The South Korean Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang was at the height of his powers in League of Legends in 2019: With the Chinese team FunPlus Phoenix, he defeated G2 in the finals of the LoL Worlds in Paris and became world champion. Today, the 25-year-old shares his schedule from that time.
What has Doinb achieved?
- Doinb was the outstanding player at the Worlds in League of Legends in 2019. He was regarded as a “Super-Carry,” someone who could carry his team to success.
- Doinb played a wide variety of champions in the mid lane: He could totally dominate games or brilliantly set up his genius jungle partner Tian. There was simply no way to beat Doinb in 2019. The Europeans from G2 painfully learned this, as they were mercilessly defeated by him in the biggest game of their careers, the finals.
- Moreover, Doinb had a great story to tell: He had actually given up on his career. Only his wife, whom he had just married, was able to convince him to continue. The image of his wife at the sidelines, cheering for her husband, went around the world.
14.5 hours of LoL a day – only 5.5 hours of sleep
This was behind his success: In an interview, Doinb recently shared his schedule from the World Championship period. He says:
- 10:30 PM – 3:30 AM: Ranked Play
- 3:30 AM – 9 AM: Sleeping
- 9:30 AM to 1 PM: Ranked Play
- 1 PM to 2 PM: Lunch
- 2 PM to 5 PM: Scrimmages
- 5 PM to 7 PM: Dinner
- 7 PM to 10 PM: Scrimmages
Additionally, he would go to the hospital once a year for a complete check-up.
So he played 14.5 hours of only LoL a day:
- 8.5 hours a day in solo queue ranked
- 6 hours a day of training games with the whole team
How is this being discussed? The background of the discussion is that players from the two major Asian regions, South Korea and China, are much more successful in international competitions than players from Europe and the USA.
Especially North Americans are criticized by fans for having too much private life and playing too little. “They pay too much attention to their work-life balance,” some fans complain.
The legend is:
- The US pros lie on the couch after practice and munch chips
- Teams in Asia expect professionals to continue training privately after team practice sessions, grind out their hours in solo queue, try out new champions, engage further with LoL, and perhaps even stream
What is the problem with Doinb’s training method? Even Doinb’s training, with this insane time commitment, seems not to be the real deal that guarantees success, as Doinb only had this absolute peak in 2019.
In the years after that, he was strong nationally, but hardly played a role internationally in LoL.
Practically no player in LoL has managed to dominate consistently internationally since Faker in 2016. Even the best teams of one year often collapse the following year, losing players, suffering from burnout, or just not coping with a new meta.
Still, American teams keep trying with the same players, which brings them significant criticism.
So much LoL under pressure comes at a high price
Many high-profile players from Korea are now also complaining about the insane pressure that exists in the region:
- The former top laner Impact moved early to the USA, where he led a much calmer life and still earned decent money.
- Former South Korean star players like supporter Wolf suffer from physical disorders, have panic attacks.
- One of the strongest Chinese players, ADC Uzi, has wrecked his body in his early 20s.
- Another player had to measure his gaming space perfectly with a ruler before he could play.
How is this being discussed? On Twitter, many players are astonished by the work ethic that Doinb displays. Many thought it was simply not feasible to complete more than 5 training matches a day.
For Western players, this workload seems unimaginable and apparently not desirable. A Twitter user says:
If I were a pro, I would play 8 hours of LoL, sleep 8 hours, and of course, do something else for 8 hours.
How hard the life of a LoL pro can be is evident from such stories:
LoL: Pro crumbles under pressure and is criticized by a supermarket cashier – Now afraid to buy food
