In the world of League of Legends, there are quite a few players who are young in age but have been in the scene for over a decade. While many players of the same generation have gradually retired and pursued their own careers, these players continue to grind in the professional arena. Notable mentions include SOAZ, Bjergsen, and Faker…
Recently, a League of Legends fan compiled a list of the “veteran” players with the longest careers in League of Legends history who are still active today. This is a self-made list, and while it may be missing one or two names, it has generally been well received by the international League of Legends community.
It can be seen that almost all the names appearing in this list come from European League of Legends leagues. The first reason might be that in Europe, the lower-tier league system is more diverse, spread across many countries… Moreover, European players often strive to compete in professional Esports for as long as possible. Another reason suggested by the community is that in the early days, other regions did not have their own servers. As everyone knows, it wasn’t until 2012 that the LCK tournament was established, and SKT T1 was founded only in 2013.
Additionally, it could be that the European and American League of Legends tournaments do not have as fierce competition, and players do not need to “exert themselves” for such long periods as in Korea and China. Looking at the LCK and LPL, everyone understands that these are two extremely harsh leagues. In fact, many players have had to cut their careers short due to injuries or an inability to rise above the top teams. A typical example is Uzi, who is on the list but has actually taken nearly two years off due to injuries and health issues.
SofM is the only Vietnamese player honored to be on this list, having started his career back in 2012. Specifically, SofM’s contract with GameTV was from July 2012, and it wasn’t until September 2012 that he made his debut at Glorious Arena Season 2. According to the creator of this list, SofM has been competing for over 9 years, but he spent more than 8 years before participating in his first international tournament. However, during that time, SofM also became the first Vietnamese player to reach the finals of a World Championship.
Unfortunately, this list is missing Faker, as the “legend of legends” has competed for just one month less than the player ranked directly above him, Jankos (Faker officially debuted in February 2013 while Jankos was in January 2013). However, one thing is for sure: Faker has the most glorious career among those on this list, and he is currently still competing with T1 in the highest League of Legends tournament in Korea. Moreover, Faker achieved a World Championship title in his very first professional season – a remarkable feat.
