Ranking The Top 10 LPL Players of All Time

The official Chinese League of Legends circuit kicked off in the spring of 2013 and they haven’t looked back since. During this decade of existence, the League of Legends Pro League has birthed some of the most polarizing and exciting players to watch, with 3 of the last 6 World Championships heading to China. In honor of their league’s tenth birthday, the LPL created a jury consisting of 322 credible members who were asked to provide their top 10 LPL players list from a pool of 115 players. Their results don’t differ much from our list so let’s take a look at each of their cases and decide who deserves to be the LPL brand ambassador. 

10. Jackeylove

Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo is one of the most popular and polarizing players on this list. He is beloved in the Chinese League of Legends community for helping Invictus Gaming win the first World Championship for the LPL at just 17 years of age. He is number 7 on the official LPL list with 143 votes but since nostalgia doesn’t play that much into our criteria he is number 10 on this list. Jackeylove is without a doubt one of the most talented bot laners to ever play this game competitively. With a 66,6% win rate in 630 games, there’s no doubt he deserves to be on this list. But apart from winning an LPL and Worlds title as a rookie at just 17, the rest of Jackeylove’s career has been filled with unmet expectations. 

He won an LPL title, the Mid Season Cup (replacement for MSI), and the Demacia Cup with Top Esports in 2020. As notable as those achievements are, they carry a big Covid-related asterisk over them. And his team’s international showings have become a meme of their own in the Chinese community. Jackeylove has done his fair share of throwing championships by going for highlight plays and every fan can only adore his courage and confidence. But the lack of domestic and international success in the last 3 years, combined with his young age, places Jackeylove tenth on our list, with plenty of room to grow as his career matures.

09. Ming 

Number 9 on our list is Shi “Ming” Sen-Ming. The legendary support for Royal Never Give Up (RNG) received the same placement on the official LPL list with 106 votes. With 3 LPL Spring titles and 3 MSI titles to his name, Ming and RNG are deservedly called Kings of Spring. With a 63,7 win rate over an absurd 790 professional games, Ming is one of the longest-tenured and most successful LPL players of all time. Over the course of his career, he has revolutionized the way support players position and engage, which is telling since his most played champion Nautilus has an absurd 66% win rate over 123 games. 

Some of those numbers are skewed since he played with prime Uzi and Xiaohu. And while some might argue support players aren’t as good as other roles, in a professional setting, supports enable the rest of the team.  Ming’s 2021 season can be used to create a textbook support guide, when he and jungler Wei made RNG the best team around objectives solely due to his game knowledge and shot calling. The lack of success on the World’s stage certainly plays a role in his positioning on this list, but there is no doubt that he deserves to be on it.

08. TheShy 

It’s hard placing my favorite player to watch at number 8, but I must be objective. Kang “TheShy” Seung-lok is one of the most well-known names in the League of Legends community, for better or for worse. He will go down in history as the top laner that brought China and the LPL their first World Championship, alongside Jackeylove and Rookie on Invictus Gaming. That is probably the only reason he is ranked number 5 on the official LPL list with 168 votes. But apart from that reign of dominance abusing the Kayle and Aatrox reworks alongside Cleptomancy Vladimir, The Shy’s closet of achievements is pretty empty. 

He won an LPL title in the spring of 2019 following their Worlds title but has failed to sniff elite competition ever since. Some might argue his peak will never be outmatched, which I can understand since I saw him solo kill the best Kled in EUW 3 times as Kayle before level 6. His 2018 run might have been the highest individual peak a League of Legends player has ever reached but without a top 3 placement in the last 3 years, I can’t put The Shy higher than number 8. 

07. DoinB

Some might not agree, but Super Carry DoinB is my seventh greatest LPL player of all time. Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang is currently inactive to focus on fatherhood, but he made his mark on the LPL as the mid laner for Fun Plus Phoenix. He was the driving force behind their 2019 World Championship run that saw G2 Esports get 3-0 in the Grand Finals. Known for his unorthodox playstyle, including his mid lane Nautilus that finished off G2, DoinB is quite the figure in the Chinese community. A colorful and bright personality which is often displayed on his streams and on stage might be part of the reason DoinB is fifth on the LPL list with 150 votes. 

But 1 LPL and 1 Worlds title aren’t enough to put him ahead of some mid laners on our list. His 2019 was spectacular, and he has promoted and improved every team he has been a part of. But outside of 2019, the only things on DoinB’s resume are the 400 cs Ryze hack and the debacle that was FPX’s 2021 Worlds run. From being the best team in China for the majority of the year despite two runner-up finishes to getting bounced in the Group Stage by Cloud9 and Perkz. 

06. Scout

Lee “Scout” Ye-chan is one of the first Korean players to make the move to the LPL and find great success. From being Faker’s substitute mid laner on SK Telecom to becoming an LPL and Edward Gaming (EDG) legend in the 7 years he competed under their banner, Scout has done it all. 3 LPL titles, a World Championship title, and MVP honors in all levels of competition. 

The only thing missing from Scout’s resume is an MSI title or showing for that matter, but I guess EDG are the complete opposite of RNG. With a 62% win rate in 860 competitive games and a prototypical mage champion pool, Scout has cemented himself as an LPL legend. He might be number 10 on the official LPL list with just 89 votes, but in our eyes, Scout has accomplished more than the IG duo below him.

05. Xiaohu

Next up on our list is Li “Xiaohu” Yuan-Hao or as the Chinese community likes to call him, The Tiger King of the Spring. He is number 5 on our list despite the official LPL voters placing him at number 8 with 129 votes. He was a part of RNG for nearly 8 years, basking in the glory while playing with Ming. Xiaohu’s resume is even more impressive, winning 5 LPL titles and 3 MSI tournaments. What makes his career even more notable is the way in which these accolades were collected. During the 2021 season, he role-swapped to top lane after playing competitively as a mid laner for 6 years. 

What’s even more impressive is how well he adjusted, becoming the best top laner in the world and being feared on his Lucian pick. Before losing to the eventual 2021 World Champions EDG in the quarter-finals, his Lucian had a 100% win rate in the 16 games it wasn’t banned. Xiaohu’s lack of success on the World’s stage is certainly hurting his stock, but being one of the best and most versatile mid-laners in LPL history over the course of 994 competitive games is enough for the fifth spot on our list.  

04. Meiko

EDG support and LPL legend Tian “Meiko” Ye is the fourth entry on our list. Since being subbed in as a 16-year-old rookie for the 2015 Demacia Cup and subsequent LPL Spring Split, Meiko has been the backbone of Edward Gaming. He had the privilege of teaming with bot laner and World Champion Deft, resulting in 2 LPL titles and winning MSI 2015 in 5 games against Faker’s SK Telecom. EDG continued their winning ways in the LPL, winning another LPL title after Deft left, but the team always came short internationally. That was the case until another Korean bot laner in Viper joined the team in 2021. With another superstar bot laner by his side and with shot-calling duties on his arm, Meiko led EDG to the top of the mountain. 

They won the 2021 LPL Summer Split and followed it up with the World Championship, beating reigning champions Damwon KIA in 5 games. With a 64% win rate in 950 competitive games, Meiko deserves to be named the greatest support player the LPL has ever produced. He is fourth on the official LPL list as well, with 177 votes. What separates Meiko from Ming is his proficiency on ranged and enchanter supports. He went from an aggressive play making support to doing all the little things that help his ADC and team win. With 9 years of competitive experience, Meiko is a legend of the game and the poster child for LPL support players.

03. Rookie

Scout and DoinB are prime examples of how Korean players can adjust and find success in the Chinese LPL. But all of them are following in the footsteps of mid laner Song “Rookie” Eui-jin. A 4-time LPL MVP, a World Champion, and an LPL legend. Rookie joined Invictus Gaming in 2014, where he spent the next 7 years of his career. During that time he made a name for himself, being labeled as “Faker Junior” due to his large champion pool and great mechanics. IG went through a lot of roster changes and poor results before The Shy and Jackeylove showed up, but Rookie always performed.

 He was always a top 5 mid laner in the world, but with an improved supporting cast, he was the best player in the world in 2018. Their peak didn’t last long but if his play on V5 in 2022 was any indication, Rookie ages like fine wine. Being ahead in CS at 15 minutes in 75% of his 880 career games on all the standard pro-play mages is proof of individual brilliance that anyone can notice. With 184 votes and third-place finish on the official LPL list, it appears that their analysts agree with us.

02. Clearlove

The top two spots on our list for top 10 LPL players of all time were always going to be a toss-up. We went with more recency bias and international branding, so jungler Ming “Clearlove” Kai is number two on our list and on the official LPL list with 188 votes. What most people underestimate about Clearlove is his impact on the region and his growth throughout his career. This man won 10 of his first 13 competitive events even before the LPL was established. 

Then he joined EDG and won 5 LPL titles although international success continued to elude him. He was the original Chinese Lee Sin player, with insane mechanics and an aggressive playstyle. He then transformed into a mastermind of the game, with methodical pathing to enable his laners. The 2015 MSI win against SKT remains the highlight of his career, although some might argue having Meiko on his roster for the majority of his EDG run helped him immensely. Regardless, Clearlove birthed and dominated League of Legends in China, creating a path and a future for one of the strongest leagues in the world.

01. Uzi

With 244 votes on the official LPL list, bot laner Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao takes the top spot on our list as well. Similarly to Clearlove, Uzi ushered in a new generation of Chinese gamers to pick up League of Legends. But more importantly, he became a global ambassador of the game, and became widely recognized as the best bot laner in the world. Every ADC before and after Jackeylove has dreamt of playing like Uzi on the biggest stage. He started competing in 2012 and was quickly recognized for his individual prowess. But he failed to generate results until he joined Xiaohu on RNG in 2016. Facing the EDG squad with Meiko, Scout, and Clearlove consistently, definitely hurt his chances of winning. Once Ming joined in 2017, they were the best team in the LPL, finishing fourth at Worlds, but an LPL title still eluded him. 

In 2018 RNG finally broke out, nabbing two LPL titles and winning the MSI. 2019 was the last year he played professionally before retiring due to shoulder and wrist issues combined with his type 2 diabetes diagnosis. He might have had a short-lived career but it was the definition of dominance. Anyone who has seen Uzi play can testify to this, even some of his advisories that compete to this day. Players from today will always be better than older players since everything evolves and improves over time, but Uzi gets the top spot for putting Chinese League of Legends on the world map long before anyone feared the LPL.