When thinking of professional players in League of Legends, players from Korea or China likely come to mind first. However, when it comes to Western players, Germany is one of the strongest nations, having sent 12 players to World Championships. We reveal how German players are performing in LoL and which ones you should definitely know.
How does Germany stand in the international comparison? Generally, eSports in LoL is dominated by teams from China and Korea. Since Season 1, no team from the West has won the World Championship. Accordingly, players from these regions are well-known.
However, over 30 LoL professionals have also come from Germany, who have made it to either the highest American or European leagues. This makes us the European country with the most LoL professionals overall, as the Twitter user ExpressLoL vividly shows:
- In the LEC, 30 different German professionals have played so far, earning us the 2nd place in the LEC ranking. Only Korea has had more players (40).
- In the LCS, at least 7 German professionals have played (6th place among all nations in the LCS), with many overlaps, such as Abbedagge or PowerOfEvil, who both played in Europe and America. Most EU players in the LCS come from Denmark, with 12 active players here (via Twitter).
A total of 14 players from Germany have already participated in a World Championship in LoL, and two have even won: Manuel “LaMiaZeaLoT” Mildenberger and Peter “Mellisan” Meisrimel. Both competed for Team Fnatic in the first season but also retired from their professional careers in 2012 and 2013, respectively.
This puts Germany in a good position regarding participation in the Worlds. Only the countries China, Korea, USA, Canada, and Taiwan have sent more different players to the World Championships. Denmark, by the way, also has 14 different players, just like Germany.
In this article, we would like to introduce you to 5 players you should definitely know about, as they belong to the most successful players in the scene. Some of them are still active, while others have left their prime years behind.
If you want to learn more about the mentioned World Champions from Germany, you can find the appropriate article here:
Nyph
Who is this? Patrick “Nyph” Funke was born in 1990 in Kirchheim unter Teck near Stuttgart. His gaming roots were in games like Anno, The Elder Scrolls, and World of Warcraft.
He began his career as a support player in 2011 with Team GAMED.DE.
For which teams did he play? At the end of 2011, Nyph transferred from GAMED to SK Gaming. He spent 2.5 successful years there. In 2013, he moved to Alliance, which later renamed itself to Elements, and remained loyal to the team until May 2016. However, he briefly took on the coach role in 2015 before returning to his support position.
For a year, from 2016 to 2017, he served as a coach at Schalke 04. What Nyph has done since then is not known, but he seems to still be involved with the eSports team Alliance, although not anymore in the LoL department.
How successful was he? Nyph participated in the World Championships in LoL three times:
- In 2011, he achieved 6th place with Team GAMED.DE at the first World Championship.
- With SK Gaming, he finished only in 11th/12th place in 2012.
- In 2014, he once again qualified for the Worlds with Team Alliance, where they shared places 9 to 11 with SK Gaming.
However, he could not win any major title either internationally or nationally.
Broken Blade
Who is this? Sergen “Broken Blade” Çelik was born in 2000 in Turkey and holds dual citizenship. He plays the role of top laner and was the first Turkish player to compete in the LCS.
For which teams did he play? Broken Blade began his career in 2016 with Team Mysterious Monkeys. He later played for Galatasaray Esports, Dark Passage, Galakticos, and Royal Bandits, four teams from Turkey.
Broken Blade became known in 2018 through his transfer to TSM. In 2020, he returned to Europe and played a season for Schalke 04.
For the upcoming season, he is contracted with Team G2 Esports.
How successful was he? While his first season in 2019 at TSM was rather disappointing, Broken Blade won the Summer Playoffs of the LCS in 2020. This secured TSM a spot at the Worlds, where they, however, exited disappointingly with 0 wins and 6 losses in the group stage.
Amazing
Who is this? Maurice “Amazing” Stückenschneider was born in 1994 in Bocholt and was one of the longest-standing LoL professionals. His career began in August 2012 and lasted until November 2019, when he still played actively in the LCS.
He played as a jungler for various teams.
For which teams did he play? Amazing played for several teams during his career, alternating between Europe and America. He played for Copenhagen Wolves, TSM, Origen, Fnatic, Schalke 04, and 100 Thieves.
Even after ending his career, he remained loyal to LoL.
From 2019 to the end of 2021, he took on a coaching role at Misfits Gaming. Where he will go for the upcoming season is still unclear.
How successful was he? Amazing reached the Worlds twice:
- In 2014, he made it to the round of 16 with the American team SoloMid.
- In 2015, he even reached 3rd/4th place with the European team Origen.
His biggest successes outside of the Worlds were winning with Origen at the Intel Extreme Masters 10 in San Jose and the MVP title in the 4th week of the Summer Split in the LCS. However, he did not secure a significant national title in the LEC or LCS.
Upset
Who is this? Elias “Upset” Lipp is one of the current biggest German talents in LoL. He was born in 1999 and has been playing in the LEC since 2017.
For which teams did he play? Upset’s career began in 2016 with Team Mysterious Monkeys, just before Broken Blade joined the team. After several transfers to smaller teams, he landed at Schalke 04 in 2017. With the team, he achieved promotion to the LEC and remained loyal to Schalke until 2019.
After that, Upset played a season with Origen and transferred to Fnatic at the end of 2020, where he is still active.
How successful was he? In 2020, Fnatic secured second place in the Summer Playoffs 2021, and Upset had a significant part in that. This success also led to their participation in the Worlds.
However, Upset had to leave for family reasons before the first match of the Worlds, leading to some usual rumors.
PowerOfEvil
Who is this? Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage was born in 1997 in Bad Soden, Germany, and played games like Warcraft 3 and Age of Empires 2 in his childhood.
In League of Legends, he is among the strongest mid-laners in the world.
For which teams did he play? His professional career began in 2013 with Team Mistral. In 2014, he played for Unicorns of Love. After brief stops at Origen and Misfits Gaming, he moved to America in 2017.
There, he played for OpTic Gaming, CLG, FlyQuest, and TSM. He will spend the upcoming season with Team Immortals, also in the LCS.
How successful was he? PowerOfEvil participated in the Worlds in LoL twice:
- In 2017, he reached the quarterfinals at the Worlds with the European Team Misfits.
- In 2020, he narrowly exited the group stage with FlyQuest after 3 wins and 3 losses.
He also had some national successes but won no official title. With Misfits, he reached 2nd place in the Summer Split 2017, and with FlyQuest, he also only managed 2nd place in 2020.
In 2021, he achieved first place in the group stage in the Summer Split with TSM. However, in the final championship to qualify for the Worlds, he only managed to place 4th.
At this point, several other players could have been mentioned, such as Norman “Kaiser” Kaiser, the current support of MAD Lions and also a participant at the Worlds, Felix “Abbedagge” Braun, who led 100 Thieves to the Worlds this year or Peter “Yellowpete” Wüppen, who provided many exciting and entertaining matches with Team CLG EU in the early days of LoL in 2013 and was also a participant at the Worlds.
So we just ask you: Which German player is your favorite? And which LoL players do you like in general? Feel free to write it in the comments.
The YouTuber HandOfBlood has now founded a new eSports team. With Eintracht Spandau, he wants to create a team for the Prime League that aims to develop a fan culture similar to that of football clubs:
German YouTuber founds eSports team – enters directly into the highest German LoL league
