Developed and published by Riot Games, League of Legends debuted in 2009 with only a single server in the USA. In 2012, it finally hit the shores of South Korea.
At that time, Super Junior’s Heechul was fulfilling his military duties as a public service worker at a district office. In spring that year, his younger colleague introduced the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) title to him — and the rest is history.
League of Legends and Heechul have since been inseparable.
In this interview with ONE Esports, the K-pop idol shares about his LoL journey, everything from his main, to his favorite skin, and what kind of champion he’d create.
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Super Junior’s Heechul dives deep into his love for League of Legends
A 5v5 MOBA title, queuing for a ranked game of LoL will group players into a team of five where each performs a different role on a unique champion as a top laner, jungler, mid laner, bot laner, or support.
Players then take on the other group of five, who start the game on the opposite side of the map. Victory involves farming minions and monsters, fighting and killing enemy champions, or taking objectives as a team.
Heechul first became a bot laner in LoL as an attack damage carry (AD carry), also known as a marksman. Because AD carries are vulnerable in the early levels, they usually partake in a 2v2 in the bottom lane with their support at the start of the game.
In this role, he has played with many fellow K-pop idols who have since stopped. “I’d like to send my regards to those who quit,” said Heechul. “I did get a bit too competitive when playing ADC, but all the ADC mains out there will get me. You guys know how it is, right?”
In solo queue, it’s a different story. Many players didn’t enjoy playing support at that time, for it’s a role that involved buying vision wards and sitting back. As a result, Heechul became “fed up with playing AD carry”.
“All the last picks who were forced to support were trolls, 10 out of 10,” he recalled. “I couldn’t take it anymore, so I started playing support. After climbing a bit, I went back to ADC. Nowadays, I main top to avoid the whole thing.”
Peaking at Diamond III in Season 3 or 4, Heechul hasn’t found the same success in recent times. “It’s embarrassing… I never imagined that I would one day struggle in my promos to Gold…,” he shared.
Grinding rank isn’t the only lure of LoL, of course. Players also appreciate the aesthetic aspects of the game, specifically its champion designs and skins.
Heechul singled out marksman champion and one of Arcane’s main characters, Caitlyn, as his type. Specifically, he finds Pool Party Caitlyn’s pink chroma the most appealing skin in the game.
An avid LoL fan for the last 11 years, Heechul has also thought about the ideal champion that he would like to see in-game.
“[I’d design a] simple skillset, like those we had in the good old days,” he said. “I very much dislike reprobate champs like Viego and Samira who have overloaded, convoluted skillsets.”
Keep up with Heechul’s gaming adventures on his YouTube channel, and follow ONE Esports on Facebook for the latest LoL news, updates, guides, and more.
READ MORE: Super Junior’s Heechul gaming origins: ‘It’s the oldest hobby I have’
