Former LCS star claims pros commit “psychological warfare” in bizarre rant

Cody Sun, an ADC player who’s had a standout career as a League of Legends pro, is accusing LCS players of committing “psychological warfare” to keep their spots in pro play. According to him, veteran players have employed “psyops on the masses”.

With how long League of Legends has been around as an esport, there are dozens of players who have years worth of experience and have since moved on to other things.

However, there are those who are committed to still being the best even years after their debut. And, to the credit of Liyu ‘Cody Sun’ Sun, he’s been able to have an illustrious career, competing in the LCS between 2016 and 2020 on teams like Immortals, 100 Thieves and Clutch Gaming. Even after he departed the LCS, he remained active in the LCS Academy League and then in the LFL (France’s regional league), with 2023 being his first year without a team since he began playing competitively.

In a Twitter rant, Cody Sun is now claiming that the LCS is filled with “great pretenders” who “get signed based off of brand value alone” and don’t put enough effort into improving.

Cody Sun claims LCS pros employ “psyops on the masses”

It’s impossible to deny the disappointing results North America has had internationally when it comes to League of Legends. Other than Cloud9’s semi-final run at Worlds 2018 and CLG’s run to the Grand Final at MSI 2016, the region hasn’t been able to stand up to top teams from other parts of the world.

Pros often blame this partially on North America’s solo queue environment, with teams often going to South Korea in order to boot camp and get better practice.

Cody Sun has jumped into the conversation, claiming that current pros have downplayed the importance of solo queue and that current pros have staying power based on their brand rather than their level of skill.

“NA has been plagued with complacency, great pretenders that get signed based on brand value alone. Many of whom show absolute zero respect to SoloQ or the ladder. These individuals will employ psyops on the masses to convince that soloq isn’t important.”

He went as far as claiming that pros engage in “psychological warfare” when interacting with the public, and drama in the league is meant to distract from pros’ “inability to improve in soloq”.

The rant continues beyond that, with Cody claiming that there are “few players who don’t lose themselves in the fame and attention” and that there aren’t many pros who are truly dedicated to the game.

Reception to this Twitter rant has been mixed, with some agreeing with his “well said” points and hoping that he’ll return to pro play. Meanwhile, others think he’s lost the plot.

Cody Sun plugged his stream and spoke about his prowess in hitting challenger across three different regions at the end of his rant, hinting at wanting to get back into the LCS and put his money where his mouth is on his claims that many LCS pros don’t deserve their spots.