In League of Legends, T1 has now won the World Championship twice in a row. South Korean midlaner Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang (27) predicts that extremely negative effects will come for the Chinese league LPL. 80% of Chinese professionals would be replaced by newcomers by 2025, as high salaries are no longer feasible, the big money is vanishing.
Who is Doinb? The 27-year-old is actually South Korean but has lived and played in China for so long that many now consider him Chinese. It is even said that his Korean has developed a Chinese accent. His career was actually over early, only his wife convinced him to try again.
Doinb’s great hour came in 2019 when he dominated the World Championship in LoL, at that time with his brilliant jungle partner Tian. Doinb was considered the “super carry” in the tournament and crushed G2’s dreams in the final, as he decimated Europe’s hopes in Paris and showed Caps and Perkz their limits.
However, his team FunPlusPhoenix had no more success after the World Championship victory, the team eventually fell apart in 2021. Doinb last played for a professional team in 2022 and is now a streamer.
This is how he commented on T1’s victory: Doinb commented live on T1 and Faker’s victory at the LoL Worlds 2024, calling Faker the “father of the LPL”. There is simply no chance against him.
Doinb believes: 80% of LPL players will be new in 2025
What effects does Doinb see from the victory? Doinb explained why the defeat of the Chinese top team BLG against the number 4 in South Korea is so bitter:
- The LPL has not won Worlds for 3 consecutive years now. For investors, this means that the relevance of LoL in China is declining, as they are no longer the dominant team in the world
- Investors had been waiting for the outcome of these Worlds to decide whether to send new money into the LPL
- The defeat of BLG has now changed everything
- For 2025, Doinb sees a significant salary drop in the league, many professionals would have to stop playing.
- Doinb estimates that we will see 80% new players
Doinb hints at ending his career
Is Doinb making a comeback? It doesn’t look like it. Doinb says he no longer has control over this from today. Apparently, he believes no team would pay him enough to make it worthwhile.
He now wants to host a tournament himself and is considering retiring afterwards.
Many experts see the E-sport of LoL changing by 2025. Salary cuts are expected everywhere: in the USA, in China, even in regional leagues like Germany. Only one team could be spared from the big salary massacre, namely the world champions T1: At T1, the contracts of 4 players are expiring; will the world champion team stay together in 2025?
