Not every good player of League of Legends becomes a professional. A rival of Faker chose a different path and was punished by Riot for it.
Who was the best SoloQ player? The Korean LoL player apdo, also known as dopa, became known in 2013 during Season 3 of League of Legends for his exceptional skills. In Season 3, he already achieved the highest rank, Challenger. As a strong player, he offered Elo boosts to rank up other players’ accounts.
He earned so much from this activity that he even declined offers from professional teams because they paid too little. In his SoloQ games, he occasionally faced what many consider the greatest LoL player of all time, Faker.
He could even keep up with Faker: Apdo played on a level with him and occasionally managed to win. During one of his last matches of Season 3 against Faker, he didn’t want to risk the superstar losing the number one ranking and took necessary measures (lol.fandom.com).
Apdo intentionally played poorly and tried to lose the game. However, Faker’s teammates did not want to feed apdo’s ego and decided to sabotage the game themselves, forcing apdo to win in the end (according to Akshon on YouTube).
An article about apdo’s history states the following regarding his abilities: “He was widely regarded by both Chinese and Korean fans as one of the two most influential players to have ever played the game. The other is Faker.” (according to lolfinity.com)
In the video you can see the trailer for Season 2 of 2025 in League of Legends:
Apdo received the longest ban in League of Legends history
How did the 1,000-year ban come about? Apdo was an Elo booster and made money from it. However, boosting other accounts is prohibited by Riot itself. He was not punished for a long time until he received a woman’s account and boosted it. The woman had hoped for a romance through contact, but apdo did not reciprocate her feelings.
As a result, the woman reported his activities to Riot in Korea, and apdo received a 1,000-year ban, which is the longest ban in LoL history (lol.fandom.com). Since there is a law in Korea that requires you to confirm your real name and age when opening a gaming account like Riot’s, apdo had to forego new accounts (elaw.klri.re.kr).
Despite the 1,000-year ban, he continued to play in China: To circumvent South Korean law and continue playing League of Legends, he traveled to China. There was a challenge that promised $81,000 to the first rank 1 player. Apdo needed less than a month for the first rank. With a win rate of 75%, he won the $81,000.
What is apdo doing today? In 2023, he began his military service in South Korea, which all conscripted men must complete by the age of 35 (seoullawgroup.com). Previously, he streamed on various Chinese platforms like yy.com or douyu.com. Whether he will return to League of Legends someday is unknown.
Even at the other end of the world, there are legendary players and personalities from the LoL scene who eventually leave the stage. After the break of journalist Travis Gafford, the star mid-laner from North America, Jensen, has retired and left a record that Faker would still need 4 years to break: LoL professional retires and leaves a record that even Faker could only break in 4 years
