On April 28, 2025, Maciej “Shushei” Ratuszniak passed away. He was a member of the first world championship team in League of Legends.
Who is it about? The former “League of Legends” pro Maciej Ratuszniak, better known as Shushei, passed away on April 28, 2025, at the age of 36 due to cancer. This was announced by the deceased’s sister in a post on Facebook.
Shushei was one of the players who won the first League of Legends world championship in 2011, the Riot Season 1 Championship. He led the Fnatic team to victory in the finals with 2:1 against the also European team “against All authority” and was additionally named the MVP (most valuable player) of the tournament.
Already in 2023, Shushei ended his career as an active esports athlete but achieved first places at the Intel Extreme Masters Season V in Hannover and the Intel Extreme Masters Season VI in New York until then.
Ex-Team and Fans Pay Respect
On social media, fans and Shushei’s former successful team express their sorrow over the loss of the esports player. Fnatic writes on X:
Yesterday we lost a legend in Shushei. Shushei was part of the incredible Fnatic team that won the very first ‘League of Legends’ world championship in 2011, which established the Fnatic LoL community for many of our fans. Our thoughts are with his friends and family.
On Reddit, some fans also share their favorite memories of Shushei. One user recounts:
“My favorite memory of Shushei is one of his S3 or S4 streams after he had taken a long break, during which his placements put him somewhere in the Gold range, and he asked for Mid in champ select, to which his mid laner asked him: ‘What rank are you?’, and Shushei simply replied: World Champion.”
Another user reports: “Oh no, I remember watching his streams […] and his Gragas gameplay and the S1 finals when I had just started playing League… I was literally 14, and I remember thinking: ‘I want to be like him!!!'”
The community is definitely united: Shushei is a legend and died far too young at the age of 36.
