LoL team perfectly shows why America doesn’t play a big role in Worlds

LoL team perfectly shows why America doesn't play a big role in Worlds

America has not played a major role in international tournaments in League of Legends for years. The last time an American team was in the semi-finals of the Worlds was Cloud9 2018. Now there are new rumors about the transfers from Team 100 Thieves. And they show why America is so irrelevant.

What are these rumours? 100 Thieves is reportedly planning the new season with two veterans:

Overall, the roster of 100 Thieves would be very old for a LoL esports team. They currently have jungler Closer (25), supporter Huhi (27) and top planer Ssumday (26) in their squad.

What is the problem? There has long been criticism that in America experienced players are given preference over young “rookies”. That’s what Doinb, the 2019 world champion, said in an interview. He would always see the same players, albeit in a different team’s shirt.

The new purchases of Doublelift and Bjergsen would confirm exactly that, even if these are only rumors so far. Although both are good players, they have achieved little internationally. It’s unlikely they’ll win another major title as they get older. Despite this, teams swear by them.

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Doublelift and Impact already played the first Worlds

How old are the pros in America? Doublelift tops the list in America. With his almost 30 years he belongs to the scrap heap. As early as 2011 he took part in the first world championship in LoL, back then at Dreamhack in Sweden. After all, he reached 4th place with Epik Gamer.

With Zaqueri “aphromoo” Black, Team FlyQuest probably has the oldest supporter with a professional contract. He’s 30 and has been playing competitive LoL since 2012. He made his debut Worlds appearance in 2015 with CLG.

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Another veteran is Korean Jeong “Impact” Eon-young. He won the 2013 Worlds with SK T1, Superstar Faker’s team. He then moved to America in early 2015 after a disappointing season in Korea. The 27-year-old still plays there today.

There are also some exceptional talents internationally who have been playing successfully for years, such as the aforementioned Faker (26) or the Korean BeryL (25), who won the Worlds in 2020 with DAMWON and in 2022 with DRX. But here seasoned professionals are often mixed with young talents.

DRX, for example, had rather young players in the squad with Zeka (19), Pyosik (22) and Kingen (22) and combined them with BeryL and Deft (26). That’s how they got the title.

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America relies on players from abroad: It is also noticeable that many professionals from other regions have been playing in America in recent years. Three American teams participated in Worlds 2022, with a total of 15 players:

  • The six players Inspired, Closer, Kaori, Abbedagge, Jesen and Zven came from Europe.
  • With Impact, Berserker, Ssumday and Huhi there were four Koreans.
  • With FBI and Fudge two Australians were there.
  • Only Jojopyun (Canada), Vulcan (Canada) and Blabber (USA) were actually from the region.

For comparison:

  • All 20 Korean players came from Korea.
  • 19 of the 20 players from European teams came from Europe. Only Malrang is a native of Korea.
  • 19 of the 20 players from China were also from China, only Kanavi is an import from Korea.
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The changes don’t come as a surprise, however. The former coach of G2 Esports already explained in 2019: Whoever moves to America gives up winning in exchange for more money. So if you play in the LCS, you won’t get any more international fame, but at least you’ll be paid decently for it.

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