​Throughout League of Legends history, players have made their mark with incredible highlight reels of amazing, and sometimes not-so-amazing plays. One way or another, the clips below have lasting effects both inside and outside of the game, affecting not just the way we play but also the how we spectate the game.

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From ForrelenLord's 3000 ELO Shockwave to irthing phrases like "The xPeke" and "Pulling a Saintvicious", here are 10 Iconic plays from League of Legends history.

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​Disclaimer: There are many great plays that could be in this list, and this is by no means an all-inclusive list, just some of our favorites.

1. Faker Outplays Ryu in Zed VS. Zed Mirror Match

The year is 2013, and SK Telecom's unstoppable rookie mid laner Faker clashes with KT Rolster's shotcalling Ryu in one of the most famous duels ever seen. In a hotly contested Game 5 in the OGN: Champions Summer 2013 Final, Ryu engages onto a low-health Faker, and what ensues next is history. I'm sure we all share the same sentiment as OGN Caster DOA:

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​"Faker, What was that?!"

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​Spawning the joke that "Ryu dies every 5 seconds", this play will live on forever in the annals of mid lane battles. And Ryu will not.

2. The "xPeke"

Possibly even more famous than our first play, this one is fairly self explanatory. IEM Katowice 2013 is storied for many reasons, but perhaps the most regarded of them all is in the group stage match between SK Gaming and Fnatic.

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​Fnatic had just lost a teamfight, and SK was closing in on the base, breaking down towers and pushing onto the nexus turrets. With no time, and a sure-fire loss for his team, xPeke maneuvered his way around Kev1n's Olaf in glorious fashion, dodging axes and Riftwalking his way to a photo finish, sending Fnatic into the Quarterfinals.



3. MadLife Does it Again

​If this isn't the greatest prediction ever, we don't know what is.

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​In his prime, there was nothing Madlife couldn't do. Well, except maybe play badly. The first true "hard carry support" and original support god managed to not only perfectly time the delay on his hook, but did it while flashing into a moving target.

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​Leading to the oft-cited, if not screamed out from your chair phrase of "MADLIFE!", this play isn't just crazy, it's Mad...Life.

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​I'm sorry.

4. Insec Kicks Yellowpete Into the Next Dimension

​2013 was a fantastic year for big plays.

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​During the All-Star Matchup between the stars of the EU LCS and OGN's finest, KT Rolster's Insec pulls off a display of mechanical superiority and roundhouses Evil Geniuses Yellowpete right into Madlife, and an awaiting OGN team, who make quick work of the AD Carry.

5. Empire!

Team Empire was a relatively unknown upcoming team from Russia taking the world by storm and dominating some of Europe's top teams from seemingly out of nowhere.

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They made one of their first claims to fame During the EU qualifiers for the IEM Season VI Global Challenge in Kiev, pulling off one of the greatest Wombo Combo's ever in a cleverly executed 3 man ultimate that would ultimately lead to their qualifying to the main event in Kiev.

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​Shortly after, the Team Empire roster would be acquired by Moscow Five, winning in Kiev, and becoming not only a global powerhouse, but one of the most legendary League of Legends teams to ever exist.

6. "Give me Penta!"

Team SoloMid Founder and former mid lane star Andy "Reginald" Dinh was known for his playmaking and unrelenting aggression in the midlane. Playing for Team USA in the Sound Blaster Nations championship in 2011, he managed to pull off one of the first ever Pentakills in League of Legends tournament play.

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​After demolishing his teammate on TSM in Chaox with a quick ultimae combo, he goes on to clean up the remaining players with some pre-pre-nerf Gragas silliness. Team USA would go on to take the event.

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​As Saintvicious says in the clip, "Watch this shit."

7. The Fnatic Brush is Born

This one's a twofer.

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During the first ever League of Legends World Championship, Fnatic would debut one of their most iconic plays, living on in every iteration of Fnatic to this day - the Fnatic death brush.

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​Even better, DoubleLift would make his claim to fame with one of his signature moves as well - the Facecheck.

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​Wandering into the anxiously waiting Fnatic team, DoubleLift is instantly deleted from the map. Despite this, Epik Gamer went on to win the match with an impressive recovery, but fell to TSM later in the tournament, where Fnatic would become the first ever League of Legends World Champions in a 2-1 win over against All authority.



8. Saintvicious Misses Smite...Again

Saintvicious missing smite. Need I say more?

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​With a website dedicated to the joke, "Saint missing smite" is a phrase long repeated in the LoL community. Often said in jest as Saint has his share of great moments, but the fact remains that the guy misses Smite. A lot.

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​While there's plenty of these moments, this ones a classic

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​Smite on Saint, Smite on.

9. TeLEPort

The Season 4 World Championship brought us many memorable plays and fantastic highlights. For every highlight however, there is an equal and opposite fail.Teleport mastery is a skill in itself for any top laner, and this is a beautiful reminder that not all teleports are created equal. ​ Channeling in from under the turret, LEP makes his appearance directly on top of Cloud9, being instantly erased from the map in what remains one of the worst teleports we've ever seen on the world stage.

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​Yes, Alliance lost to this. KaBuM!



10. Yellowstar's Ashe Arrow from Downtown

"Anotha one" from the Season 1 World Championship. After a disappointing game 1 loss to start the grand final against Fnatic, aAa turned on in game 2 with a series of impressive teamfights.

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​Just as Yellowstar respawns, he fires off a hail mary of an arrow, scoring a direct hit on Mellisan and setting up MoMa and sOAZ for a perfect cleanup.

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Dubbed by Phreak as "the most legit arrow of my life" and ​perhaps the most famous Ashe arrow in history, Yellowstar's legacy lives on as he remains a pillar of the game nearly 5 years later.

11. xPeke Humbles Dade

Samsung Blue were one of the heavy favorites coming into the Season 4 World Championship, and they knew it. Dade was at the top of his game, and on a mission to prove not only his own, but his teams dominance over the rest of the world.

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​Engaging onto xPeke at one of the closest points in the game, he gets a taste of his own medicine, and completely outplayed, by xPeke's Zed.

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​SSB would go onto win this absolute rollercoaster of a match, but xPeke and Fnatic won our hearts with an incredible showing against one of the best teams in the world.

12. Honorable Mention: Wandering Ronin Flashes Ezreal Out of Existence

How could we possibly leave this one out? It may not be as flashy or as famous as the others, but it's epic status is undeniable. Known as "the best Ryze flash ever", the original poster of this video, telaso, stated that he was introducing his roommate to the game, and this play proceeded to follow. ​

​Without casting a single ability, all it took was a single flash for "Wandering Ronin" to earn himself a kill on Ezreal, and a spot on our list.