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The most impressive League of Legends esports records still standing
League of Legends is one of the most played games in the world and has given us some of the most record-breaking feats in all of esports.
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The very first official League of Legends esports season took place in 2011. While this inaugural year didn’t contain the major tournaments we know and love today, it gave us a sense of the rise of Riot Games’ ultra-popular MOBA. Across the intervening years, we have seen some truly spectacular moments across numerous tournaments. Let’s look at some of the moments impressive enough to make it into the record books.
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A hard won victory
© Riot Games
01
The longest pro game: Jin Air vs SKT T1
Korean competitions are always a great source of hype for League of Legends fans, but do you remember the 2018 LCK Spring Season? Specifically, week 1 of the Spring Split? During this memorable event, we were treated to a really heated match where neither team was willing to give up. SK Telecom T1 managed to push Jin Air back to their inhibitor turrets by the 35-minute mark but failed to capitalize on this advantage. Jin Air simply refused to give up and, relying on the Elder Dragon, managed to endure wave upon wave of assaulting minions and eventually turned the tide.
Across an epic 94 minutes and 40 seconds, the lead changed hands 10 times, but eventually, Jin Air pulled themselves back from the very brink of defeat to take the victory. Ninety-four minutes of unrelenting concentration would tax the stamina for any activity. In a game that requires so much micro and macro management, one can only speculate how exhausted both sides must have felt by the end of this match.
Playing for time
© trystomatic
02
The longest ARAM: trystomatic
While ARAM (All Random All Mid) is not a competitive game genre, having your champion drawn randomly and then just throwing it at the enemy is not exactly the fundamental principle behind League of Legends. However, the ARAM match type presents a unique challenge, which has led to some competition between players dedicated to purposefully dragging matches out for as long as possible. Reddit user trystomatic details an account of how they had been trying to break the record for the longest game for months, but matches would either end in defeat or the enemy team getting bored and leaving. Eventually, they chanced upon an opponent up for the long slog, and they all managed to prolong a single match for 3 hours 58 minutes. Even then, two players on the enemy team and one from trystomatic went AFK. But they got their record - who said patience isn’t a virtue?
03
The shortest pro game: KL Hunters vs Armageddon
In League of Legends, and particularly in the pro circuit, a quick game lasts around 20 minutes, while a classic game usually lasts around 45 minutes. But at IEM Season 7 in Singapore, the infamous Armageddon made League of Legends history in the worst possible way. No trolls, no connection problems, and without even a shout, they let the KL Hunters roll over them: 19 deaths and a victory in just 11 minutes and 48 seconds. The worst part, though, is that this was not the only game in which Armageddon got washed in this tournament. EloHell also sent them to the bench in just 13 minutes.
Most kills on the pro circuit: Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok
As the professional League of Legends circuit gets older, records based on longevity will inevitably form in the collective consciousnesses of players and fans alike. With players thinking about the legacy they’ll leave behind, superlatives based on their stats will inevitably appear. One of the most coveted numbers will invariably be the most kills on the pro circuit. A few names already spring to mind when one wonders who could have this record. Like Song ‘Rookie’ Eui-Jin or Jian ‘Uzi’ Zi-Hao. But most wouldn’t be surprised to find out that the current record holder is Lee’ Faker’ Sang-hyeok, with 4,386 kills on the pro circuit to his name.
A legend among legends
© Riot Games
Most games played: Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok
It won’t come as much of a surprise that Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok also takes the prize for the most games played, he is, after all, the “Unkillable Demon King”. It's difficult to comprehend the pro circuit without Faker, such is the intrinsic worth he brings to the game. With 1,252 professional games played since his debut for SK Telecom in 2013, and not counting his All-Star appearances, he is one of the players with the longest careers we have seen in the MOBA. And better still, he’s nowhere near done yet.
Only number 10s in this team
© Riot Games
04
Most wins in a row: Flash Wolves
The Flash Wolves team may no longer exist on the competitive League of Legends circuit, but their legend will live on for decades to come. The Taiwanese team long dominated their country and scared their international opponents for many years before their banner was extinguished. During the LMS Spring 2017, they solidified their legend by winning 14 best-of-3s without losing a single game – that’s 28 consecutive victories! They could have won the entire tournament in grand slam fashion if ahq eSports Club hadn’t managed to pinch a game from them in the final. Despite that, they went on to win the tournament and cemented themselves in the history books.
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