The Swede Martin “Rekkles” Larrson (26) has dedicated his life to the e-sport of League of Legends, has a brilliant career behind him, and is considered one of the best players Europe has ever produced. In a Twitch stream, he selected runes for Senna, talked about a possible career ending, his life, and then it came out of him.
This is Rekkles:
- The Swede began his professional career in Season 2 of LoL, 11 years ago. He has witnessed the growth of League of Legends from humble beginnings to a current e-sport titan.
- Rekkles has also grown during this time: He is now considered one of the most well-known LoL players in Europe: The 26-year-old has 600,000 followers on Twitter, more than 1 million follow him on Twitch, and his net worth is estimated at around $5 million. The man is a star at 26.
- However, things have not gone well for him in sports for several years: At 26, Rekkles is one of the oldest professionals in LoL and has had tough years. Especially last season was disastrous with his old love Fnatic.
Before the start of a match, Rekkles gets emotional
This is what he said in a Twitch stream: When Rekkles is not playing professionally, he likes to show his games in solo queue on Twitch. Most recently, he streamed on February 28 to more than 8,000 viewers.
He was on air for two and a half hours and was selecting runes for the champion Senna when he suddenly had a sentimental moment.
He reflects on last season when he played poorly and was at risk of being replaced by the younger German Upset. This, Rekkles says, would likely mean the end of his career.
At that moment, you can sense the turmoil inside him; you hear him sob. Suddenly, as the characters log in, it spills out:
“One great realization I had is that my life… well… I don’t feel like there’s much going on except – Sorry.”
Rekkles struggles with himself, holds a hand over his eyes, and then starts to cry as the game begins and he tries to compose himself. That’s quite a lot, he tells the viewers.
The viewers write in the chat: “It’s all good man” – “It’s all okay” – “We love you Rekkles” – “We’re here for you, no matter what.” – “We’re with you.”
But Rekkles has already turned away in his chair, needing a moment to collect himself.
Rekkles says he didn’t want that. He also doesn’t understand how it happened while he turns back to the game.
What happened next? Rekkles plays his match silently, defending the tower on the bot lane with Senna. When he ports back to base for items for the first time after five or six minutes, he briefly stands up from his chair and when he returns, he seems ready to continue the conversation:
“Sorry, that came up because I started talking about it. I realized that I don’t have much in my life besides playing. If that doesn’t work, it’s just tough, I believe. Especially during last season, it was hard to stay strong. But it’s okay. I can’t change anything about it now.”
The Swede then plays a good game with Senna, but his team is weaker, and they lose the match. The ADC is apparently to blame.
It is rare for LoL professionals to give such an insight into their inner lives. What goes on in Faker’s mind, only he likely knows:
He only touches on the topic one more time during the stream. He later says it hit him hard after the winter. It was a feeling of loss to see how his career could end. It feels strange or maybe not, maybe it’s just a new experience. He has tried to work on it while spending time in his home country, Sweden.
“I tried to build a life beyond the game, but I didn’t get very far.”
How quickly such a career can come to an end even for the best in LoL has been seen time and again:
One of the best LoL players of all time retires – health issues at 23
