In the history of League of Legends in general and Worlds in particular, there has only been one pair of players who have won the championship 3 times at Worlds and are also one of the two duos to have defended the Worlds title, namely Bengi – Faker. The synergy between Bengi and Faker even led audiences to believe that Bengi would fight alongside Faker forever and retire at SKT T1. However, after 2016, Bengi parted ways with SKT T1 and it wasn’t until 2023 that Faker once again reached the world championship.
After the Bengi – Faker pair, there hasn’t been a jungler-mid laner duo that has shown such perfect synergy until Canyon – ShowMaker rose to the LCK and became the 2020 Worlds champions. This duo has been together since their time in the youth team, all the way to becoming global superstars. ShowMaker even expressed willingness to lower his salary or negotiate only with teams that could recruit both him and Canyon. But by the end of 2023, Canyon had transferred to Gen.G, leaving ShowMaker as the last member of Damwon Gaming 2020 still wearing the old team’s jersey.
When Canyon and ShowMaker dominated the world of League of Legends, many compared him to Bengi, and like all comparisons, this also sparked intense debate. However, now that Canyon has moved on, the answer to the question “Who is better, Canyon or Bengi?” may have finally been determined.
During his peak, Bengi’s success was always overshadowed by Faker. However, it cannot be denied that only when paired with Bengi, could Faker confidently showcase his abilities. Faker has very high skills, but like his younger counterparts, he needs someone willing to “support” him, and that was Bengi. This is also the only factor that led many to consider Bengi less prominent than Canyon.
Meanwhile, Canyon’s peak may have permanently halted after MSI 2021. Since that tournament, Canyon has struggled immensely. And if in the Semifinals of Worlds 2021, T1 hadn’t made certain mistakes, and Canyon managed to regain his form, perhaps T1 would have been the team facing Edward Gaming in the Finals. Since that final, Canyon has never experienced the atmosphere of any finals again.
In contrast, Bengi maintained peak performance for at least 4 years, especially during the 2015 – 2016 period, where his two championships serve as proof. If we consider highlight plays, Bengi may have difficulty matching Canyon. But one undeniable fact is that to maintain the highest performance and composure over a long time, Bengi was able to win 3 championships with SKT T1. Especially during that time, there was a year in 2014 when they failed and couldn’t even qualify for Worlds.
Canyon may surpass Bengi in “godly” plays or team-carrying moments. But clearly, Bengi excels in maintaining performance, skill, and composure in big matches to become a legend in the League of Legends scene.