Buzz
SofM rightfully earns the pride of the Vietnamese LoL community, while Faker remains outside the top 20 altogether.
In the realm of LoL, to this day, there are numerous players who are still relatively young in age but have been in the profession for over a decade. While many of their peers have retired and pursued individual careers, these players persist in the professional arena. Notable examples include SOAZ, Bjergsen, Faker...
Recently, an LoL fan independently compiled a list of the longest-serving players, with careers spanning the entirety of LoL's history and who are still active to this day. While there may be a few omissions, overall, the international LoL community has embraced this list.
It's apparent that almost all the names mentioned here hail from European LoL leagues. One reason could be the diversity of their lower-tier league system, spread across multiple countries... Additionally, European players often strive to prolong their professional Esports careers as much as possible. Another reason cited by the community is that initially, other regions didn't have their own servers. As everyone knows, it wasn't until 2012 that the LCK was established, and SKT T1 wasn't formed until 2013.
Furthermore, it could be that the European and North American LoL leagues don't feature as cutthroat competition, and players don't have to 'push themselves' as much over extended periods as in Korea or China. Looking at the LCK and LPL, it's widely understood that these are extremely fierce leagues. In fact, many players have had to prematurely end their careers due to injury or the inability to rise to the top teams. Uzi is a prime example listed here, but in reality, he had nearly 2 years off due to injury and illness.
SofM stands as the sole Vietnamese player to earn the honor of inclusion in this list, embarking on his career journey as far back as 2012. Specifically, SofM's contract with GameTV began in July 2012, and it wasn't until September 2012 that SofM made his debut at Glorious Arena Season 2. According to the creator of this list, SofM has been competing for over 9 years, yet it took him over 8 years to participate in his first international tournament. However, on that occasion, SofM also became the first Vietnamese player to advance to the finals of a World Championship.
Regrettably, this list lacks the presence of Faker, the 'legend of legends,' whose competitive debut came just 1 month later than the player ranked immediately above, Jankos (Faker officially debuted in February 2013, whereas Jankos did so in January 2013). Nevertheless, one thing is certain: Faker boasts the most illustrious career among those listed here, and he currently continues to battle alongside T1 in the highest-level League of Legends competition in Korea. Furthermore, Faker clinched the World Championship title in his very first professional season—a monumental achievement.
