In the history of League of Legends, there have been numerous World Championship winners who faced questions about their true skill level when they ascended. This is because League of Legends is a team-based game, and of course, in a match, it is rare for the entire team to shine in a way where everyone stands out. There have to be players willing to shine in a “supporting” role or dedicate themselves entirely for the team’s victory but not receive the recognition they deserve. However, a recent World Championship winner has been evaluated as merely “leeching off” their teammates during their ascent to the League of Legends world championship.
Specifically, this refers to the visual of the 2023 Worlds MV – Deft. Recently, Deft and KT Rolster (which includes 2 other World Championship winners, Pyosik and BeryL) were “knocked out” of the LCK Spring 2024 playoffs in a match against Dplus KIA. In fact, DK was the “easiest” opponent that KT could hope to face, as they themselves were defeated by Kwangdong Freecs during the group stage. However, KT’s loss stemmed from a comeback, culminating in a clean fifth game without any kills against the DK players.
Witnessing the performance of the KT stars, especially the “harmless” and dull display from Deft, many viewers expressed their disappointment. On various forums, even at LCK, the player who was once considered a direct competitor with Faker for the title of G.O.A.T in the Korean League of Legends scene is now heavily criticized. Some comments were even blunt: “Deft and BeryL should have retired a long time ago. They have no motivation. Deft clung to his teammates enough at Worlds 2022, and is he planning to do that again?”
However, as mentioned, League of Legends is a team game, and each player has their own contributions. Nevertheless, perhaps Deft also needs to realize that the reality is that his golden time has passed. And his poor performances, in some way, are affecting the great career he has painstakingly built since he began his journey into the professional League of Legends scene.