Hall of Legends: Faker 

I don't spend on League but for Faker, I will make an exception...

Faker is the League esport

Faker has more skins than some champions

I’ve been waiting for someone to find a voice for everything in my head about this. Of course it’s Yamato. Great take.

- "Clinching a playoff berth" in sports refers to a team securing a spot in the playoffs. This means that the team has met certain criteria, such as winning a certain number of games or finishing in a specific position in the league standings [1]. What freaks me out of it being a popularity contest is who do they pass up to put in Bjergson earlier than he should be inducted.

Faker is clearly the most deserving of these accolade. But who else should get one? Kiin, Bengi, Score, Deft, Uzi, Caps, Ambition, Canyon, Hyli, TheShy, Bjerg (Obviously not all of these as it will only 1 will be given per year)

I don’t think it will be a popularity contest. No one will bring as much hype as faker. No one ever will

Madlife,insec,smeb would be candidates for half of legends for me.

Now we want YellowStar

Faker HAD to be the first one in the list... I really hope Caps one day be a legend as well since he IS the best western player. p.s. what champion do you think Caps would choose?

Yeah I’m sorry and I’m not a big faker fan at all, but anyone that argues that anyone before faker should be in here is crazy just because he is still playing 🤣 Faker is League of legends, no matter what he does in his career from now on he is a legend.

Will be a sad day when Faker retires but world's last year was just... the perfect ending I'm so glad he did it

You bring a great point you got a player like perkz who had a crazy career achieved the highest peak a western player ever did and for the last 3-4 years had the community just shit on him and hate on him constantly does he not get his deserved spot bc he’s super hated now?

When you mentioned Sjokz it reminded me of my old favorites… I think there needs to be a spot in the Hall that honors the people who made us love LoL in the first place… People like Caster Jun, DeeMan, Rivington, Joe Miller, even Phreak

As someone who spen zero dollars on this game I will be getting that ahri skin might never play it but will have it.

Yes, Riot is gonna swim on cash thanks to Faker, but let's be fair, Faker made all his money thanks to Riot, including whatever pools he can fill with bills after these skins. He more than deserves it though. Edit: I do agree that it's going to be a popularity contest, sadly, but it's also really hard to decide what the title of "Legend" encapsulates. As an example, the first top laner that came to my mind as a legend was Khan. Why? He didn't win any international events, and his career at the highest level was relatively short. But because he changed the perspective on what top lane was as a role. He won 5 out of 6 LCK splits, while getting MVP in most of them, was by far the best (and only one, to be fair) hard carry top laner, the one that opened up the idea that top lane carries were viable and opened the gates for players like TheShy and now someone like Zeus to have the chance at shining in that role. But I know that what I think of Khan won't translate to many others because it's my view on what he did for the game and his role. So it's impossible to have an objective value on who deserves these honors

agree with 99% of what you said .. .but faker is soooo sooo special .. that he only should be inducted alone .. and next year I dont mind if they induct even whole teams like you said GMB or M5 alexich diamondprox ..alll legends in themselfs .. but there is only one faker in all esports

What an amazing video Yamato! Classy and great analysis as always. I get the point about the popularity of players, but I wonder whether a "Class of Legends" would actually dilute the importance of the Hall of Legends? Like, in WWE, they have classes of wrestlers that they induct, but after a certain number of years some people would argue that complete randoms are going in, and it has only been around for about 15 years, whereas the sport itself goes back almost 80. For LOL, I wonder whether the list of potential Hall of Legends candidates is at present actually as big as to not run out after 5-6 classes without diluting its impact. But it would be fun to get a list of 4-5 people alongside the chief inductee. I suspect RIOT would be interested in doing that after seeing how the Faker event goes.

Anyone over Bengi (The Jungle Himself) as the next Hall of legends is disrespect.

When are you doing one for Gilius

i could see multiple inductees for each event after Faker, Faker is obviously the only player deserving of a whole event for himself

Dont seemed deserved

That fact faker is gonna have 7 skins to himself is so insane

On the topic of future inductees into the "Hall of Legends", I'd honestly be fine if Faker was the only ever inductee, or at least the only inductee this decade. In terms of impact and achievements in the game, nobody matches Faker. This is speculation, but I think a lot of pros would also feel like they haven't earned the spot. I mean absolutely no disrespect to any of these players; They are, all of them, incredible at this game, but even undeniably impactful players like Uzi and Caps haven't won Worlds yet, so no matter how impactful they were, they don't have anywhere near the same achievements, and maybe this is just me, but I also don't think a player like Caps would want to be rewarded with a spot in the Hall of Legends until he was at least able to win Worlds. Even players who have come closer to Faker's achievements, I think of Canyon and Bengi for example... they are both renowned for exemplifying "the perfect jungler" when they won Worlds, but even combined, they haven't held that reputation for as long as Faker has been, as Caster Jun in the Hall of Legends trailer put it, "Mr. League of Legends". I would be perfectly okay if Faker is the only inductee for a very long time, because he is the most deserving candidate by a mile, and I think every other currently playing pro has a long way to go before a significant number of people would think their achievements, popularity, and/or significance to e-sports has come even close to Faker's over his career so far.

I wonder if Faker being introduced in the hall of legends with the end of his contract with T1 in 2025 means that we will see Faker retire in the end of 2025 in november. In my opinion he should retire, especialy due to his health issues and he has nothing else to prove, he finished the game. He should maybe continue as a coach alongside Kk0ma

Instead of one inductee with three skin (a privilege only faker deserves) in the future they will have 3 inductees in one event with each one getting a skim. For example, you could do "legends of europe" and put caps (winner of msi) rekkles (most popular eu player) and xpeke (winner of worlds)

I think it will be less about cash or popularity, BUT rather... the "influence" of that player on the scene. Faker makes senses, Caps makes senses, maybe sb like TheShy as well (fingers crossed) BUT people like Sjork, Caedrel and LS have little chances. Their influence on the game is puny and mostly limited to the West, and tbh I do not think ANYBODY deserves it besides Faker. Atleast for this decade MAYBE in 10 years Chovy/Bin/Keria can maybe be inducted BUT at the moment, ONLY Faker deserves to be in the Hall of Legends. Uzi and Bjerg are very influential players no doubts, BUT they are nowhere near as influential as Faker. Imho this is Riot's way of acknowledging Faker's contribution to the game, and he completely deserves it. Bjerg and Uzi also contributed a lot but let's be honest here it would be a DISGRACE if you dare put their names alongside Faker. It just can't happen imho he is the Messi of League of Legends, the GOAT and completely untouchable to the common LoL player. He is worshipped like a GOD in China/Korea so being in the Hall of Legends is... honestly quite predictable.

Maybe it's because i'm Western but did Xpeke, Madlife, Insec and other players like that who had huge "cultural" impact on the game because of a play they made not resonate the same way with Eastern players?

They coudnt create a hall of fame without inducting Faker as the inaugural member. He is the GOAT of league and is as synnonamous with this game as Tom brady is with American football, Michael Jordan is with basketball, and Babe Ruth is with baseball and so on.

hi yamato, do you think league viewership will decline after faker's retirement? or did they built enough branding to the point that it will still be popular after his retirement?

i think second one could be ( Deft / Xiaohu / Meiko / Ruler / Uzi )

i think they should do smaller events based on regions in addition to the big one i'd want Caps immortalized in some sort of EU hall of fame

All is perfect but man where the hell is fakers ZED SKIN

How ironic that the league player with the most skins in history, doesnt use skins 😂😂

Do you think that they may introduce more than a legend per event? So like one year they introduce kkoma and bengi, the other xpeke and madlife and so on. Obviously it would bring down the hype a little bit but at the same time as long as they are connected it would allow for more "unpopular" players to get the recognition they deserve

Next one will be Faker again. Change my mind.

If anyone deserves such a commemoration it is definitely Faker. Since 2013, the guy is playing an amazing league at the highest level in the world. 4 world championships. 2 silver medals. 2 times MSI won. Countless split wins in the league. The question is who will be next, whether this will turn into a circlejerk for LCK and LPL, or whether representatives of other regions will be so honored.

if they turn this into a popularity contest, is gonna become a meme

Kinda hope to see zed faker hall of fame skin.

Whos next?

it would be better if riot make some statue of Faker

Simple question: who is the panel that judges? Faker is an obvious example that no one can get wrong, but as you point out Yamato AFTER Faker it gets complicated. I think it's very important that there is transparency on who gets to vote, how those votes are weighted, and who makes the final decision. Because this whole enterprise REEKS of greed and moneymaking. Not to celebrate players' careers, but to give Riot ANOTHER way to make a buck off these players' excellence.

I certainly hope they include other players in some small part. 1 player a year with the amount of phenomenal talent we've had over the years would not be enough. There were so many player whom in their time were on top of the world, just very few players have had the iconography and staying power of Faker. MadLife back in the day was a house hold name for people who followed LoL esports. Would be sad to see people like him, and many others not get their flowers in some kind of way.

Underrated picks that may or may not in a future far away may be added: Xpeke, M4dlife (my goat), Maple (one of biggest players beside major 4 regions), Kkoma, Tyler1 (biggest personality content wise and redemtion), Yamato (obvious EU goat), and Max Verstappen bc hes winning everything atm

I've seen a lot of people suggesting Doublelift but does he really deserve it over Uzi/KKoma/JKL/TheShy/Sjokz/CaptainFlowers? I don't think he's top 10 let alone top 5

I think people would want JKL before Uzi idk why tho but i agree CASTER JUN NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDS TO BE THERE HES THE MF GOAT TOO

Is it even possible that any NA or EU player will be in hall of legends? Maybe Rekkles, Doublelift, 2019 G2 roster(Maybe not Perkz), And who else?. Of course we talk here whose players has biggest impact on game in these regions, but sadly we not have them this much like LPL and LCK. I'm a llitle scary that maybe first tenth players can be outside of east, and only west.

Faker is league

Faker real goat

Faker is the goat. I think first player from west who should go there is Jankos, come on, 4 worlds semifinals a lot of regional MVPs and titles. Okay Caps is there too but come on, Jankos needs to be there too Edit: forgot about AlexIch Xpeke they still are there

I collect Ahri skins, and am a huge Faker fan LOL So… i’m gonna get both the normal and prestige Ahri skin xD

Cringe

Call me EU Copium Beta, but I believe Jankos deserves the next Hall of Legends. Hear me out. He has been the face of EU LoL eSports since 2015, and I believe he is an EU Player with highest domestic and international places. He has been an extremely versatile player throughout the years, and his "aggressive EU" style was one of the main reasons why EU is competitive throughout all League eSports History. It is that Jungle aggression that broke many Eastern Teams, and his title of "First Blood King" cements that even further (just don't mention his BriarFeetSniffa title). His stage impact, the passion he has behind League and eSports as a whole all make him one of the most IMPACTFUL and SUCCESSFUL LoL eSports player in history. No, he did not win any titles except MSI 2019, but he was the glue in 90% of his career games that allowed his teams to get higher and higher in rankings. He's not as flashy as Peanut, he's not as exotic as Canyon, but he is one of the most consistent junglers in history.

Yamato will be 2nd entry next to Faker and before Deft/Ruler/Bjergsen/Rekkles etc etc

riot bout to have there biggest financial year in company history🤣, T1 worlds skins and the Faker skins and the cosmetics.

Faker is obvious along with Uzi who I imagine with come soon. I really hope we will see some of the older players get some of the limelight, such as Khan, Alex Ich, Xpeke and many others. I doubt they will make large events for many of these players, but I hope I am wrong. When you try and compare impact on the game and popularity there are so few people who even come close to Faker.

I wonder if international titles are an actual requirement. Players such as Madlife and Smeb would go out empty then which sounds absurd to me. I think Mata (joint impact with DanDy on vision gameplay in competitive League of Legends) has an exceptional shot at being next, given that he also had a long lasting career, being considered one of the if not the best support of League history so far.

My guess is for the next several years, it is gonna be 3 players inducted every year. 2 LCK/LPL players and 1 LEC/LCS player.

I hope Madlife gets inducted I understand that his peek was not as impressive as Mata for example but for the whole season 2 and part of season 3 Madlife changed how people viewed support from ward batteries to playmakers, only people who played back them know the struggle of only having a gold per minute item finished and the rest of the slots with wards and oracle elixir. As impact on the game just watch some of his highlights they are pure cinema, the plays he would do around the map where spectacular, he influenced so many people to play support and served as the base for other legends of the role.

if you wanna make bank yamato, take like 10 of his best/most impactful games. Analyse them in depth, then release them the same time as this whole event happens. Much love for the videos brother

There needs to be at least 5 per year honestly. There are wayyy too many players with big impacts to do one per year. If you did uzi next year, then caps the year after. Then you have to do probably bjerg.. But what if a player has won 3 worlds titles in that time? Just curious

Uzi/Rookie next surelym, I think it should be Deft though

Personally I think xPeke, Mata and Ambition probably need to be in the hall of legends

Let me make it clear to riot. For the next two years one needs to be Uzi and midlife or koma.Then we can start bundle players like Duke and Marin or xpeke and bengy.

I always said it doesn't feel right that Baolan or Cuvee have a skin and their name immortalized in league but Pray has not even an Ashe voiced dialogue when you hit an arrow from downtown. League legends and legendary plays have been ignored by riot for so long, this should have happened years ago

i think now they should do in bunches if they do it one at a time even if uzi is popular he no where near as popular as people deft and others just do it 4/5 people at a time and have this event 4 yrs apart we can't be naming everyone at the same time and also faker is a exception but others needs to be retired no more current players

International berths means appearances.

Insec Xpeke Madlife Rox tiger can be in there... they are legends. All M5 renewed the game in UE like hell pushing the meta foward. Most early players created and change the game more than any player today everything was to be made it was different. But if someone nowaday find a new meta or a new move he would be in it right away. Maybe if they make categories in the hall it would be easier to sort different people and not the most popular.

I would like to see them add legends from every region too, such as Caps for EU.

Next 2 should be Mata and uzi their impact on esports and the game was insane

Haters gonna hate. Especially Dom. Faker, the unkillable demon king, GOAT.

Do ya'll think that at least 1 billion people have heard of Faker?

I haven’t heard anyone talk about Ambition

Narration of things by Yamato kinda slaps

I agree that the next one should be Uzi

Janna Sjokz??

This stuff is cool, just frustrating when people let it warp their perceptions. Now even more people are going to be saying that he is the esports goat which is extremely frustrating.

honestly having 5 players per year would be ideall 1 per major region and 1 from minor region

I think second is either Bengi or Beryl. Bengi has 3 titles with Faker and coached for a good amount of time. Beryl has 2 titles on 2 different teams while having attended 3 world finals in a row.

you get it you are smart

I hope they expand it to inducting 1 player from each major region per year. It makes more sense that way as Yamato put it "esports doesn't have a long lifespan because it is a volatile industry".

Uzi is NOT a good choice as the 2nd person to be inducted. Let's be real, if you want a less biased and not "popularity-selected" hall of legends, you HAVE to look at achievements FIRST, then everything else comes second. So if we look at achievements wise, the next player SHOULD rightfully be Bengi. He has 3 world champions title, name anyone who has 3 Worlds titles other than Bengi. Yeah, no one can. Bengi has earned every right to be the 2nd person to be inducted along with Kkoma the legendary coach. Whoever comes 2nd is fine whether it is Kkoma or Bengi but I prefer Bengi because he actually played the games and carried with 3 titles. Nobody else comes close 2nd.