Ryu

Ryu
Retired as Player
Ryu
Background Information
Name	Ryu Sang-wook (류상욱)
Country of Birth	; South Korea
Birthday	January 28, 1994 (age 30)
Residency	KRKorea
Competitive
Team	⁠⁠BNK FearX
Contract Expires	2025-11-17
Role	; Coach
Favorite Champs	; ; ; ;
Competitive IDs	Ryu
Soloqueue IDs	AxA AxA, StarTale Ryu, KT Ryu, Car0line, Ryusangwook7, 아수라발발타타타, cCcCcCcCc, X9REZwfeoQK (NA), XDXDXDXDXD, RazerLanceHead, 왜이렇게힘들지
Social Media & Links

Overview

Tournament Results

Stats

Match History

Ryu "Ryu" (▶️ listen) Sang-wook (Hangul: 류상욱) is a League of Legends esports player, currently head coach for BNK FearX.

Team History

Combine Role Swaps:No|Yes

Dates:Approx|Exact

	Team	Start	End		Notes
KR	⁠⁠StarTale	Oct 20112011-10-20^[2]	Aug 20122012-08-26^[1]	10mo 6d	ejel
KR	⁠⁠KT Rolster Bullets	Oct 20122012-10-10^[4]	Aug 20142014-08-01^[3]	1yr 9mo	ejel
EU	⁠⁠Millenium	Oct 20142014-10-24^[6]	Dec 20142014-12-14^[5]	1mo 21d	ejel
EU	⁠⁠Team ROCCAT	Dec 20142014-12-19	Dec 20142014-12-21	2d	Temp Sub ejel
EU	⁠⁠H2k-Gaming	Jan 20152015-01-10^[8]	Dec 20162016-12-01^[7]	1yr 10mo	ejel
NA	⁠⁠Phoenix1	Dec 20162016-12-07^[10]	Nov 20172017-11-22^[9]	11mo 15d	ejel
NA	⁠⁠100 Thieves	Nov 20172017-11-22^[12]	Nov 20182018-11-21^[11]	1yr 29d	ejel
NA	⁠⁠100 Thieves	Nov 20182018-11-21^[11]	Jan 20192019-01-05^[13]	1mo 14d	ejel
NA	⁠⁠100 Thieves	Jan 20192019-01-05^[13]	May 20192019-05-16^[14]	4mo 11d	ejel
NA	⁠⁠100 Academy	May 20192019-05-16^[18]	Jun 20192019-06-14^[16]	29d	ejel
NA	⁠⁠100 Thieves	Jun 20192019-06-14^[21]	Nov 20192019-11-18^[20]	5mo 4d	ejel
KR	⁠⁠LSB Challengers	Jul 20222022-07-10^[24]	Oct 20222022-10-17^[23]	3mo 7d	ejel
KR	⁠⁠Liiv SANDBOX	Oct 20222022-10-17^[27]	Dec 20232023-12-15^[26]	1yr 1mo	ejel
KR	⁠⁠BNK FearX	Dec 20232023-12-15^[26]	Present	9mo 21d	ej

	Team	Start	End		Notes
KR	⁠⁠StarTale	Oct 20112011-10-20^[2]	May 20122012-05-22^[28]	7mo 2d	ejel
KR	⁠⁠StarTale	May 20122012-05-22^[28]	Aug 20122012-08-26^[1]	3mo 4d	ejel
KR	⁠⁠KT Rolster B	Oct 20122012-10-10^[4]	Jun 20132013-06-20^[29]	8mo 10d	ejel
KR	⁠⁠KT Rolster Bullets	Jun 20132013-06-20^[29]	May 20142014-05-16^[30]	10mo 26d	ejel
KR	⁠⁠KT Rolster Bullets	May 20142014-05-16^[30]	Jul 20142014-07-29^[31]	2mo 13d	ejel
KR	⁠⁠KT Rolster Bullets	Jul 20142014-07-29^[31]	Aug 20142014-08-01^[3]	3d	ejel
EU	⁠⁠Millenium	Oct 20142014-10-24^[6]	Dec 20142014-12-14^[5]	1mo 21d	ejel
EU	⁠⁠Team ROCCAT	Dec 20142014-12-19	Dec 20142014-12-21	2d	Temp Sub ejel
EU	⁠⁠H2k-Gaming	Jan 20152015-01-10^[8]	Dec 20162016-12-01^[7]	1yr 10mo	ejel
NA	⁠⁠Phoenix1	Dec 20162016-12-07^[10]	Nov 20172017-11-22^[9]	11mo 15d	ejel
NA	⁠⁠100 Thieves	Nov 20172017-11-22^[12]	Nov 20182018-11-21^[11]	1yr 29d	ejel
NA	⁠⁠100 Thieves	Nov 20182018-11-21^[11]	Jan 20192019-01-05^[13]	1mo 14d	ejel
NA	⁠⁠100 Thieves	Jan 20192019-01-05^[13]	May 20192019-05-16^[14]	4mo 11d	ejel
NA	⁠⁠100 Academy	May 20192019-05-16^[18]	Jun 20192019-06-14^[16]	29d	ejel
NA	⁠⁠100 Thieves	Jun 20192019-06-14^[21]	Nov 20192019-11-18^[20]	5mo 4d	ejel
KR	⁠⁠LSB Challengers	Jul 20222022-07-10^[24]	Oct 20222022-10-17^[23]	3mo 7d	ejel
KR	⁠⁠Liiv SANDBOX	Oct 20222022-10-17^[27]	Dec 20232023-12-15^[26]	1yr 1mo	ejel
KR	⁠⁠FearX	Dec 20232023-12-15^[26]	May 20242024-05-23^[32]	5mo 8d	ejel
KR	⁠⁠BNK FearX	May 20242024-05-23^[32]	Present	4mo 13d	ej

News

2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2022
2023
2024

KR

⁠

⁠ST

October 20, ⁠

⁠StarTale is formed.
Joker,
kkOma,
Ryu,
vitamin,
MaFa, and Won Jong-wook (General Manager) join.^[2]

e

KR	⁠⁠ST	May 22, Fine joins. Joker (Bot to Top), Ryu (Mid to Jungle), and 5cean (Bot to Mid) change positions. inSec leaves.^[28] e
KR	⁠⁠ST	August 26, ⁠⁠StarTale is disbanded. Joker, Ryu, 5cean, Locodoco, Mafa, and Fruitdealer (Head Coach) leave.^[1] e
KR	⁠⁠KT B	October 10, ⁠⁠KT Rolster B is formed and acquires the slot of ⁠⁠StarTale. Ragan, KaKAO, Ryu, Score, Mafa, Lee Ji-hoon (Head Coach), and Oh Chang-jong (Coach) join.^[4] e

KR

⁠

⁠KT.B

June 20, ⁠

⁠KT Rolster B renames to ⁠

⁠KT Rolster Bullets.^[29]

e

KR	⁠⁠KT.B	May 16, Limit and Nagne join. Ryu (Mid to Jungle) changes position. Zero leaves.^[30] e
KR	⁠⁠KT.B	July 29, Prime and Destiny join. Ryu and Mafa move to substitutes.^[31] e
KR	⁠⁠KT.B	August 1, Ryu and Mafa leave.^[3] e
EU	⁠⁠MIL	October 24, H0R0 and Ryu join.^[6] e
EU	⁠⁠MIL	December 14, Millenium is disbanded. kev1n, Ryu, Creaton, and Jree leave.^[5] e
EU	⁠⁠ROC	December 19, Ryu joins as temporary substitute for IEM Season 9 Cologne. e
EU	⁠⁠ROC	December 21, Ryu (temporary substitute) leaves. e

EU

⁠

⁠H2K

January 10,
Ryu joins.^[8]

e

EU	⁠⁠H2K	December 1, Ryu leaves.^[7] e
NA	⁠⁠P1	December 7, Ryu, Arrow, and Fly (Head Coach) join. Charlie (Head Coach to Manager) changes position. Pirean moves to substitute.^[10] e

NA	⁠⁠P1	November 22, Ryu and Meteos leave.^[9] e
NA	⁠⁠100	November 22, Ssumday, Meteos, and Ryu join.^[12] e

NA

⁠

⁠100

November 21, Ryu (Mid to Assistant Coach) changes position.^[11]

e

NA	⁠⁠100	January 5, Ryu (Assistant Coach to Assistant Coach/Sub/Mid)'s position is changed in the GCD.^[13] AnDa, aphromoo, pr0lly (Head Coach), and Ryu (Assistant Coach)'s contracts are updated in the GCD, expiring on 19 November 2019.^[33] e
NA	⁠⁠100	May 16, AnDa and Ryu (Assistant Coach) leave for academy roster.^[14]^[15] e
NA	⁠⁠100.A	May 16, AnDa and Ryu join from main roster. Fragas moves to substitute.^[18]^[19] e
NA	⁠⁠100.A	May 28, Ryu's contract is updated in the GCD, expiring on 19 November 2019. e
NA	⁠⁠100.A	June 14, Ryu leaves for main roster.^[16]^[17] e
NA	⁠⁠100	June 14, Ryu rejoins from academy roster.^[21]^[22] e
NA	⁠⁠100	November 18, Ryu leaves.^[20] e

KR

⁠

⁠F/A

November 24,
Ryu retires.^[34]

e

KR	⁠⁠LSB.C	July 10, Ryu (Coach) joins. Ten10 and Prove leave.^[24]^[25] e
KR	⁠⁠LSB.C	July 12, Ryu (Coach)'s contract is updated in the GCD, expiring on 21 November 2022.^[35] e
KR	⁠⁠LSB.C	October 17, Ryu (Coach) leaves for main roster.^[23] e
KR	⁠⁠LSB	October 17, Ryu (Head Coach) joins from sister team ⁠⁠LSB Challengers.^[27] e
KR	⁠⁠LSB	October 19, Ryu (Head Coach)'s contract is updated in the GCD, expiring on 18 November 2024.^[36] e

KR	⁠⁠FOX	December 15, ⁠⁠Liiv SANDBOX rebrands as ⁠⁠FearX.^[26] e
KR	⁠⁠FOX	December 19, Ryu (Head Coach)'s contract is updated in the GCD, expiring on 17 November 2025.^[37] e
KR	⁠⁠FOX	December 28, Ryu (Head Coach)'s contract is extended through 2025.^[38] e
KR	⁠⁠FOX	December 29, Clear, Willer, Execute, and Ryu (Head Coach)'s contracts are transferred to ⁠⁠FearX in the GCD, expiring on 17 November 2025. Clozer, Hena, DooTi (Coach), and Seobi (Coach)'s contracts are transferred to ⁠⁠FearX in the GCD, expiring on 18 November 2024.^[39] e

KR	⁠⁠FOX	May 23, ⁠⁠FearX rebrands as ⁠⁠BNK FearX.^[32] e
KR	⁠⁠FOX	May 27, Clear, Willer, Execute, and Ryu (Head Coach)'s contracts are transferred to ⁠⁠BNK FearX in the GCD, expiring on 17 November 2025. Clozer, Hena, Seobi, and DooTi (Coach)'s contracts are transferred to ⁠⁠BNK FearX in the GCD, expiring on 18 November 2024.^[40] e

Biography[]

Season 2[]

Ryu "Ryu" Sang-wook began his career as the mid laner for StarTale in March of 2012. StarTale played in Azubu The Champions Spring 2012 but they failed to make it through the group stage. Soon after, Ryu switched roles to jungle after the addition of 5cean and Fine. At Azubu The Champions Summer 2012, StarTale actually made it out of groups but ended up losing in the quarterfinals 2-0 to NaJin Sword. StarTale disbanded in August with Ryu, Joker, and Mafa joining the new KT Rolster B roster.

Season 3[]

KTB played in their first major tournament together at OLYMPUS Champions Winter 2012-2013 and ended in third place after losing two sets, 3-1 and 3-0, to Sword but beating Azubu Blaze 3-0. KTB didn't do as well in OLYMPUS Champions Spring 2013, losing 3-1 to MVP Ozone. A little later, KTB and their sister team, KT Rolster A, were renamed to the KT Rolster Bullets and the KT Rolster Arrows. HOT6iX Champions Summer 2013 was the breakout season of the Bullets, making the finals and playing one of the best series of League of Legends ever against SK Telecom T1. Unfortunately for the Bullets, they lost a close 3-2 set against SKT. The Bullets had enough circuit points to qualify for the Season 3 Korea Regional Finals but they met SKT again in the finals, this time losing 3-1. KTB missed the Season 3 World Championship even though they were considered the second best team in the world at the time.

2014 Season[]

KTB placed third again at PANDORA.TV Champions Winter 2013-2014 after losing 3-0 to SKT K in the semifinals but beating NaJin White Shield 3-1 in the third place match. Although the Bullets weren't considered a very strong Korean team at the time, they managed to sweep the IEM Season VIII World Championship, culminating in a 3-0 victory over Fnatic. They came back to Korea to participate in HOT6iX Champions Spring 2014 but they were knocked out of the quarterfinals 3-2 by NJWS. Shortly afterwards, Ryu was moved to the jungle again. The Bullets bombed in HOT6iX Champions Summer 2014, missing the playoffs for the first time in the team's history. Ryu was released from the team about a month later.

Ryu and H0R0 joined Millenium in October 2014 to play in the European Expansion Tournament. Millenium received a bye for Round 1, but were eliminated from the tournament in Round 2 after being beaten by GIANTS! Gaming. After that defeat, Millenium disbanded. Ryu then subbed for Team ROCCAT at IEM Cologne after the team were invited due to Fnatic not being able to attend. They were knocked out in the semifinals, losing to Counter Logic Gaming. Ultimately, Nukeduck filled ROCCAT's midlane spot; Ryu instead joined H2k Gaming to play in the EU LCS, filling the spot opened by Febiven joining Fnatic.^[41]

2015 Season[]

The Spring Split itself was relatively successful for Ryu and H2k-Gaming. After a shaky start, results began to pick up for the team, partly thanks to the introduction of kaSing to the roster. Ryu's impressive individual performances throughout the rest of the split, on a range of champions, helped the team to a 3rd place finish in the regular season. In the Spring Playoffs, Ryu and the team beat Copenhagen Wolves in the quarterfinals, but were beaten in the semifinals in a close-fought series by eventual champions Fnatic. H2k-Gaming went on to pull off a shock victory over SK Gaming in the third-place match, securing themselves 50 Championship Points.

Ryu and the team began to impress from the very start of the Summer Split. H2k-Gaming jostled for 2nd position with Origen throughout the regular season, with Fnatic way out in 1st place throughout. Impressive performances from Ryu, again on a wide range of champions, ultimately helped the team to yet another 3rd place regular season finish. The Summer Playoffs also went well for Ryu and the team, beating Giants Gaming in the quarterfinals of the tournament. The were beaten in the semifinals by Origen, but went on to beat Unicorns Of Love in the third-place match, securing the team 70 Championship Points, which meant that the team had qualified for the 2015 World Championship as Europe's #2 seed.

At the 2015 World Championship, H2k-Gaming were seeded into Group C along with SK Telecom T1, EDward Gaming, and Bangkok Titans. They picked up 2 wins in the group, both coming against BKT. Ryu and the team finished the group in 3rd place, meaning they would not advance to the knockout stage of the tournament.

2016 Season[]

At the start of the season, H2k-Gaming were voted to play at IEM Season X - Cologne. They fielded a roster including Odoamne and Ryu from their 2015 roster along with new members Jankos, FORG1VEN, and VandeR. The team beat Cloud9 in the quarterfinals but were then beaten themselves by eventual winners Ever in the semifinals of the tournament. The 2016 Spring Split saw H2k forced to temporarily replace Ryu due to VISA issues.^[42] Echo Fox mid laner Selfie joined the team as a substitute during Week 3, 4 and 5. Nevertheless, H2k was consistently a top team in the EULCS, only slightly behind newcomers G2 Esports during the Regular Season. They secured a Semifinals bye for the Spring Playoffs, where they lost 1-3 against Origen. They then proceeded to lose 2-3 the third place Finals against Fnatic as well, a disappointing result for one of the most hyped up line-ups in the EULCS.

In the Summer Split, with new threats emerging in Giants Gaming and Splyce, contention for the top of the League was harsher than the last split; individual performance and communication issues plagued the team, as they ended the Split in fourth place after they defeated Fnatic in a tiebreaker at the end of Week 9. Two weeks before the start of the Summer Split Playoffs FORG1VEN replaced Freeze. Even with seemingly minimal preparation, the H2k squad managed to sweep Fnatic 3-0 in the Quarterfinals and to challenge Splyce in a close Semifinals series, which they lost 2-3.

H2k managed to qualify for the 2016 Season World Championship as a second seed from Europe due to having the second-highest Championship points in the region and G2 auto-qualifying with their Summer Split Playoffs victory. They were then seeded into Group C, together with LPL champions EDward Gaming, LMS second seed Ahq e-Sports Club and International Wild Card Tournament winner INTZ e-Sports. After a tough Week 1 where they lost to both EDG and ahq, the European team swept their competition with four successive wins, including the tiebreaker for first place against the Chinese representative. They were thus drafted into the Quarterfinals against the Wildcard wonder Albus NoX Luna, a match they swept 3-0. Advancing to the Semifinals they met Samsung Galaxy, which in turn took the series 0-3 in dominating fashion, leading to the second straight Korean-only Final in a World Championship. In December of 2016 Ryu left H2k and Europe as a whole in order to join North America's Phoenix1.

2017 Season[]

P1 finished 3rd in the regular season of Spring with an 11-7 record. Ryu was largely impressive throughout the regular season and was P1's most consistent player alongside Arrow. In the playoffs they were knocked out in the Semifinals but managed to win the third-place match 3-2 against FlyQuest. P1's Summer Season was much worse as they finished 10th place with a 4-14 record. Ryu's performance also dropped significantly and he even took a small break from playing. Although they retained their LCS spot in the Promotion Tournament with a 3-0 victory over eUnited, P1 was not accepted in the newly franchised LCS for 2018.

2018 Season[]

Ryu left the team in November of 2017 and joined the newly formed 100 Thieves. 100 Thieves started the spring split a mediocre 4-5, but surged with an 8-1 second half, beating Echo Fox in the final game of the season and again in the first-place tiebreaker to secure the first seed in their first split as an organization.

Their regular-season placement meant that 100 Thieves entered the playoffs in the semifinals, where they faced 6th seeded Clutch Gaming, who were fresh off of an upset victory over TSM the previous week. Clutch took 100 Thieves to five games, but they triumphed a tense 74-minute game 5, sending them to the finals against Team Liquid. However, 100 Thieves were quickly swept by TL in the finals, leaving them in second place.

In the summer split, 100 Thieves were once again one of the top teams for most of the split, despite a controversial Week 4 jungle change that saw academy jungler AnDa replace Meteos. However, they declined in the last two weeks and fell into a four-way tie for third place at the end of the season. In the ensuing tiebreaker, the Thieves surged again, beating both FlyQuest and Echo Fox to take third place.

In the playoffs, 100 Thieves easily swept FlyQuest in the semi-finals but again fell to Team Liquid in the semi-finals, although they did manage to win a game this time. This sent them to the third-place match against TSM, where the Thieves took a 2-1 lead but eventually fell in five games. However, this finish combined with their spring performance automatically qualified them for Worlds 2018.

At Worlds, 100 Thieves were drawn into Group D along with Fnatic of the EU LCS, Invictus Gaming of the LPL, and G-Rex of the LMS. With academy bot laner Rikara controversially starting all six games, 100 Thieves only recorded wins against G-Rex, finishing 2-4 and failing to advance any further.

2019 Season[]

Ryu stayed with the 100 Thieves organization for 2019 but moved to assistant coach with the acquisition of Huhi. He returned to active play for the summer split, initially being named to the 100 Thieves Academy roster. However, after the LCS team lost their first four games in the summer split, Ryu returned to the LCS roster. 100 Thieves improved with Ryu starting and went 8-6 over the rest of the season, but this only left them in a three-way tie with Golden Guardians and OpTic Gaming for the final playoff spot. In the ensuing tiebreaker match, they lost to OpTic in the first round, ending their season short of playoffs. Ryu left the team in November.

Trivia[]

Ryu's name is his surname.
Considered to be one of the best Ahri players in all of Korea.
His favorite champions are Ahri and Ryze.^[43]
Known for his aggressive play, and ability to coordinate tower dives with his jungler KaKAO.
Despite Fizz being seen in other regions such as China, Ryu innovated the champion as a common pick especially at Season 3 World Championship.
Popularized Ahri as a highly contested pick during HOT6iX Champions Summer 2013.
Widely regarded as one of the best Orianna player in Korea.
His lack of emotion when dying became famous in the League community^[44], as the Twitch chat spams the emoticon " -__- " when he dies in a competitive game.
Long known to be Faker's victim in a Zed vs Zed outplay in the HOT6iX Champions Summer 2013 where his iconic face: -__-, became popular in the LoL community.

Pentakills

Date	Region	Tournament	Team	Vs	Champion	Pos	W/L	KDA	SB	VOD
2017-08-11	NA North America	NA LCS 2018 Spring Promotion			Corki	Mid	W	8/0/2	Link	Link
2017-06-17	NA North America	NA LCS 2017 Summer			Taliyah	Mid	W	9/0/8	Link	Link

Click here for a full list of pentakills by all players.

Tournament Results[]

This table shows up to the 10 most recent results. For complete results, click here.

Ryu Tournament Results
Date	Pl	Event	Last Result	Team	Roster
2024-09-13	4	LCK 2024 Regional Finals	0 : 3⁠⁠KT	⁠⁠FOX	Clear, Raptor, Clozer, Hena, Duro, Ryu, DooTi
2024-08-23	6	LCK 2024 Summer Playoffs	1 : 3⁠⁠DK	⁠⁠FOX	Clear, Raptor, Clozer, Hena, Duro, Ryu, DooTi
2024-08-18	6	LCK 2024 Summer	8 - 10⁠⁠RR	⁠⁠FOX	Clear, Raptor, Clozer, Hena, Execute, Duro, Ryu, DooTi
2024-03-24	7	LCK 2024 Spring	6 - 12⁠⁠RR	⁠⁠FOX	Clear, Willer, Clozer, Hena, Execute, Ryu, DooTi
2023-08-06	7	LCK 2023 Summer	5 - 13⁠⁠RR	⁠⁠LSB	Burdol, Clear, Willer, Clozer, Teddy, Kael, Ryu, Lyn
2023-03-22	6	LCK 2023 Spring Playoffs	1 : 3⁠⁠KT	⁠⁠LSB	Burdol, Willer, Clozer, Envyy, Kael, Ryu, Lyn
2023-03-19	6	LCK 2023 Spring	10 - 8⁠⁠RR	⁠⁠LSB	Burdol, Willer, Clozer, Envyy, Kael, Ryu, Lyn
2019-08-04	8	LCS 2019 Summer	8 - 10⁠⁠RR	⁠⁠100	Ssumday, FakeGod, Amazing, Soligo, Ryu, Bang, aphromoo, pr0lly, Joseph Jang
2019-07-28	3	NA Academy 2019 Summer	12 - 6⁠⁠RR	⁠⁠100.A	FakeGod, Ssumday, AnDa, Ryu, Soligo, Prismal, Bang, Stunt, aphromoo, Kelsey
2018-10-17	9 - 12	Worlds 2018	2 - 4⁠⁠RR	⁠⁠100	Ssumday, AnDa, Ryu, Rikara, aphromoo, pr0lly