When it comes to being a fan of a game, a lot of it comes down to our favorite players, the all time greats or just your average guy who revolutionized a sport in some way. These are the players who’ve left their mark in the industry and it will stay there forever. For fans of the game, they’re seen as muses, inspiration, showcase of hard-work, talent and dedication. They are the ones who, in a way, transfer their own energy to all of us and keep us moving and progressing. I present you, in my opinion, players who’ve left the biggest mark in electronic (e)Sports. 

Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok 

It would only be right to start from the greatest of all greats, the “God” as many of his opponents would call him, the ultimate winner. Faker is always compared and named as “The Michael Jordan of eSports”, and he sure does live up to that title. He is only 20 years old, and already he is the best League of Legends player that ever touched the game. While it is impossible to compare players from one game to another, I can safely say that he is the most famous player across any video game titles.

About four years ago, just as League of Legends became the most popular pc game in the world, young, 17 years old Faker made his debut. There were rumors about this mysterious, young player who dominates everyone in the competitive ladder, but he hasn’t yet shown anything in the competitive scene, and so he comes. That game was legendary. Faker showed unmatched levels of aggressiveness, domination and outplays. The tales were true, and so the legend was born. 

Now, let’s talk achievements. League of Legends is still a pioneer game, there’s about 6 years of competitive experience to take from. But nonetheless, Faker’s achievements are still impressive. He is a 3 time World Champion in years 2013, 2015 and 2016. Every time his team competed in the World Championship, they won the title and Faker was the MVP of the tournament. A great player and teammate, he is a true leader for winning championships. 

Besides being a multiple times World Champion, Faker won many local, Korean, tournaments and All-Star tournaments where he also won the MVP awards.

He was also the first eSports player to appear on the cover of ESPN Magazine.

Just recently, Faker began streaming on popular streaming site twitch.tv, he reached 250,000 concurrent viewers, breaking all the individual streaming records. Yeah, that’s 250k people watching a guy playing video game. That number alone shows how great this guy is, given that previous record was a little above 100k viewers.

With all of that being said, Faker is a testimony of Greatness and will always remain in the history books as one of the most influential players of all time. 

Credit: lolesports.com 

Danylo “Dendi” Ishutin 

Dendi, coming from DotA scene, is one of the most liked players in the history of this scene. Dendi has always been the fans favorite, for his personality as much as for his skillset. This 27 years old youngster started his career back in 2006, and ever since, he was one of the most creative and unique players in the game. His rise to stardom began in 2010 when he joined team called NaVi and ever since that, he’s been a superstar face and leader of the team.

Without a doubt, Dendi is one of the greatest players but besides that, his unique personality, sense of humor, likeableness is truly what defines him as a player. A fan’s favorite, he continues to be a source of inspiration and a testimony on how a professional player should behave.

Let’s get back to his career, Dendi participated in 6 World Championship tournaments, also called “The Internationals” in Dota2. Being the most prestigious tournament in the game, it’s just another proof of his greatness in DotA scene. In 2011, he won the International with his team, NaVi and thus set his mark forever in the stone. There’s a great documentary called “Free to Play” which features Dendi and his life story and if you ever happen to wish to know more about him, definitely have a look at it.   

We need more professional sportsman as humble, kind, creative and skilled as Dendi, it’s a thing of beauty to witness players like him. 

Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund

One of the giants in Counter-Strike scene, GeT_RiGhT is the guy that stands out from the crowd as the most iconic player in modern Counter-Strike. He started his career back in 2007 and was a part of biggest teams when it comes to eSports, playing for names like Fnatic, SK Gaming and currently, NiP. If i were to describe Christopher with one word, it would be consistency. When you have player like this, who is consistently considered as one of the top players for past 10 years, that’s when you know you’re talking of greatness.

An incredibly skilled player, but, more importantly, a clutch master. He would show incredible performances in the moments where it looked near impossible to come out ahead, leaving spectators in disbelief that it was even possible to pull such plays off. He was always considered as the most important player in teams that he played for, always being the leader and player who seals the deals. 

He won up to 20 international tournaments which is incredibly impressive feat but his most prestigious one, icing on the cake, is winning a major championship back in 2014 in perhaps one of the most competitive eras of the game. GeT_RiGhT continues to dominate and lead his team to victory and there’s no signs of stopping yet, it will be interesting to see how far does he make it and how big of a mark will he leave in the game. 

Titans of Starcraft 

It would be pretty unfair to leave out on one of the iconic genres in e-games, Starcraft is a strategy / unit-controlling Sci-Fi game and it features many amazing individual players.

Starcraft’s most famous, BoxeR, Flash, Jaedong, MVP, Korean titans when it comes to competitive video games, are few of the greatest individual players when it comes to electronic sports. Although the game lacks team concept, it is nontheless one of the most competitive ones out there. You could compare it to the likes of Tennis or Golf, and these four players left their marks forever in the Starcraft world, participating in one of the most iconic eSport narratives of all time. 

To conclude, players are the ones we watch the games for, and it is truly unique to see these amazing individuals showcase their talent, hard work, dedication and persistence throughout their careers. As always, i’ve had fun drawing creative and competitive energy from my favorite players, and it will always be a divine thing for me to witness greatness in any kind of competitive scene. And that’s what i wish for all of you, draw inspiration from your favorite sportsmen, businessmen or whatever it is that you’re about and make sure you leave your mark on the world!