Testimonals are a common marketing tool and have many faces. Some are experts, some are satisfied customers and others are your buddy’s’ best friend. The most famous technique for testimonials in advertising is the use of celebrities because they bring instant interest and recognition. Regarding eSports, the question is: Who are the influencers – and thus potential testimonials – and how much coverage do they bring along?
In order to answer this question, we will publish a series of articles called ‘Testimonials and influencers in eSports’ this week, which will list the most famous eSports players in League of Legends (LoL), Defense of the Ancients 2 (Dota2) and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) including their (potential) reach on facebook (page likes), twitter (followers) and twitch.tv (followers and total channel views).
To break the first ground we have a look at the currently biggest eSports game in terms of playerbase: League of Legends. You can find the results below.
You can find the results below.
Top 100 League of Legends player rankings of the best players by prize money won overall. All LoL professional players. LoL players rating, statistics and current teams.
Note: The following data only takes professional League of Legends players into account, who are participating at the League of Legends Championship Series 2016 (LCS) and its equivalents in South Korea, China, South East Asia and Brazil. By looking at the data, please be aware of the fact that services like facebook, twitter or twitch.tv are not used by all professional players. Especially players from Asia use asia-based services.
Player | Country | Club/Team | Likes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Lee Sang-hyeok (Faker) | South Korea | SK Telecom T1 | 806,000 |
2. | Felipe Gooncalves (brTT) | Brazil | paiN Gaming | 507,000 |
3. | Gabriel Santos (Kami) | Brazil | paiN Gaming | 504,000 |
4. | Enrique Cedeño Martínez (xPeke) | Spain | Origen | 415,000 |
5. | Zachary Scuderi (Sneaky) | United States | Cloud9 | 376,000 |
6. | Martin Larsson (Rekkles) | Sweden | fnatic | 364,000 |
7. | Søren Bjerg (Bjergsen) | Denmark | Team SoloMid | 296,000 |
8. | Yiliang Peng (Doublelift) | United States | Team SoloMid | 238,000 |
9. | Alexey Ichetovkin (Alex Ich) | Russia | Renegades | 217,000 |
10. | Tường Vũ Nguyễn (QTV) | Vietnam | Boba Marines | 213,000 |
11. | Liu Shu-Wei (Westdoor) | Taiwan | ahq e-Sports Club | 210,000 |
12. | Bora Kim (Yell0wStaR) | France | Team SoloMid | 210,000 |
13. | Jason Tran (WildTurtle) | Canada | Immortals | 181,000 |
14. | Henrik Hansen (Froggen) | Denmark | Echo Fox | 172,000 |
15. | Felipe Noronha (Yoda) | Brazil | CNB e-Sports Club | 123,000 |
16. | Paul Boyer (sOAZ) | France | Origen | 116,000 |
17. | Gustavo Alves (Minerva) | Brazil | KaBuM! e-Sports | 113,000 |
18. | Hai Du Lam (Hai) | United States | Cloud9 | 106,000 |
19. | Park Tae Jin (Winged) | South Korea | Jin Air Green Wings | 99,000 |
20. | Heo Seung-hoon (Huni) | South Korea | Immortals | 86,000 |
- League of Legends summoner search, champion stats, rankings. Lookup LoL summoners match history, statistics, live spectate, rank, runes and mastery.
- This is a list of the latest notable player transfers. Since the sources for these transfers are often second hand, it is not always possible to get the exact dates. If they are not available, the time a switch has been announced or the time it first has been publicly discussed can be used instead. When no specific date is known, only months and years are shown.
[notification type=”notification_info” ]Bonus: You can download the Excel file with all data here.[/notification]
Player | Country | Club/Team | Followers | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Søren Bjerg (Bjergsen) | Denmark | Team SoloMid | 604,000 |
2. | Enrique Martínez (xPeke) | Spain | Origen | 596,000 |
3. | Yiliang (Peter) Peng (Doublelift) | United States | Team SoloMid | 393,000 |
4. | Jason Tran (WildTurtle) | Canada | Immortals | 376,000 |
5. | Hai Du Lam (Hai) | United States | Cloud9 | 297,000 |
6. | Henrik Hansen (Froggen) | Denmark | Echo Fox | 270,000 |
7. | Martin Larsson (Rekkles) | Sweden | fnatic | 258,000 |
8. | Bora Kim (Yell0wStaR) | France | Team SoloMid | 256,000 |
9. | Zachary Scuderi (Sneaky) | United States | Cloud9 | 244,000 |
10. | Felipe Gooncalves (brTT) | Brazil | paiN Gaming | 196,000 |
11. | Zaqueri Black (Aphromoo) | United States | CLG | 184,000 |
12. | Paul Boyer (sOAZ) | France | Origen | 181,000 |
13. | Alexey Ichetovkin (Alex Ich) | Russia | Renegades | 166,000 |
14. | An Le (Balls) | United States | Cloud9 | 160,000 |
15. | Gabriel Santos (Kami) | Brazil | paiN Gaming | 157,000 |
16. | Darshan Upadhyaha (Darshan) | United States | CLG | 144,000 |
17. | Maurice Stückenschneider (Amazing) | Germany | Origen | 132,000 |
18. | Eugene Justice Park (Pobelter) | United States | Immortals | 121,000 |
19. | Fabian Diepstraten (Febiven) | Netherlands | fnatic | 104,000 |
20. | Alberto Rengifo (Crumbzz) | Venezuela | Renegades | 103,000 |
[notification type=”notification_info” ]Bonus: You can download the Excel file with all data here.[/notification]
Player | Country | Club/Team | Followers | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Søren Bjerg (Bjergsen) | Denmark | Team SoloMid | 1,017,000 |
2. | Yiliang (Peter) Peng (Doublelift) | United States | Team SoloMid | 681,000 |
3. | Zachary Scuderi (Sneaky) | United States | Cloud9 | 564,000 |
4. | Jason Tran (WildTurtle) | Canada | Immortals | 538,000 |
5. | Henrik Hansen (Froggen) | Denmark | Echo Fox | 526,000 |
6. | Zaqueri Black (Aphromoo) | United States | Counter Logic Gaming | 433,000 |
7. | Martin Larsson (Rekkles) | Sweden | fnatic | 320,000 |
8. | Chae Gwang-jin (Piglet) | South Korea | Team Liquid | 284,000 |
9. | Hai Du Lam (Hai) | United States | Cloud9 | 273,000 |
10. | Alexey Ichetovkin (Alex Ich) | Russia | Renegades | 252,000 |
11. | Enrique Cedeño Martínez (xPeke) | Spain | Origen | 235,000 |
12. | Eugene Justice Park (Pobelter) | United States | Immortals | 223,000 |
13. | Felipe Noronha (Yoda) | Brazil | CNB e-Sports Club | 198,000 |
14. | Darshan Upadhyaha (Darshan) | United States | Counter Logic Gaming | 170,000 |
15. | Liu Shu-Wei (Westdoor) | Taiwan | ahq e-Sports Club | 163,000 |
16. | Gabriel Santos (Kami) | Brazil | paiN Gaming | 146,000 |
17. | Fabian Diepstraten (Febiven) | Netherlands | fnatic | 123,000 |
18. | Heo Seung-hoon (Huni) | South Korea | Immortals | 100,000 |
19. | Nicolaj Jensen Jensen (Incarnati0n) | Denmark | Cloud9 | 98,000 |
20. | Lee Sang-hyeok (Faker) | South Korea | SK Telecom T1 | 95,000 azubu.tv |
[notification type=”notification_info” ]Bonus: You can download the Excel file with all data here.[/notification]
Player | Country | Club/Team | Total channel views | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Søren Bjerg (Bjergsen) | Denmark | Team SoloMid | 67,963,000 |
2. | Henrik Hansen (Froggen) | Denmark | Echo Fox | 55,019,000 |
3. | Zaqueri Black (Aphromoo) | United States | Counter Logic Gaming | 52,718,000 |
4. | Jason Tran (WildTurtle) | Canada | Immortals | 40,812,000 |
5. | Enrique Cedeño Martínez (xPeke) | Spain | Origen | 28,154,000 |
6. | Yiliang Peng (Doublelift) | United States | Team SoloMid | 25,831,000 |
7. | Zachary Scuderi (Sneaky) | United States | Cloud9 | 24,502,000 |
8. | Alexey Ichetovkin (Alex Ich) | Russia | Renegades | 23,626,000 |
9. | Liu Shu-Wei (Westdoor) | Taiwan | ahq e-Sports Club | 18,951,000 |
10. | Hai Du Lam (Hai) | United States | Cloud9 | 16,008,000 |
11. | Lee Sang-hyeok (Faker) | South Korea | SK Telecom T1 | 14,794,000 azubu.tv |
12. | Gabriel Santos (Kami) | Brazil | paiN Gaming | 14,104,000 |
13. | Kang Chia-Wei (Albis) | Taiwan | ahq e-Sports Club | 12,419,000 |
14. | Martin Larsson (Rekkles) | Sweden | fnatic | 11,573,000 |
15. | Felipe Noronha (Yoda) | Brazil | CNB e-Sports Club | 11,555,000 |
16. | Eugene Justice Park (Pobelter) | United States | Immortals | 10,663,000 |
17. | Chae Gwang-jin (Piglet) | South Korea | Team Liquid | 9,508,000 |
18. | Tường Vũ Nguyễn (QTV) | Vietnam | Boba Marines | 8,954,000 talk.tv |
19. | Alberto Rengifo (Crumbzz) | Venezuela | Renegades | 8,291,000 |
20. | Darshan Upadhyaha Darshan | United States | Counter Logic Gaming | 6,482,000 |
Lol Players Are Not Ready
[notification type=”notification_info” ]Bonus: You can download the Excel file with all data here.[/notification]
Player | Likes | Followers | Followers | Total channel views | EMB Rating* | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Søren Bjerg (Bjergsen) | 296,000 | 604,000 | 1,017,000 | 67,963,000 | 6.988 |
2. | Henrik Hansen (Froggen) | 172,000 | 270,000 | 526,000 | 55,019,000 | 5.599 |
3. | Zaqueri Black (Aphromoo) | 78,000 | 184,000 | 433,000 | 52,718,000 | 5.344 |
4. | Jason Tran (WildTurtle) | 181,000 | 376,000 | 538,000 | 40,812,000 | 4.191 |
5. | Enrique Martínez (xPeke) | 415,000 | 596,000 | 235,000 | 28,154,000 | 2.940 |
6. | Yiliang Peng (Doublelift) | 238,000 | 393,000 | 681,000 | 25,831,000 | 2.714 |
7. | Zachary Scuderi (Sneaky) | 376,000 | 244,000 | 564,000 | 24,502,000 | 2.569 |
8. | Alexey Ichetovkin (Alex Ich) | 217,000 | 166,000 | 252,000 | 23,626,000 | 2.426 |
9. | Liu Shu-Wei (Westdoor) | 210,000 | - | 163,000 | 18,951,000 | 1.932 |
10. | Hai Du Lam (Hai) | 106,000 | 297,000 | 273,000 | 16,008,000 | 1.668 |
11. | Lee Sang-hyeok (Faker) | 806,000 | 74,500 | 95,000 | 14,794,000 | 1.577 |
12. | Gabriel Santos (Kami) | 504,000 | 157,000 | 146,000 | 14,104,000 | 1.491 |
13. | Kang Chia-Wei (Albis) | 46,000 | - | 71,000 | 12,419,000 | 1.254 |
14. | Martin Larsson (Rekkles) | 364,000 | 258,000 | 320,000 | 11,573,000 | 1.252 |
15. | Felipe Noronha (Yoda) | 123,000 | 78,300 | 198,000 | 11,555,000 | 1,195 |
16. | Eugene Justice Park (Pobelter) | 11,000 | 121,000 | 223,000 | 10.663,000 | 1.102 |
17. | Chae Gwang-jin (Piglet) | 31,000 | 102,000 | 284,000 | 9,508,000 | 0.993 |
18. | Tường Vũ Nguyễn (QTV) | 213,000 | - | 800 | 8,954,000 | 0.917 |
19. | Alberto Rengifo (Crumbzz) | 9,000 | 103,000 | 80,000 | 8,291,000 | 0.848 |
20. | Darshan U. (Darshan) | - | 144,000 | 170,000 | 6,482,000 | 0.680 |
Lol Players Salary
* The eSports Marketing Blog rating (EMB rating) is a figure which is calculated by adding the cumulative amount of facebook-likes, twitter-and twitch.tv-channel-followers as well as the total amount of channel views of a certain player. This sum is divided by ten million. Although the figure does not give information about engagement, activity or other related data, it can be considered as an indicator regarding the popularity of a player. The rating only takes professional League of Legends players into account, who are participating at the League of Legends Championship Series 2016 (LCS) and its equivalents in South Korea, China, South East Asia and Brazil. By looking at the data, please be aware of the fact that services like facebook, twitter or twitch.tv are not used by all professional players. Especially players from Asia use asia-based services.
[notification type=”notification_info” ]Bonus: You can download the Excel file with all data here.[/notification]
Tomorrow we will release the statistics regarding the most famous professional players in Defense of the Ancients 2 (Dota2). Stay tuned!
Testimonials and influencers in eSports – series of articles:
- 19.01.2015: The most famous professional players in League of Legends (LoL)
- 20.01.2015: The most famous professional players in Defense of the Ancients (Dota2)
- 20.01.2015: The most famous professional players in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO)
- 21.01.2015: The most famous professional players in LoL, Dota2 and CS:GO (by comparison)
// Image source: eslgaming.com / Photographer: Helena Kristiannson
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According to a report conducted by ESPN, the average age of esports players is significantly younger than players in all other major traditional sports. From ESPN’s sampling, League of Legends has the youngest average out of the other games sampled at only 21.2 years. In fact, many professional LOL players retire before they hit 25 years old. Everyone on this list is or will be older than 25 and is still actively competing – with the exception of one player who is currently coaching but retired at 27. As of the time of this writing, none of the active players have announced plans to retire anytime soon. Some of them may event choose to continue their professional League of Legends career into their 30s.
7. Solo (May 26, 1993 – Present)
Current Age: 24 – will be turning 25 in May
Real Name: Colin Earnest
Country of Origin: USA
Current Team/Role: Clutch Gaming/Top
Real Name: Colin Earnest
Country of Origin: USA
Current Team/Role: Clutch Gaming/Top
photo source: Leaguepedia via Riot Games
Solo (Colin Earnest), previously known as TheSoloKing, has only been playing League of Legends professionally for a few years, but is already approaching the average age of retirement for a pro gamer. He started his career in 2014 when he joined Zenith eSports after one of the team’s founding members left. Solo left Zenith after Cloud9 formed a new sister team called Cloud9 Tempest and asked Solo to join.
The team had qualified for the 2015 season, but it was later found out that they had used a ringer (a better player falsely playing under someone else’s name) and were disqualified. Solo and his teammates were temporarily suspended from playing in all Riot-sponsored LOL competition until the 2015 Summer Split. He continued to play for Cloud9 until the end of 2015 and has since played for Ember, Echo Fox, TL Academy, Team Liquid, Gold Coin United, and Clutch Gaming.
6. Hai (September 20, 1992 – Present)
Current Age: 25 – will be turning 26 in September
Real Name: Hai Du Lam
Country of Origin: USA
Current Team/Role: Golden Guardians/Mid
Real Name: Hai Du Lam
Country of Origin: USA
Current Team/Role: Golden Guardians/Mid
photo source: Leaguepedia via Riot Games
Hai Du Lam grew up playing video games and during high school, he was an active member of the Counter Strike community and enjoyed playing Warcraft III. Lam started college in 2012 and became a prominent member of his school’s League of Legends club. As he continued to play LOL, Hai climbed to the No. 5 spot on the Solo Queue ladder and gained a huge following. He used his popularity to form his own team called nFear Gaming. The team’s entire roster was immediately acquired by Orbit Gaming.
Hai currently plays mid laner but has played as support and sometimes jungler in the past. For most of his professional career, Hai has played on team Cloud9. He also played for Orbit Gaming, Quantic Gaming, Team Curse, FlyQuest, and Golden Guardians (current team). Hai very briefly retired during the 2015 season due to wrist injuries and the fact that his support carry playstyle was not viable anymore. He stayed with Cloud9 in an administrative position, but rejoined the team as an active player five weeks into the 2015 Summer Split season.
5. aphromoo (September 8, 1992 – Present)
Current Age: 25 – will be turning 26 in September
Real Name: Zaqueri Black
Country of Origin: USA
Current Team/Role: 100 Thieves/Support
Real Name: Zaqueri Black
Country of Origin: USA
Current Team/Role: 100 Thieves/Support
photo source: Leaguepedia via Riot Games
Aphromoo (Zaqueri Black) is another professional League of Legends player who is on the cusp of being considered “old” in the gaming community. He started playing LOL in 2011 and reached rank one on the North American server on November 3, 2012 playing the character Draven. Aphromoo started gaining recognition when he joined v8 eSports and became a popular streamer.
Around this time aphromoo started playing support and became famous for his Leona play. Many people credit aphromoo with helping support become a more popular role to play. Since starting his professional LOL career, aphromoo has played for teams such as v8 eSports, Epik Gamer, Team SoloMid Evo, mTw North America, Monomaniac Ferus, Team FeaR, CLG, and Team Curse. He joined the newly formed 100 Thieves at the end of 2017.
4. Flame (August 13, 1992 – Present)
Current Age: 25 – will be turning 26 in August
Real Name: Lee Ho-jong
Country of Origin: South Korea
Current Team/Role: FlyQuest/Top
Real Name: Lee Ho-jong
Country of Origin: South Korea
Current Team/Role: FlyQuest/Top
photo source: Leaguepedia via Riot Games
Flame (Lee Ho-jong) is one of a few players who is right around the average age of retirement for a pro League of Legends player, but shows no signs of retiring anytime soon. Ho-jong started playing League of Legends in 2012 and was quickly picked up by a professional after being scouted. He passed a test in Seoul and started playing for Azubu Blaze as the team’s top laner.
Ho-jong played has gone on to become one of the best pro LOL players in the world. He is often called the “Pilot” because he is good enough to carry his team to victory. Flame’s skills as a top laner are so proficient, that the phrase “Flame Horizon” refers to the situation where one team’s top laner has a CS advantage of more than 100 over his opponent. Additionally, Flame has a large female fan base because of both his status as one of the best top laners and his good looks.
3. Xmithie (May 10, 1991 – Present)
Current Age: 26 – will be turning 27 in May
Real Name: Jake Puchero
Country of Origin: born in the Philippines but lives in USA
Current Team/Role: Team Liquid/Jungler
Real Name: Jake Puchero
Country of Origin: born in the Philippines but lives in USA
Current Team/Role: Team Liquid/Jungler
photo source: Leaguepedia via Riot Games
Xmithie (Jake Puchero) is the second oldest active League of Legends player. Puchero was born in the Philippines and immigrated with his family to the United States when he was 16. He had always played video games and decided to start playing League of Legends in 2011. Once he started playing ranked games, Puchero quickly climbed up to the higher levels and caught the attention of professional teams in 2012.
Since then, Puchero has played every season on various teams including mTw North America, Monomaniac Ferus, Team FeaR, Team Vulcan, XDG Gaming, Wazabi Gaming, compLexity Black, CLG, and Immortals. He joined his current team, Team Liquid, in November 2017 and plays as a jungler. Although Puchero has had a long career, he was temporarily banned in March 2013 for ELO (a hidden rating system in ranked games) boosting along with other pro players such as Rhux, Nyjacky, Meteos, DontMashMe, Aphromo, and Chupper.
2. Heart (December 13, 1988 – Present)
Current Age: 29 – will be turning 30 in December (retired when he was 27)
Real Name: Lee Gwan-hyung
Country of Origin: South Korea
Current Team/Role: Royal Never Give Up/Coach (previously played as Support and Jungler)
Real Name: Lee Gwan-hyung
Country of Origin: South Korea
Current Team/Role: Royal Never Give Up/Coach (previously played as Support and Jungler)
photo source: Leaguepedia via Game Riot
Although Heart (Lee Gwan-hyung) is no longer an active player, he played his last professional League of Legends game when he was 27 years old, making him one of the oldest pros ever. He retired at the end of the 2015 season and became a coach for LGD Gaming. Heart left LGD Gaming in early 2017 and now coaches for Royal Never Give Up.
Gwan-hyung started his League of Legends Career under the nickname Nyang in early 2012. He was the Jungler for a now-defunct team called RoMG, which had managed to qualify for Azubu The Champions Summer 2012. Heart played for next few years on several different teams including GSG, MVP Blue, Samsung Blue, Vici Stand Gaming, Vici Potential Gaming, and Unlimited Potential.
1. LemonNation (June 15, 1989 – Present)
Current Age: 28 – will be turning 29 in June
Real Name: Daerek Hart
Country of Origin: USA
Current Team/Role: OpTic Gaming/Support Sky wifi speed test.
Real Name: Daerek Hart
Country of Origin: USA
Current Team/Role: OpTic Gaming/Support Sky wifi speed test.
photo source: Leaguepedia via Riot Games Lol test server.
LemonNation (Daerek Hart) is currently the oldest League of Legends player with a verified birthday. He is best-known for being a support player on the Cloud9 team. Hart’s professional League career began in 2012 when he was invited to join the short-lived team HOODSTOMPGRAVESGG, which consisted of Hoodstomp, LiNk, YoDa, and Vech. The team was initially picked up by the Orbit Gaming organization and then acquired by Quantic Gaming in late 2012. The players did not stay with Quantic long and left to form Team NomNom, which eventually became Cloud9.
Hart retired from actively playing in 2016 and became Cloud9’s coach. However, LemonNation came out of retirement the following year when Cloud9 was purchased and rebranded as FlyQuest. Hart resumed his role as support, but joined the newly formed OpTic Gaming in early 2018.