It’s too early to be calling Keria the second-best League of Legends player of all time

In League of Legends, the GOAT conversation always starts and ends with one name. The race for #2, however, is a completely different matter.

On April 26, T1 support player Ryu “Keria” Min-seok officially extended the contract with the team until 2029, a deal that puts him on the same contract timeline as the GOAT Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. 

His influence and ability, however, have also reignited another conversation: is Keria already the second-best League of Legends player of all time behind Faker? Or does he need to prove himself even more? 

After winning a three-peat with the team, it’s clear that Keria is the best support in League history. The player himself said it would be a lie to say that the title doesn’t belong to him.

While the votes for the best support are unanimous, the community has been debating whether he should be considered the #2 behind his teammate, Faker.

“I think he has a good enough CV to be called the second-best player to ever touch the keyboard. It’s actually insane that a support player has reached this level,” said a user on Reddit.

Keria is one of the few players that has been to every world championship since joining professional play. Looking at the results, his record becomes even more impressive: one top 8 finish, one top 4, a runner-up, and three world championships, with one LCK title, one Esports World Cup title, and several runner-up finishes in the domestic league.

Traditionally speaking, the support role has always been one of the most difficult roles to evaluate in League of Legends. While you can take a look at the main stats for all the other roles, the great support players often get overlooked unless you are really able to have those highlight moments. Well, Keria built those moments himself.

Over the past years, T1 has been notoriously known for playing through its jungle-mid-support trio, and the latter has always played a key role in the team’s playmaking and execution. 

In the past two championships, Keria would always look to innovate the meta, always leading the charge with unconventional picks and making them work. In 2024, he used Bard and Pyke in crucial series, such as the Regional Finals against KT Rolster, which allowed T1 to reach Worlds, and then in the elimination matches against both Top Esports and Gen.G.

Last year, the script presented itself again when Keria used Seraphine to eliminate Anyone’s Legend and Renata Glasc in the grand final against KT Rolster. What makes these picks so striking is their inherent volatility —  high-risk, high-reward champions that demand near-perfect execution to get good value from them.

Yet, Keria makes it look easy. The guy has so many pocket picks in his arsenal, making him a constant threat to any team he plays against, especially in the era of Fearless Draft.

I think it’s safe to say that Keria is the best support in League of Legends. He recently acknowledged that title, and nobody disputed it. In fact, many respected him for what he had to say about it:

“Honestly, it would be a lie to say that title doesn’t belong to me. However, if I keep thinking like that, I might become arrogant. While I do think I am the best, I always try to leave room for the desire to keep improving,” Keria said.

The undisputed agreement that Keria is the best support brought up another debate: Is he the second-best there ever was, any role?

While Keria’s impact and accolades are strong enough, time remains one of the most important factors when evaluating where a player stands in the history of the game. Beyond Hall of Legends inductee Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao, there are several players who can still make a legitimate case for the #2 spot.  

Gen.G ADC Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk has been among the world’s best ADCs ever since he joined pro play in 2016, and Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu, Keria’s former teammate, had a decade-long legacy before winning the world championship in 2022. 

Even jungler Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu, who has been widely regarded as the best jungler in the world for much of his career, could also be part of the discussion. 

These are all players who proved themselves across different rosters, eras, and with different circumstances. Keria, for all his brilliance, hasn’t had to do that yet. 

The last point keeps coming up. Aside from his first year on DRX, Keria spent his career at T1, alongside the greatest player in the history of the game. “[I] still won’t believe it until I see him play without Faker on his team. That man is a macro god,” said another user on Reddit, hinting at the fact that Faker’s presence makes it more difficult to measure Keria’s contributions. 

Then there’s also the domestic records. While world championships carry significant importance, LCK titles matter as well, especially given that the league has been considered the most competitive in the world in recent years. Keria only has one LCK title to his name, which is in stark contrast to someone like Ruler, for example, who has collected multiple (four) domestic titles in the same time window. 

So, is Keria the second-best League of Legends of all time? Not yet. But he is probably closer than almost everyone else right now.

If we’re just considering the modern era of League of Legends, then the argument becomes much easier. No active player can match the combination of impact and consistency that he has had over the years, not even his jungle teammate Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun.

His 2029 extension proves that T1 sees him as one of the defining players of its future. But if we expand that to the entire LoL esports timeline, Keria still has some ground to cover.

On a positive note for him, the ground is shrinking, and it’s shrinking fast. Every series he plays is another brick in one of the greatest legacies. T1 doesn’t have to necessarily win that many more trophies, as long as Keria can prove his worth on the Rift. 

For now, though, it’s still too early to settle the debate.