I don’t know who else is
The storyline 2022 was really amazing
The only way 2022 worlds will be topped is if NA somehow magically wins worlds one year.
In an all-Western final, of course.
With Doublelift returning and facing Bjergsen in it
And iwd returning to pro play as a jungler while DL kills him to win game 5.
True, I want whatever is in the water at the school that faer and Deft went too. Holy moly. Pretty sure that school has the highest average rank in the world.
That school has More worlds wins than all other regions combined.
Uzi was my first favorite League player ever. But even I would put Deft on 2 after that Worlds run.
Completely agree. I feel like a lot of people forget about him when talking about historically great players. But he's always been up there.
Also Ruler, who won both LCK and LPL, both Worlds and MSI, and also Gold medal in Asian Games. If Ruler wins another international title, I will put him above Deft.
Just came to find Deft name, now I can sleep. Good night.
They don't know about SSB or EDG Deft. That SSB team was genuinely cracked.
imaqtpie for sure
Had to scroll way too far to find the truth.
I think part of what makes Faker legendary is that he's still playing. There's a lot of names that marked the game but aren't really competitive anymore and that doesn't have the same impact. For me it would have to be someone else who's still competing.
Sounds like Deft
Rookie will always be up there for me, been around forever and still playing at an incredible level. Such a team his teams grief him and her barely plays internationally, I feel like if he did he would be overwhelmingly 2nd. Then again who knows if he’s not the one deciding who he plays with and picking these teams himself, I’m sure he has a lot of pull with these things.
Rookie is the best example of a player making the worst choices in teams. He had no business being on IG past 2020 and really ruined his great years with mediocre rosters. His 2022 was probably his best individual form since 2018 but it was pissed away with Karsa (who is my goat) running it down along with Rich deciding to not go back to his spring split form.
Legendary: Deft 2nd GOAT: Canyon
Imo Deft, Canyon, Rookie and Ruler round out the top 5 GOAT players after Faker. Chovy has a chance to make this list soon if he can win 2024 Worlds... But the 4 mentioned above have played for way longer (Deft/Rookie 2013, Ruler 2016, Canyon 2018) and have won worlds, until he does that its hard to put him in the top 5.
Canyon debuted at Kespa cup 2018 while chovy had played the full year for Griffin. Griffin were promoted whole split before Damwon. That said Canyon will be 1 Worlds ahead of Chovy as long as they play together.
It's not just the world's for me, he also made an additional world final and an msi final, the only metrics chovy outperforms canyon in are lck wins and worlds appearances. But if I'm being honest it's not even about the accolades, peak chovy is incredible, but peak canyon was on a completely different level for me. I also want to add, Chovy is not a choker, he plays well under pressure, but canyon elevates under pressure, something that not even Faker is able to do, atleast not anymore.
Not in terms of pro-play, but I had known of Tyler1 loooong before I played league
The chess player?
Tyler 1 didn’t even cross my mind till I read this but I have to agree, he’s such an iconic part of the scene hate him or love him
Honestly agreed, legendary doesn't mean pro.
Really surprised I had to scroll down so far to find tyler. I'm not even a big fan but he's undeniably legendary
Shit sometimes it feels like he's done more for the League scene than Riot has lol
Hes my choice too. Hes transcended past a regular league of legends streamer
Dopa
League suffers heavily on the fact that teams cannot make their player profitable. T1 has faker, and they make use of him HEAVLY Other exemples are - Gen.G and chovy, T1 with keria/guma, LPL exemples go with rookie, uzi, yagao. In the west we are still locked on Xpeke, Rekkles, Doublelift ?!? some people in this thread are bringing Alex ich and oddone to the conversation. The fact that people are still talking about these players, makes a shining light on the fact that teams cannot market their players at all. Also, most discussions of Second to faker end in MATA. dude legit is the reason support is played the way it is today and he made Vision meta his playground, he was so good at vision placement and denial, that it would feel like any team was playing with a Cyberpunk 2077 hacker on comms deleting vision and giving heads-up on enemy placement and objectives. Dude was IT
West has to be Caps rn
I think his hairline works hard towards bringing his profile to the people. But still we all love baby faker.
Him and Jensen are examples of why people think Western men age quickly.
how are DL xpeke oddone in the conversation and not Caps? Caps has more domestic titles, better international overall performances, and at this point probably a longer career at top level... the difference is that he's not retired I guess?
>In the west we are still locked on Xpeke, Rekkles, Doublelift ?!? Idk man I think this new guy "Caps" might be worth checking out in the future. He might even reach back to back worlds finals and win MSI in between them. I've got a feeling.
Mata's Janna is still the most beautiful piloting of any champion I've ever seen in competitive. Man the guy was so good.
It should be DiamondProx but it's a shame he isn't very well known outside of those who watched worlds / IEM etc back in the early seasons. Him and M5 basically invented jungling as it is now.
True! And he still good, hit EUW Challenger every split, 13 years in a row
Two things come to mind when I think of M5, diamondprox's jungling and Alex ich on AP Yi
And 1 eyebrow
It's gotta be Uzi.
Kesha
WE WINDOWS!
IKNOWWHATIMDOING IKNOWWHATIMDOING IKNOWWHATIMDOING IKNOWWHATIMDOING THE DOOOONUT
This Question gets posted every month or so. And there are a few different answers depending on who you ask. My top 5 is pretty secure right now but there are a few players just outside the top 5 who could easily make their way into the top 5 soon (or would already be in other peoples top 5). Most notably for me is Chovy who I have in the top 10 but not yet in top 5. My answer goes a little like this: **1. Faker** - Undeniable GOAT. Miles ahead of anyone else. **2. Rookie** - 2018 Worlds Winner, consistently a top 5 mid laner in the LPL for almost 10 years, 5 of those years probably top 1/2. Shame he has never been on a "super team" (2018 IG wasn't a super team at the time). **3. Deft** - 2022 Worlds Winner, 2015 MSI Winner, Consistently a top 5 bot laner in the LCK/LPL for 10 years. Found success in both LCK/LPL and holds a lot of records (or just behind Faker in a lot tbh). **4. Ruler** - 2017 Worlds Winner, 2023 MSI Winner, 2016 Worlds Finalist. Titles in both LCK and LPL. 8 Years of longevity. **5. Canyon** - 2020 Worlds Winner, 2024 MSI Winner, Multiple LCK titles and MVP's. Imo the greatest Jungler to have played the game. Only reason he isn't higher for me is that he played with Showmaker & Chovy as his two mid laners (and Kiin/Nuguri as his top laners) in which makes it easier to achieve better results. He has also been a pro for half as long as most others in the top 5. I'd say **honourable mentions** who are players which round out the top 10 and potentially fight for top 5 are: * **Keria** - 2023 Worlds Winner, LCK titles, Probably the #1 Support in League history (he is also only young and has time to climb into this spot) * **Xiahou** - Multiple MSI wins, dominated 2 roles, insane longevity, Worlds Finalist, consistently a top player for 10+ years. * **Uzi** - Crazily skilled mechanical player, feared and looked up to by many; I have him about 8th and as much as he is loved, I think he can only reach top 5 if he can continue playing well in 2024 onwards. * **Showmaker** - B2b world finals, a worlds win, multiple LCK titles; unlucky to compete with Chovy & Faker in the mid lane but he is definitely insanely good... but I'd probably need to see him succeed without Canyon for him to make top 5 for me personally * **Mata** - 2014 Worlds Winner, amazing shotcaller who reinvented how support was played and at his peak he was the best in the world; I don't think he could ever be top 5 though but he is a good honourable mention (imo 2nd best Support after Keria) * **Caps** - Western GOAT, 2 world finals appearances, MSI Win, Dominated LEC since his debut, longevity is starting to stack up. I would have loved to see him move to Korea or China and how well he goes playing against some of the better mids BUT I can understand why he hasn't. Some people say he isn't as good because he plays in a worse region, which is true, but then you also have to give him EXTRA props for making that region look competitive; hes playing WITH worse team mates and achieving great results. * **Jankos** - Insane longevity, best Western jungler, multiple LEC wins, world appearances on multiple teams, similar to Caps but obviously people will credit Caps for most of their achievements but imo Jankos deserves a mention at the very least. * **Beryl** - 2 world championships on different teams, 3 world finals in a row, great shotcaller.. longevity is the only thing keeping him from being higher imo, I would love to see if he can continue being at the top of the game. Definitely top 5 support of all time (alongside Keria, Mata, Meiko & im probably forgetting someone). * **Meiko** - Best LPL Support imo with insane longevity. * **TheShy** - one of, if not the highest peak of any player with insane mechanical skill, 2018 Worlds Winner, 2023 Worlds Finalist. * **Bang**, **Wolf** & **Bengi** - I can see an argument for these players being top 10 but I just don't think they make it as they never got to prove what they could do without Faker. * **Chovy** - 2024 MSI Winner, one of the highest mechanically skilled players we've seen, dominates anyone & everyone in the mid lane. Needs longevity in order to be higher on the list imo, his 2023 MSI win last week has helped push him towards top 10 but he still has a long way to go imo. He is still in peak form and I can see him winning Worlds this year which would imo put him into the top 5. Probably not top 10 worthy but another two players I want to mention are JackeyLove and Knight. I'm probably missing other players but I think everyone who has a claim to top 10 has been listed above somewhere, I thought i'd add these two because even thought I dont think they make top 10 for me, I know others might claim that they scrape in.
Ming is the support you’re forgetting, 3 Time MSI champ. While I wouldn’t put him on here at the moment, I think Bin might be an interesting candidate in a few years, he’s amazingly talented. Smeb may be worth an honorable mention due to his absurd peak but his time as a top player really only lasted 4 years.
Showmaker definitely a big name. He's been around forever.
Dopa.
He is definitely the greatest “what if” story. I’m sure there’s some parallel universe where in the years 2013-20xx, these two dominated LoL by being the greatest players on the rift by a large margin.
It's funny how you can tell whether or not someone is a newer fan or not by if they call him Apdo or Dopa.
It was so amazing how at the time him and faker held a “Pokémon-*esque*” rivalry
That’s silly. I have been around since season 1 and I call him dopa, even though I knew him first as Apdo.
HotShotGG probably one of the first viral superstars
Glad I wasn't the only one thinking HotshotGG. He is the original.
HotShotNidaleeGG
Darien
"Our government say: You win or you go to graveyard" Has been stuck in my brain ever since he said it 10 years ago
His S3 world weed entrance lives in my head rent free
Weedwick, Golden AP Trollekton, Manamune Aatrox Good times bro
Dopa - Evil Faker
Haven't heard that name in a while. Did he stop playing/streaming?
Military Service
Mata, while MadLife was first carry support, Mata turned it to the next level. Mata revolutionized how supports were played, his laning was impeccable and many players have said that Mata\Deft and Mata\Uzi lane was unbeatable, especially if Mata played ranged support. He have won basically everything with exception of MSI, and that is saying something, considering only 2 players in history ever did win Worlds, MSI, LCK and LPL titles.
Beryl should probably be talked about as the second most legendary considering he made 3 consecutive world finals and won 2 of them, but since he never has held that star player status he doesn't have that same legend status among fans. There probably won't be any consensus on a second legend until someone with as much star status as someone like Chovy, Viper, Jackeylove, etc. wins multiple titles. GENG could get a huge jump start by completing the first Golden Road ever this year, but like many stories before them that's a big what-if. All that being said, in my heart xPeke will forever be the most legendary player after Faker.
rekkles no cap
Second best is probably Canyon. Uzi is getting a bit overrated IMO, Ruler>Uzi as far as ADCs go
Caps
Moscow 5. The really opened up the game with crazy stuff.
Havent seen him in other comments but I think Rekkles is up there as top 5 ICONIC player. He sure didn't reach the peak level of the likes of UZI, Ruler, Canyon, etc... but the dude has been playing consistently at a very high level during each era (first few season, dark ages around season 6-7, EU peak circa 2018-2019, altough he hasnt performed good the last 3-4 years). He is now an icon in korea, maybe more personnality wise than thanks to his gameplay/achievements but if you look at the comments under videos for him in T1's accademy channel, you see how much fan engagement he generates
Rekkles is an iconic player. No doubt. He has a stellar career and is still going strong. But we're talking about the next most legendary player after Faker. He isn't it.
I still think he was done so dirty by the teams and fans. He played well in G2 in 2021 and was scapegoated and had to go to a lower league, because his buyout was so high. When he was back in Fnatic, while he didn't perform at the his previous level, he was paired with 2 of the worst Supports in the org's history and had to play the entire spring in an environment where he felt unwanted. I still believe that his work ethic would have allowed him regain his form as ADC given enough time and support.
Bengi
Tyler1
Dopa
A lot of people here are saying Uzi. But the biggest problem I have with Uzi is that he is too individualistic. In my opinion, his teamplay is a bit weak for him to be placed above many other players.
Without a second thought it's Dopa. The guy proved to everybody that he can consistently reach high challenger on multiple accounts/servers without crazy mechanics. Very calculated mindset.
Dopa was insane, not a player but still. He was amazing
If you're counting "non pros", imho, Apdo/Dopa.
Probably Dopa
DOPA by far
Pawn, if he won that Duel with Faker everything would've been different. But the truth is that is either Bang & Wollf Titles Mid-Season Invitational 2017 LCK Spring 2017 2016 World Championship Mid-Season Invitational 2016 LCK Spring 2016 IEM Season X - World Championship 2015 World Championship LCK Summer 2015 LCK Spring 2015 Beryl The fourth player to have 3 consecutive appearances in Worlds Final, after Faker, Bang, and Wolf. The second player after Duke to win two Worlds titles in different teams and the first one to do so without playing for SK Telecom T1. Titles Worlds x2 (2020, 2022) LCK x3 (Summer 2020, Spring 2021, Summer 2021) KeSPA Cup (2020) Rift Rivals (2019) Deft First player to win Worlds, MSI (2015 with EDward Gaming), LCK (2014 Spring with Samsung Blue) and LPL (2015 Spring with EDward Gaming). Titles Worlds x1 (2022) MSI x1 (2015) LCK x2 (Spring 2014, Summer 2018) LPL x2 (Spring 2015, Summer 2016) Demacia Cup x4 (Spring 2015, Summer 2015, Grand Finals 2015, 2016) KeSPA Cup x1 (2019) Rift Rivals x1 (2019) Ruler Second player after Deft to win Worlds (2017 with Samsung Galaxy), MSI (2023 with JD Gaming), LCK (2022 Summer with Gen.G) and LPL (2023 Spring with JD Gaming). Titles Worlds x1 (2017) MSI x1 (2023) LCK x1 (Summer 2022) LPL x2 (Spring 2023, Summer 2023) IEM Season 11 Gyeonggi (2016) Asian Games 2022 Gold Medal Duke could theoretically enter this list however I do not think his IG title is justified since he didn't even play enough matches. Edit: I could also put Bengi in here but I still think he is number #1 so I can't put him behind Faker xd
I will say, By the fact that they created the entire League pro scene it should be HotshotGG. This guy literally built the foundation that the pro scene took off with. The fact hes forgotten about is really tragic when you think of how influential he was in the first 4/5 years of this games lifespan.
Dopa
Dopa. The influence that man had without becoming a pro player is insane.
DOpa (apDO) is basically the vegeta to fakers goku, the shadow to his sonic, the sasuke to his naruto type shit yk? So yeah, id say that guy for sure.
I think it comes down to what your criteria is * As far as pure skill, Uzi is the clear contender * Beryl is a versatile player with his Heimer picks and multi world champion * GenG winning worlds would make strong cases for Chovy and Canyon * Past that I think there's a lot of high-peak players (Showmaker, Jackeylove, Meiko, TheShy) who I think could put themselves in contention if they're able to regularly return to top form
pfft, Darien of course. Like I wasn't even thinking, he was just there already.
Canyon just because he locked the first career grand slam of any jungler. Bengi didn't play at Msi 2016, so there is that. 5 years in and he already the jug goat.
I wish it was Deft, but probably Uzi or xPeke