Competition is fierce among the top League of Legends (LoL) players. Every year, the best-of-the-best duke it out at the League of Legends World Championship tournament, which offers prize pools in the millions. From the list of world champions, we’ve selected three exceptional players who were integral to their team’s success at this incredibly high level. We’ll begin with the best League of Legends player ever: Faker.
LEE “FAKER” SANG-HYEOK: BEST MID LANER
Only one team in League of Legends betting history has won three world titles and that’s T1 (originally SK Telecom) from South Korea. The player behind their immense success is Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, who many consider to be the GOAT of LoL. Faker was picked up by SK Telecom in February 2013, and they built a team around him as the mid laner. That first roster also included Impact, bengi, Piglet, and PoohmanDu. The team tasted success early on, finishing third at the OLYMPUS Champions Spring 2013 and then winning the Season 3 Korea Regional Finals. Those results stamped their ticket to the World Championship later in the year.
Going into the Season 3 World Championship, T1 was the final seed coming out of Korea, but they swiftly dominated the competition, accumulating a record of 15-3 and beating Royal Club 3-0 in the finals. T1 went on to win the World Championship again in 2015 and 2016 with Faker as their mid laner. In 2017 and 2022, they were the runners-up, and in 2019 and 2021, they reached the semifinals. No other team has experienced such consistent results at the World Championship tournament, and Faker, who was renowned for his deep champion pool and mechanical prowess, was the centrepiece, earning Worlds MVP twice (2013 and 2016).
As a result of his efforts, Faker was given part ownership of the T1 company in 2020. He’ll be an asset for training future esport players whenever he decides to retire from the competition. Currently, he has earned $1,434,271 through 60 tournaments—the most of any LoL player. His typical champions include Zed, LeBlanc, Ahri, Azir, Ryze, Twisted Fate and Yasuo.
SONG “ROOKIE” EUI-JIN: SECOND-BEST MID LANER
Rookie, who was born in Korea and moved to China, is considered by many to be the second-best mid laner of all time. After impressing people with his solo queue performance, KT Rolster Arrows picked him up in 2014. Debuting at the HOT6iX Champions Spring 2014, they made it all the way to the quarterfinals, where they lost 3-1 to CJ Entus Blaze; in the group stage, they managed to beat T1—a feat in itself.
Shortly after, they competed at the HOT6iX Champions Summer where they beat Samsung Blue 3-2 in the finals to win the championship. At the end of that season, Rookie joined China-based Invictus Gaming (iG).
It wasn’t until the 2018 season that Rookie and iG had their most successful showing at the World Championship. iG finished their Group D round robin tied for first, but was seeded second due to a tiebreaker. They edged Rookie’s old team, KT Rolster, 3-2 in the quarterfinals and then went up against G2 Esports in the semifinals. They had an easier time in their semi-final matchup, which they won 3-0. In the final, iG faced Fnatic, the 2011 World Champions, and swept them 3-0, making history as the first Chinese-based team to win the World Championship.
Like Faker, Rookie has a big champion pool and excellent mechanical skills. His most iconic champions are Syndra, LeBlanc and Orianna. Rookie now plays for Top Esports and has earned $627, 901 through 30 tournaments. Without doubt one of the best League of Legends players ever.
CHO “MATA” SE-HYEONG: BEST SUPPORT
Another Korean esport player, Cho “Mata” Se-hyeong started his professional career as a support for MVP Ozone in February 2013. That spring, Mata and MVP Ozone followed the same path as T1 and qualified for the OLYMPUS Champions Spring 2013. While T1 finished third, MVP Ozone pulled a massive upset and swept CJ Entus Blaze 3-0 in the finals. T1 and MVP Ozone met soon after at the HOT6iX Champions Summer 2013, with MVP Ozone settling for third after a 3-1 loss to T1. After those performances, they qualified for the Season 3 World Championship tournament as seed No. 2 from Korea, but unfortunately for them, their run ended in the group stage, where they finished third due to a lost tiebreaker to Gambit Gaming.
MVP Ozone was acquired by Samsung White in fall of 2013 and Mata continued on the roster. They came back to the 2014 World Championship and enjoyed a hot streak that included just two dropped games that tournament. In the final, they beat Star Horn Royal Club 3-1. Mata earned MVP for his critical role in the tournament.
After the 2014 season, Mata switched over to Vici Gaming in China, along with DanDy, and experienced mixed results. Their best outcomes were two quarterfinal appearances: the first at the 2015 Demacia Cup Summer Season, and the second at the 2015 LPL Summer Playoffs. Mata has been incredibly successful with the Thresh champion, but also would use Zyra, Blitzcrank and Fiddlesticks. He is currently a coach for Royal Never Give Up and has earned roughly $533,979 from 38 tournaments.
Honorable mention goes to Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao, the top-tier bot laner from China who played with RNG for most of his pro career before briefly retiring and then returning to join Bilibili Gaming. Although he serves as a backup ADC now, you can still currently bet on Faker to continue his domination by finding his team on the League of Legends Next Events page. The LCK Spring is happening now and T1 is taking part next Wednesday.
Do you agree with our list of best League of Legends players ever? Or have we missed someone out? Let us know over on ‘X‘.