League of Legends is one of the most popular games of all time, currently running in its 15th year-long competitive season and spinning of multiple games, a highly successful animated series, and now even a TCG. Among the greatest League players ever is Faker, a player whose username is synonymous with pulling off flashy plays and so-called “high IQ” combos. The game has long had a community-wide belief that as you get older, you become worse at the game, something that is echoed in many gaming communities. However, as Faker approaches 30 and continues to dominate the ladder, he serves as living proof against the myth about age in gaming, and possibly points towards a new direction in which League of Legends is evolving.
Many would have you believe that at a certain age, you simply cannot play video games competitively anymore. This is often attributed to an exaggerated decline of the reflexes as you get older, with many younger players pointing out that around age 25 is the last year of competitive viability in a player. This is often teased to be something akin to a rapid cellular decomposition like the kind Genesis and Angeal faced in Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core.
However, as one Reddit user pointed out in a post made to r/League of Legends, Faker is way past this supposed “prime” and still dominating LoL at its highest level.
The post points out a quote made by Faker 3 years ago, in which he said, “I don’t think age has as great as an effect on performance as before.”
“He is proving exactly that,” the post goes on to say.
While the “diminished reflexes” argument used by many to downplay the effectiveness of older players is greatly exaggerated, the user asserts that League of Legends itself may be evolving into a game in which reflex and reaction time alone aren’t so important to winning, alluding to the game becoming “like chess.”
“League of Legends is evolving into a game like chess where maturity and overall skill will eventually outdo reaction time/micro speed,” says the write-up. “I personally recently peaked at 437 LP, and I don’t think I’m done yet either. I learned lots playing against Challenger/Grandmaster [players]. As a note, I turned 26 this year.”
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Of course, Faker is not the only example of an older player still showing success at the mythical “old age” of 30. With a record five World Championships, two Mid-Season Invitationals, and ten LCK titles, all memorialized with a $400 dollar skin, Faker alone does not make a great sample size. As such, this discussion also pointed to multiple other older pro players as a reference.
“We’ve heard from a lot of pros, the older ones anyway, that age isn’t that big of a factor as people think,” added Samyouells. “It’s more down to time to give for the game. They’re getting to the age of having more adult relationships and prioritizing their time on other things rather than the game. You have a cultural difference to the work ethic in the game, too, from East and West that we’ve seen with more scrimmage times and different team environments. Also, in the end, I mean, it’s Faker. The guy is the literal GOAT, so glad to see him still smashing it.”
“I still find it hilarious that people believe 30-year-olds are too old for playing a video game at a high level when there are 40-year-olds playing professional football,” chimes in one user, summarizing the ridiculousness of the subject as a whole.
Whether or not Faker continues to play League of Legends for another decade remains to be seen. But for the time being, the LoL GOAT is proving to fans worldwide that he still has plenty left in the tank, despite being “ancient” when compared to his fellow competitors.
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