The final of the LCK was held in South Korea in League of Legends. The titans of LoL faced off, Faker and Chovy. But another was crowned the most valuable player: the 25-year-old top laner Kim “Kiin” Gi-in. He has a long journey behind him.
Who is Kiin?
- Kiin started playing LoL professionally at 18, with the Afreeca Freecs, and stayed there for many years. Kiin has long been regarded as an excellent LoL player, but he was never in a really strong team until he moved to Gen G in November 2023.
- He has managed to finish in every position at the end of a LoL season except for the championship: he placed third 3 times, fourth 2 times, and even ended last in 2017.
- But now, at an age where many end their careers, he finally secured his 1st title, and what a title it is.
He had to pass him:
In the duel of the greatest stars, an eternal loser becomes a hero
How was the title win for him? Kiin won his 1st title now in one of the biggest LoL games of all time. At its peak, 2.6 million people watched the duel between the reigning world champion T1 and perhaps the currently best LoL team in the world, Gen G.
In this battle of titans, there are endless stars:
- At Gen G, “Our Lord and Savior” Chovy plays, along with the brilliant jungler Canyon and the young ADC Peyz.
- In the most famous and popular team in League of Legends, T1, play 5 world champions, whose names every LoL fan knows by heart: Zeus, Oner, Faker, Gumayusi, and Keria.
But none of them became the MVP; this honor was reserved for Kiin, who hardly anyone had on their radar.
The veteran shows the rising star Zeus his limits
In Match 1, Kiin eliminated poor Zeus (0-5-0) on Rumble (8-2-11). In the 4 other games, Kiin was able to keep the 5-year-younger Zeus, who had shone at the World Championship, completely under control.
Especially Kiin’s performance in Match 5 is praised. Here, the strong team T1 was limited to just 2 kills. Zeus played 0-4-1 on Zac.
The Monster Raid Boss Performance
In the comments on reddit it says:
- “Kiin unleashed years of pent-up frustration about being in the Afreeca prison onto Zeus.”
- “Kiin finally got his 1st championship title in the LCK after all these years. He deserves it so much, especially after Match 5.”
- “The draft of T1 was so crazy, and then Kiin delivers the biggest monster raid boss performance you can imagine.”
How did Kiin react? In an interview after the match, Kiin was asked how he felt.
The 25-year-old said he was happy but had vowed not to cry. But he felt so emotional right then.
Ultimately, he broke down in tears in front of thousands of spectators.
A spectacular thing happened in South Korea, but here in Germany, great stories about LoL are emerging too:
From Plan to Triumph – How HandOfBlood Won the Championship in LoL
