The MOBA League of Legends is a tough e-sport: The international tournament MSI 2024 recently took place in China. Two teams represented Europe: The 22-year-old Oh “Noah” Hyeon-taek played as ADC for Fnatic. The young South Korean had set high expectations for the tournament in LoL, wanting to honor his idol, Ruler. However, the pressure became too much.
Who is Noah in LoL? Noah began playing competitive LoL at the age of 15 in 2017. In that year, the ADC Ruler won the World Championship with Samsung Galaxy against Faker. At that time, Noah decided to become an ADC in honor of Ruler.
Noah played for the junior team of KT Rolster in South Korea, moved to Europe in December 2022, and has been playing for Fnatic, one of the best European teams, since June 2023. With his fellow countryman Jun, he forms a South Korean bot lane duo in the LEC.
The MSI 2024 tournament was supposed to be his big breakthrough. Because he wanted to honor Ruler.
22-Year-Old Aims to Honor His Childhood Idol
How was he before the tournament? Realistically, Fnatic didn’t even have outsider chances of making a good showing in the tournament, but Noah had high hopes. Before the tournament, he said in an interview that he wanted to beat the Chinese team Top Esports and avenge his idol Ruler. Because Ruler could not qualify for MSI 2024.
Ruler, who plays for the Chinese team JD Gaming, had missed the qualification.
ADC is Self-Critical After Initial Losses: I Am the Problem
How did it go for the young ADC? Not well at all. Fnatic lost 1-2 against Top Esports. Noah had to face Jackeylove, one of the best ADCs in the world. Noah got 6 kills but died 6 times in the 3 games.
However, he was not satisfied with his performance at all: He apologized on Twitter for his performance. He said he was the problem. Now they would prepare for Gen G.
But ultimately, they lost against the South Koreans 0-3, and a 1-3 defeat against “Team Liquid” (USA) sealed Fnatic’s elimination. Gen G later even won the tournament.
Player Says: He Read Too Many Comments, Had a Panic Attack
This is what the player said after the tournament: Noah is apparently downcast from the tournament and says: He played very poorly and disappointed many people, most of all himself (via twitter).
He says he read too many comments and opinions about himself, lost faith in himself, and became so anxious that he suffered a panic attack.
The 22-year-old says he could only think about what others were saying about him.
This is how he plans to move forward: Noah says that from now until the last game of the year, he will delete all social media apps and will focus solely on himself and the people around him.
He apologizes to the fans, saying he will do his best to make them proud again.
Some Players Are Their Own Harshest Critics
What’s behind this: This is something that needs to be understood from the outside. No matter how harsh and critical fans are, some players are their own harshest critics. When self-criticism and the technical criticism from coaches is then added to also external insults – whether justified or not – it can lead to a crisis, especially among young players, where criticism achieves the exact opposite and players become blocked.
Even if Fnatic fans don’t want to hear it: The only game Fnatic could have won would have been against Team Liquid – and even then, they would have been eliminated in the next round against T1.
Both Top Esports and Gen G are effectively playing in a different league than Fnatic, who were mired in the deepest sorrow of European LoL just a few months ago.
There is no point in confronting the players with exaggerated expectations. How well Fnatic is doing today is shown by such stories: LoL: Fnatic releases heart-wrenching video as their dream of the Worlds falls apart
