The Greatest Players in the History of Esports

Esports has gone from being a niche entertainment activity to a billion-dollar industry, capable of filling stadiums and attracting millions of simultaneous viewers. And the athletes are at the heart of this revolution; these individuals with superhuman reflexes and a mental dedication comparable to that of any traditional sport are the protagonists of the scene.

Defining who the greatest of all time are requires looking beyond the points mentioned above. It involves analyzing career longevity, the ability to adapt to the constant changes in games, and the mastery demonstrated in moments of high pressure.

UmGamer explored the trajectory of six of the greatest players in esports history, analyzing their achievements, cultural impact, and why they’re considered giants in their respective disciplines. Check it out!

Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok is a leading figure in competitive League of Legends. The South Korean began his professional career in 2013 with SK Telecom T1 and quickly established a standard of excellence that is difficult to replicate. His debut was marked by above-average mechanical skill, allowing him to easily overcome opponents in one-on-one duels.

Faker's career stands out for its duration. Most League professionals tend to decline in performance after three or four years due to mental and physical fatigue. Faker, however, has remained among the world's elite for over a decade. He has won the World Championship six times: in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2023, 2024, and 2025. The fourth title, obtained ten years after the first, reinforces his ability to reinvent himself.

He has remained with the same organization, T1, throughout his entire career. This stability allowed him to lead several iterations of the team, acting both as the main offensive force in the early years and as a strategic facilitator for younger teammates in recent seasons.

In the FPS scene, specifically in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Ukrainian Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev reached an unprecedented statistical level. Representing the Natus Vincere (NaVi) organization, he spent years being considered by analysts and colleagues as the most skilled player on the server, even when his team wasn't winning tournaments.

s1mple's quest for the most important title in the game, the Major, lasted several years. During this period, he accumulated a record number of MVP medals in competitions, validating his individual performance regardless of the collective result. His gameplay combines the aggressive use of sniper rifles with an advanced reading of enemy positioning.

The crowning achievement came in 2021, at the PGL Major Stockholm. NaVi won the championship undefeated, without losing a single map. This feat solidified s1mple's position in history, uniting the monstrous individual statistics he always displayed with the collective trophy that was missing from his resume.

Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo plays a dual role in the history of Counter-Strike. He’s a world-class competitor and a manager who enabled the professionalization of an entire region. Before his international rise, Brazil was isolated from major championships due to a lack of investment and infrastructure.

FalleN led the project that took Brazilian players to compete in North America. In-game, acting as captain and sniper, he guided the Luminosity and SK Gaming teams to two consecutive Major titles in 2016: MLG Columbus and ESL One Cologne. That year, Brazil dominated the world rankings.

His distinguishing feature has always been his tactical leadership. While other players focused solely on aiming, FalleN developed complex game systems and coordinated the team in real time.

The greatest proof of this unique quality of the Brazilian is his continued high-level performance to this day. As IGL (In Game Leader), FalleN guides the FURIA team - which even won several tournaments in 2025 - and helped secure a historic first place in the CS2 rankings provided by HLTV and Valve.

It's worth mentioning that, outside of his work in public service, he created initiatives to train new athletes, ensuring that the country continued to produce talent for the international market.

Danish player Johan "N0tail" Sundstein starred in one of the most complex narratives in Dota 2. After years of competing at a high level and winning Majors, he founded his own organization – OG. The goal was to create an environment where players had more autonomy and mutual trust.

In 2018, the team suffered low criticism shortly before The International, the world championship with the highest prize pool in esports. N0tail had to restructure the team in a hurry, and against all odds, OG won the tournament. The following year, maintaining the same lineup, they repeated the feat, becoming the first two-time champions in the history of The International.

N0tail's philosophy prioritized the emotional stability of the group over purely technical pursuit. This approach changed how many teams view sports psychology within Dota 2. He retired as the highest-paid player in history in terms of tournament prize money.

Before the massive popularization of modern MOBAs and FPS games, StarCraft: Brood War was the leading esports game in South Korea. In this highly competitive ecosystem, Lee "Flash" Young-ho established absolute dominance playing as the Terran race.

Flash's career is marked by extreme technical rigor. He defeated his opponents through perfect macroeconomic management and flawless micromanagement of units. During his peak, between 2007 and 2011, he won multiple Starleague and MSL titles, the most prestigious tournaments of the time.

His historical importance lies in raising the level of professionalism. The exhaustive training routine and data analysis that Flash employed served as a model for future generations of Korean gamers in various other games. He personified the transition from video games as a hobby to a high-performance discipline.

Daigo Umehara, known as "The Beast", is the ultimate reference in fighting games, especially in the Street Fighter franchise. Unlike other eSports genres, where careers tend to be short, fighting games allow for greater longevity, and Daigo is living proof of this, competing at a high level since the 1990s.

He’s responsible for the most famous moment in competitive history, which has already garnered 10 million views: the "Evo Moment #37", which occurred in 2004. During a match of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Daigo performed a perfect defensive sequence (parry) against his opponent's special attack while having only a tiny fraction of health remaining, converting the defense into victory.

Daigo maintained his relevance through various versions of the game, from Street Fighter II to Street Fighter 6. He published books on the competitive mindset, arguing that the focus should be on continuous improvement and daily learning, rather than focusing solely on the immediate results of matches.

The history of esports is entirely defined by humans. Faker, s1mple, FalleN, N0tail, Flash, and Daigo Umehara share not only quick reflexes but also a champion mentality that allowed them to overcome adversity, innovate in their strategies, and inspire generations.

While new stars emerge in other games, the legacy of these six titans serves as the foundation upon which the modern industry was built. They proved that video games can be more than just a pastime: they can be an arena of glory, passion, and human excellence.