Deft

Kim 'Deft' Hyuk-kyu is the player whose Worlds 2022 championship represents the most emotional narrative arc in League of Legends history — a legendary ADC who spent nearly a decade as one of the best players in the world without ever winning the game's ultimate prize, only to finally claim the Summoner's Cup at the age of 26 in what many expected to be the twilight of his career. His journey through Samsung Blue, EDG, KT Rolster, DRX, and more reads like an epic of perseverance, with Deft consistently performing at an elite level across different teams, regions, and metas while watching the championship elude him year after year. The Worlds 2022 Finals victory with DRX — where the team entered as underdogs against the heavily favored T1 — was built on Deft's veteran leadership and his ability to deliver clutch performances when his team needed them most. His mechanical skill on traditional ADC champions like Jinx, Aphelios, and Kai'Sa has aged remarkably well, with Deft maintaining the laning precision and teamfight positioning that first made him a star over a decade ago. The longevity of his career is almost unprecedented in professional League of Legends — competing at the highest level for over ten years in a game where most players burn out within three to five. Deft's legacy is secure as one of the five or six greatest ADC players in LoL history, a career that will be remembered both for its extraordinary sustained excellence and for the fairy tale ending that gave one of esports' most beloved players the championship he always deserved.