Frokat
The OG League streamer with a cult following, Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp, has traveled to Korea this May to partake in his most daring challenge yet – to reach Challenger on the supposedly best server in the world while playing fill only. This isn’t the first time T has challenged himself in such a way. The streamer has previously made history by reaching the highest rank by playing five separate roles in his home server, North America.
IT'S OFFICIAL, @loltyler1 IS BUILT DIFFERENT! Huge congrats for hitting Challenger on all 5 roles! ????
Oh and keep an eye on your mail, Tyler. ? We've got a little something coming your way to commemorate this incredible achievement! pic.twitter.com/Q92f7VpoqF
— League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) February 20, 2022
While Tyler1 started facing resistance quite early on his journey, nothing – not even lifting heavy metal objects in the gym to get that chiseled 6’5 silhouette – prepared the streamer for the horror that awaited him at the Masters’ tier. Just like the other League of Legends GOAT, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, Tyler1 quickly found himself choked out by betters and stream-sniping inters chasing their minute of fame on his way to the top, resulting in his journey ending at around Masters 347 LP peak – still impressive, especially considering the circumstances the streamer found himself in.
Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp and Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok might have polarly opposite personalities in-game, but they’re actually almost best friends in real life. Photo by Riot Games.
Despite that tragic occurrence, Steinkamp put up a valiant fight against the stacked odds. The big man kept going on pure testosterone, scoring nearly 800 games in just slightly over a month. Since Tyler1 embarked on his journey on May 1st and ended it on June 5th, this means Tyler has played an earth-shattering 22 games per day on average. All while never skipping the gym. I wonder what did the hotel staff think about this American dude who arrived in Korea to just stay in his hotel suite forever?
While Tyler’s quest to achieve Challenger was not fruitful, his stay in Korea brought the viewers hundreds of memorable moments. It was a tale of struggle, hope and despair, wonderful friendships – and even betrayal. No, really, there are actually hundreds of them – and that’s to be expected after Tyler1’s mind-blowing 22-games-a-day marathon. Thanks to T1’s extremely dedicated fanbase, you can check them all out at this YouTube channel. Whoever’s running it is clearly dedicated as heck – all the clips were uploaded before the games they occurred in ended.
Just to name a few:
Tyler1 made friends with another brilliant Korean Solo Queue player under an alias of Ged Sin in the most unexpected way: going from bitter enemies (after Ged Sin intentionally fed after tilting and flamed Tyler1) to best friends in a matter of days. But then Tyler’s paranoia got the best of him – and he even went as far as to accuse his new best friend of being a spy for the betters!
Did you know that Tyler1 also met – and hard carried – the best Irelia player in the world, Irelking? Check out Irelking’s YouTube channel, by the way – and worry not if you don’t speak Korean because there are English subtitles for every video! After meeting the legend in KR Solo Queue, Tyler decided to show off his Irelia skills to the world – and the results humbled everyone on the server (including T1).
There’s still a chance the streamer remains in Korea to complete his challenge off-stream (this is high-grade copium, by the way). We believe in you, Big Tonka T. The world needs to see the match between Tyler1 and Faker – now more than ever.