TF Blade says Gold Korean League players “could probably get Diamond” in NA off of mechanics

The popular streamer recently hit Challenger in Korea.
TF Blade
Screengrab via Team Liquid

Since the start of League of Legends, Korean solo queue players have been admired for their incredible mechanical skill. Although his solo queue climb in Korea has ended, popular streamer TF Blade had high praises for even the Gold-ranked players of the region.

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“[Korean gold players] are probably diamond [in NA] mechanically, I would say, ” TF Blade said on stream. “Depending on how much they really want to climb… No, for real, their mechanics are just way better in Korea.”

TF Blade recently spent an extended period of time in South Korea, trying to accomplish his goal of reaching rank one in every region of the world. He ended up breaking into the region’s Challenger rankings with a 64-percent win rate, but the rest of the way was too hard for him to handle. It also didn’t help that he was banned by Riot Korea due to “verbal violence,” putting an end to his quest for the top.

But reaching Challenger in Korea is still a feat and something that only a few non-Korean players can say they’ve hit in their lifetime. This is because there’s a clear skill divide when it comes to Korean solo queue players and North American players.

The LCK has never found itself at a talent deficit because the amateur scene is so strong. Their mechanics are so great that they only need to learn about higher macro play.

TF Blade did say that ping was a big issue when it came down to solo queue talent potential, though. In Korea, most players get less than 10 ping and that number stays consistent throughout the day. Meanwhile, in NA, ping fluctuates depending on where they’re situated. This makes it hard to keep up performances since your gameplay is suffering from problems outside of your control.

The NA League community has been clamoring for a change to the Riot server to help fix this nagging issue, but nothing has happened just yet. These server problems will need to be fixed in the future for the improvement of the region.


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Author
Tyler Esguerra
Lead League of Legends writer for Dot Esports. Forever an LCS supporter, AD carry main, with more than five years in the industry. Sometimes I like clicking heads in Call of Duty or VALORANT. Creator of the Critical Strike Podcast.