Trash talking has been an entertaining part of any sports culture including esports. Unlike traditional sports, LoL trash talk has primarily been done over the internet or in interviews but seldom done face-to-face against the actual opponent. This might seem weak or soft-core but the interaction between players can be really bloody. The best part is when the trash talk ends up backfiring, creating an everlasting meme that fans from both sides will have burned deep in their memory.
The Kings of LoL Trash Talk
There have been a lot of trash talkers in the League of Legends esports scene but only a handful have really withstood the test of time. We all know an esports player who is known for his LoL trash-talking that we can still remember even today. This is why we’re ranking the best LoL Trash Talkers in LoL Esports History so that we can remember or discover the most epic lines ever come out of a pro-player’s mouth… or keyboard. We’re crowning the King of Trash Talk!
Finally, this seems like a top 10 list where the west will dominate the east. Of course, there are a ton of people known for trash-talking but we’ll be adding some limitations to the criteria on ranking people. First of all, we’ll only include professional LoL players who were prominent LoL trash talkers during their active days so we can’t add G2’s Carlos even though he’d win hands down. Next, we’ll only be adding players from the 4 Major Regions since they most likely have the biggest fanbases and are better renowned internationally.
10. Tian
A lot of western fans might not know this but Tian is known in China as the biggest LoL trash talker in history. In the FPX roster, Doinb seems like the most vocal member but when it comes to his personality in both streaming and domestic interviews, he’s the one that talks the most smack in the region. Of course, eastern trash talking isn’t really as heavy as the west, and most of the time, they are given pre-made scripts on their trailers.
- Most Quotable Line: “I want G2 to win against T1 so that when we beat them in the finals, the crowd will be silent” – FPX Tian, when asked if he wants G2 or T1 to win at the Worlds 2019 Semifinals [rephrased].
The best moment of Tian is during Worlds 2019 when Sjokz asked who he wants to win between T1 and G2 in the semifinals. In front of a European crowd, he answered that he wants G2 to win so that he’ll be able to hear their silence once they beat them in the championships. Sure enough, everything he said came to be fulfilled with the most satisfying moment when the enemy’s CEO would come up on stage to cry. Definitely one of the best trash talk moments in LoL history that had a happy ending… for non-EU fans, at least.
9. PawN
PawN was one of the best mid laners during 2015 when he was a part of the EDG superteam that shook the entire world as they won MSI 2015 and were the favorites going into Worlds. Such a level of dominance probably got into PawN’s head too much when and the fact that he won Worlds 2014 probably made his ego balloon too much that he became such a huge yet lovable egomaniac.
- Most Quotable Line: “I only need to use 70-80% of what I have to beat Faker” -PawN after beating Faker in the MSI 2015 tournament.
For some reason, a lot of mid laners want to prove that they are better than Faker. With all of the popularity that the SKT legend has acquired during his career, it’s only natural that people want to beat him. While PawN successfully did so 2 tournaments in a row, this would ultimately come back to bite him back when Faker would smack EDG in the Worlds 2015 Group Stage, immortalizing the line to whenever PawN would lose against Faker in any tournament with the fans stating that Faker only used 70-80% of his power to beat PawN.
8. CoreJJ
CoreJJ is a Korean support player with the spicy personality of a western player. Being Doublelift’s support player for a year probably rubbed off some of that LoL trash talk magic on him as he instantly became the biggest trash talker on Twitter ever since DL became a little less aggressive on sharing his opinions. For an established World Champion, anything he says and anyone he insults is justified by a stack of trophies that no other LCS player has ever achieved in their career.
- Most Quotable Line: “TSM will get some much-needed practice when they get to the Play-ins stage” –CoreJJ’s statement before their lower bracket match at the LCS 2020 Summer Championships.
Even though TSM would eventually beat Team Liquid 3-2 in their match at LCS 2020 Summer Championships, he was probably right since TSM showed an embarrassing show at Worlds. Team Liquid’s CoreJJ continues to be the biggest trash talker in the modern day but he has a long ways to go before he manages to stand with the legends of trash talking. A lot of people speculate that CoreJJ has a social media manager but we’re sure that all of his tweets come from him regardless.
7. Jensen
Jensen is man with a tragic tale. As a fellow Danish player that’s always being compared to Jensen, there’s very little choice but to create one’s own identity. In Jensen’s case, he was a trash talk master that would constantly attack fellow mid laners even Bjergsen. While Jensen would lose against Bjergsen domestically, Jensen would always have a better performance when it came to the international scene so he had a lot to be proud of as a player.
- Most Quotable Line: “cant wait to clap faker :D” -Jensen’s tweet, Worlds 2016.
Unfortunately for the overeager Jensen, there’s a reason Faker is called “The Unkillable Demon King“. This event would forever humble Jensen and even though it’s a joke, the fans would bring it up whenever he would face off against SKT. Nowadays, Jensen isn’t as aggressive of a trash talker as he once was but this line would immortalize him as one of the top players to do so. Imagine if an NA player claiming he’s better than the best player in history in today’s time? Sheesh.
6. Jankos
When it comes to the kings of LoL Trash Talk, we can’t make a list without mentioning the G2 members. Jankos is known for being the loudest member of G2 Esports and we don’t just mean in terms of the volume of his voice. As a player that talks a lot and gets featured in a lot of interviews, highlight clips, and in-house content, it’s only natural that we hear him talk smack about other players and teams from time to time especially with how good of a team G2 is.
Unlike his other G2 teammates, most of Jankos’ trash talks are unintentional which simply add to the quality of what he says. Most of the time, it’s the fans who try to insult Jankos, creating memes like the Jankos Nidalee Spear and the Jankos Sejuani memes. Jankos is one of the most beloved players in all of Europe and his unintentional trash talks will always be welcome in the community. Even though he probably has a few years left in his career, we hope to see more from him in the future.
5. Dyrus
Dyrus is known as a gentle giant but during his time in TSM, this man murdered a lot of teams with his deadly unexpected LoL trash talking. The legendary TSM top laner might look like a soft-spoken teddy bear but he’s not afraid to lay down the truth against enemy teams. This was definitely the glory days of the LCS when everybody was dissing everybody and every time someone would be in an interview, you know things are about to go up in flames.
- Most Quotable Line: “The only team I’m worried of is Cloud 9; The rest are non-existent, especially CLG” -Dyrus at the Battle of Atlantic 2013.
Dyrus made a lot of remarks in his career and whenever he would trash talk, you know it was gonna be FIRE. He was such a beloved person in the community back then that everybody would love hearing him talk no matter what came from his mouth. The day he retired from competitive League of Legends was one of the darkest days in LoL history. Nowadays, Dyrus rarely makes League of Legends content but his glory days will forever be a part of our hearts.
4. Dardoch
Now, there are LoL trash talkers and then there’s Dardoch. A lot of players do trashtalking as a way to poke fun at other players and often don’t really believe what they say 100%. However, Dardoch is a player that’s infamous for having a really bad attitude that’s cost him a spot in multiple LCS teams. As a person who’s not afraid to speak out, it’s no surprise that he’s going to make remarks that can only be described as “trash talking” in the community.
- Most Quotable Line: “Honestly, it’s a fluke. They’re not the better team; not even close” –Dardoch’s interview after losing to C9 in the LCS 2017 Summer Season
Dardoch simply offers no respect to anyone at all. He cares for results and tries to bring results to his team so when his team doesn’t perform the way he wants to, that’s when the problem starts. Of course, team play and synergy is an important aspect of Professional League of Legends so there’s no wonder why he gets the boot so often. Regardless, the way he speaks plainly makes him such an admirable player deserving of being one of the Kings of LoL Trash Talk.
3. Perkz
During the time Perkz was still a part of G2, the team was so notorious for being such huge smack talkers that there were screenshots of European players muting All Chat whenever they would play against them to save their sanity. Perkz was definitely one of the harshest trash talkers in Europe and there’s no surprise considering he has been the best mid laner in the region for the longest time before Caps arrived to steal the show.
- Most Quotable Line: “I’m gonna smash [insert player name here] so hard” –Perkz against literally everyone.
Perkz is fond of showcasing his skills against other players and declaring beforehand that he’s going to smash them. While this often becomes the case, there are times that it goes horribly wrong. Regardless, that doesn’t stop him from saying that he’s going to beat everyone whether he’s in the mid lane or bottom lane. Luckily, Perkz’s trash talking ways hasn’t disappeared even though he’s in NA now.
2. Wunder
Wunder is another player whose ego has been inflated so much that he simply doesn’t know when to stop… not that we want him to, though. Amongst all of the G2 members, he’s probably the person that truly underestimates everyone else. This much is obvious in reports of scrims and how he tweets. The problem is that as time went by, his complacency and arrogance has become damaging to his career as an esports player.
- Most Quotable Line: “I can say for sure that today was the real final” –Wunder after beating SKT in the Worlds 2019 Semifinals.
One of the things that Wunder is most famous for is being an active WoW player. He doesn’t play as much solo queue as other pros since he follows his guild’s raiding schedule. There are also reports of him throwing scrim games when he doesn’t think that the enemy top laner is “worth the practice”, telling them that they are a waste of his time. In the future, he probably shouldn’t underestimate his opponents too much.
1. Doublelift
But of course, the King of Trash Talk stands at the very top. Doublelift is a man who practically popularized LoL trash talk not only in Na but also in the entire world. He is a man known for being so arrogant that every interview is him taking a jab at another player or team for being inferior to him. During the glory days of the LCS, he took shots left and right wherever he could just because he can.
- Most Quotable Line: “Everyone else is trash” –Doublelift’s personal mantra
During the later years of his career, Doublelift wasn’t trash talking as much but for a long-time, he was an icon for LoL esports trash talks. The way he would deliver his jabs was both spicy yet, in a way, wasn’t said in a way that’s purely out of disrespect. No matter what the era, Doublelift will forever hold the top spot as the person that has been crowned the King of LoL Trash Talk.