The wait is finally over, friends — Worlds is upon us. Sixteen teams from across the globe have made their way over to Paris, France to commence the opening battles for the most coveted prize in League of Legends: the Summoner's Cup. A year's worth of practicing, domestic play, and hard work will all culminate in a month's time on Halloween at Berlin's Mercedes-Benz Arena.

Before we move into the future, let's take a minute and look at the past before the fifth World Championship begins. I thought it would be a fun idea to go through the first four Worlds and tabulate the records of every player to ever play a single map in the tournament. The results, as you might expect, are interesting and give a good background on the Worlds of years past, but it isn't an end-all be-all ranking when it comes to pure skill.

So before you read this and start going crazy over players who retired over two years ago are higher than legends of the game, remind yourself: this is not a subjective ranking. This is purely the winning percentages and records of every player to ever play in the World Championship, and that does mean players from the earlier seasons who you might have never even heard about are ranked above players you'd considered the best to ever play the game.

Now, if you haven't already scrolled past this introduction to get straight into the rankings — I'm looking at you, guy ignoring all my carefully planned writing to find TSM players — enjoy the ranking, reminiscence about past Worlds, and look forward in the coming month which players can either lower or raise their rankings at this year's competition.

Criteria: I counted every game that was played in Worlds history. This counts tiebreakers (e.g, ahq e-Sports Club vs. EDward Gaming in 2014) and the fifth place match during the 2011 World Championship.

Also, during the inaugural Worlds there was a format known as extended series. In the extended series, if two teams met in the upper bracket and then later on in the tournament, the team who won the first meeting between the two would start their next encounter with a 1-0 lead. In my rankings I do not count those 1-0 starts as an actual ranking. The only games I use for the ranking are ones that actually occurred on Summoner's Rift.

If players are tied with the exact winning percentage, the player(s) with more victories will get the higher position in the ranking. If there is a tie and no one has a victory, the team with more losses will be ranked lower.

T-190. Snoy, Kaigu, Yume, Exo, Tgee: 0-8 (.000)

The lovable underdogs from the Philippines kickoff our ranking. Mineski entered as the tournament as a team that was considered to be outmatched by the better teams in their group, and that opinion held true throughout the course of the tournament. Although they land at the very bottom of our list, Mineski are still one of the most memorable teams in Worlds history, always being jovial in interviews and never giving up in any of their matches.

Last in the standings but first in our hearts. We'll never forget you, Mineski.

T-185. fabulous, Crystal, Naru, HolyPhoenix, Touch: 0-6 (.000)

From one winless team to another, Turkey's Dark Passage come in tied at the 185 spot. They will be most remembered for getting the worst luck in the word by drawing EDward Gaming and eventual champions Samsung White into their group.

As you can see, a miracle did not occur for Dark Passage.

T-172. vy, dabe, wormy, iddo, gibo, Ocelote, Araneae, Crumbzz, IWillDominate, Scarra, imaqtpie, Patoy, Gilius: 0-3 (.000)

Here is the pile up of players with a 0-3 record at Worlds. We have members from the first World Championship from the SEA region, Western favorites from 2012, and Gilius, one of the few substitute players in this ranking. Gilius had to come in to replace Svenskeren for the first three games of SK Gaming's group stage in 2014, losing all three games and then making way for Svenskeren in the final three matches. Ocelote and Araneae also join him from SK Gaming, both players only competing in one Worlds during 2012 and going out 0-3 in the group stages.

T-168. Steak, Maple, NL, SwordArt: 0-2 (.000)

Oh hey, it's the Flash Wolves! Yes, back in 2013 four of their five current members played on a team known as the Gama Bears, the top team in the Taiwanese region. Their reward for getting first place in their region? A bye into the top eight of Worlds and a date with SK Telecom T1!

...They promptly got swept in two games and eliminated from the tournament. Like I said at the beginning, these rankings aren't always going to be fair.

167. Kev1n: 1-8 (.111)

Look, a standalone player! Germany's Kev1n competed in the first two World Championships, first going 1-5 with Team GAMED.DE in 2011 before playing on the SK Gaming squad that went 0-3 in 2012. At least his winning percentage is all 1's. That's pretty cool, right?

T-161. Nbs, Alunir, Mazzerin, DeadlyBrother, Inspirro, Winds: 1-7: (.125)

Here we have GamingGear.eu, an International Wildcard team from the 2013 Worlds, and Winds, one of the better Taiwanese junglers of all-time who had terrible luck on the world-stage. Winds was a part of the Gama Bears team from 2013 got the unlucky draw of SKT T1 in the quarterfinals, and he was also on the Taipei Assassins team from last year that disappointed with a sub-par 1-5 record.

Winds sadly retired from professional play and is now a commentator. That one victory keeps him above his former Bear teammates — at least for a few more days.

T-151. LEP, Danagorn, TinOwns, Minerva, dans, Achie, Morning, Jay, Zylor, Reyk: 1-5 (.166)

We got some Kabum! from Brazil, a pinch of Taipei Assassins from last year, and three members from the GAMED.DE squad from Germany that competed in the first Worlds.

The biggest takeaway from this rank is that even though all their records are below Alliance players, LEP and Kabum! still got the last laugh in the end.

150. Candy Panda: 3-9 (.250)

Here we go with another player with his own ranking: Germany's Candy Panda. He started out his first Worlds with his home country squad's GAMED.DE, and then he played with SK Gaming at last year's World Championships where he went 2-4 overall following a rough start without Svenskeren.

149. Nyph: 4-11 (.266)

At 149 we have Nyph, another German player that played on GAMED.DE in the first season, went over to SK Gaming for the second World Championship, and then played for Alliance during 2014's tournament. Nyph is one of the few players to get to the World Championships on three different teams in his career.

T-134. wewillfailer, Vech, Radeon6870, Axion, d4rkness, iNtrigueD, QTV, Violet, NIXWATER, Archie, Junie, Caomei, Misaya, Weixiao, Voyboy: 1-2 (.333)

This is where we learn that winning percentage doesn't equal someone's status in the overall picture of League of Legends. Misaya, Caomei, and Weixiao are arguably three of the greatest players at their position in the game's history and the trio are legends in the eyes of the Chinese community. They only played one series in the history of Worlds, that being their iconic match against Counter Logic Gaming Europe in the quarterfinals of the 2012 tournament. The match was hampered by technical issues, forcing the series to be pushed back with CLG coming out on top in a 2-1 victory.

Also at this position: Voyboy's trip to Worlds with CLG in 2012 where he went out in the group stages, Raedon6870 who started the 'HOTSHOTNIDALEEGG' moniker in an interview during the first World Championships, and the entire Saigon Jokers squad that upset Dignitas in the 2012 group stages.

There is also wewillfailer, the forgotten world champion. Due to Xpeke having issues getting to the Season 1 Championship, wewillfailer played for Fnatic during the opening day and went 1-2. Xpeke arrived on the second day and led Fnatic to the world championship, but wewillfailer is technically still a world champion since he played a game for Fnatic during the tournament.

As you might have guessed, wewillfailer is the only player to win a world title and have an overall losing record. Still a champion, though!

T-126. fredy122, Jesiz, nRated, NoName, XiaoWeiXiao, Vasilii, Mor, Rekkles: 2-4: (.333)

If not for world champion wewillfailer, Rekkles would be the lowest ranked Fnatic member on this list. He went 2-4 in his first Worlds last season, and he'll be back with Fnatic this year to try and boost his record over the .500 mark. Beside Rekkles, we have members from last year's SK Gaming and LMQ squads that were also eliminated in the group stages like Fnatic.

T-123. TheOddOne, Reginald, Xpecial: 7-12 (.368)

Our first TSM players in the ranking are the trio that were together through the first three World Championships. TSM got third place in Season 1, were bounced 0-2 by Azubu Frost in the Season 2 quarterfinals, and then had an embarrassing group stage at Season 3 with only two wins to their name. Although Reginald and OddOne have hung up the keyboard as pro-gamers, Xpecial is still playing and barely missed this year's Worlds by losing to Cloud9 in the final round of the NA Regional Final qualifier.

122. Dyrus 10-17 (.370)

Following his TSM comrades is Dyrus at the 122nd position. Dyrus started his Worlds career by playing on Epik Gamer in 2011 before transitioning over to TSM for his next three World Championships. He will once again put on the TSM jersey for his fifth straight Worlds, along with YellOwStaR as the only players to get to every world championship as a player. As he's said this is his last world championship, we'll see if he can keep his ranking above his friend and owner, Reginald, in his possible last tournament.

T-113. Sycho Sid, Xmithie, mancloud, Zuna, BloodWater, Zorozero, dexter1, Nukeduck, Mithy: 3-5 (.375)

This spot is taken up by members of the Vulcun and Lemondog teams that participated in the 2013 competition. From this position in the rankings, both Xmithie on CLG and Mithy on Origen can improve their spot this tournament. In other news, Zuna, Vulcan's former AD Carry, has moved over to the Heroes of the Storm and has qualified for that game's world championship. I will not count his victories in that game on a future ranking, I promise.

112. Wildturtle: 7-11 (.388)

It's WildTurtle!

T-107. PDD, illuSioN, Zz1tai, Kid, XiaoXiao: 2-3 (.400)

Here we have Invictus Gaming from the 2012 season. This legendary team, like World Elite's trio that was previously mentioned, were only able to play in one Worlds. Invictus Gaming were given the tough match-up of playing tournament favorites Moscow 5 in the round of eight, and iG went out in a 0-2 sweep by the Russians.

106. Doublelift: 4-6 (.400)

Doublelift comes in just outside the Top 100, having played in the first Worlds with Epik Gamer, alongside Dyrus and the second tournament on Counter Logic Gaming. Doublelift failed to make it to the bracket stage in 2012 with CLG, so he'll be trying to make it deep for the first time in a tournament with superpowers from Korea and China.

T-99. Prydz, Naz, westdoor, GarnetDevil, GreenTea, Westrice, Dan Dinh, Salce: 3-4 (.428)

The rest of Season 1's Epik Gamer come in at the 99th position, the squad of Dyrus, Doublelift, Westrice, Dan Dinh, and Salce getting fourth place in the first Worlds. They're joined by ahq e-Sports Club from last year that went 3-3 in the group stages but lost to EDward Gaming in a tiebreaker that sent them out of the tournament.

97. Tabzz: 6-8 (.428)

Tabzz sits by his lonesome in 97th place, playing on the Lemondogs in Season 3 that went out in the group stages and the Alliance team that also failed to make it through groups last year.

T-93. Save, Ggoong, Zefa, Gorilla: 4-5 (.444)

Last year's NaJin White Shield (except Watch) are the next players on our ranking. White Shield got first place in their group in 2014, but they went out in the quarterfinals in a one-sided sweep against China's OMG. Zefa, Ggoong, and Save won't be able to change their record this tournament, but the KOO Tigers' Gorilla is in a good position to push his ranking above the .500 mark.

92. Chaox: 5-6 (.454)

TSM's Chaox is our 92nd ranked player, getting third place in the first World Championship with TSM and then going out to Azubu Frost in the 2012 tournament.

T-87. Balls, Meteos, Hai, Sneaky, LemonNation 6-7 (.461)

The 2013 and 2014 versions of Cloud9 are next up, the former North American champions having a so-so time in their two trips to Worlds. They started their quest for the Summoner's Cup in 2013 when they were seeded directly into the quarterfinals and lost to Fnatic in a close 1-2 series that could have gotten them into the semifinals. Last year they got through the group stages and made the top eight for the second straight year, but they lost to Samsung Blue in a competitive 1-3 loss that sent them packing before the semifinals once more.

While Meteos won't be playing for C9 this year, the other four members on the ranking can either go over the .500 horizon or, if they get beaten down in a tough group, drop like a stone down the ever-growing list of players.

T-84. GoDlike, ClearLove, FZZF: 7-8 (.466)

Three Chinese players are tied for 84th. ClearLove and FZZF were a part of the World Elite team from Season 2 that failed to advance in the quarterfinals against CLG's European team. The two players returned last year to play with Edward Gaming, and although they got through the group stage, they were once again shutdown in the quarterfinals. ClearLove is back this season with EDG to see if he can finally get into the Top 4.

GoDlike is the only player to actually play in the Grand Finals of a World Championship and have a losing record. He played on the Royal Club team that lost to SKT T1 in a sweep during the 2013 season and the LMQ team that were knocked out in the group stages last year.

T-82. Shook, Dada77: 3-3 (.500)

Pretty straightforward: Shook played with Alliance last year and went 3-3, knocked out by Kabum! in the last seconds. Dada77 played for OMG in the group stages, the team went 3-3, and then he was replaced by Cloud in the bracket stage.

T-80. Expession, Nagne: 4-4 (.500)

These two players were on the NaJin Black Sword team that nearly beat Faker's SKT T1 squad that won Worlds in Season 3. Nagne was a rookie at the time and seen as a Gragas spammer with a small champion pool behind the barrel swigging brawler. He's back this year to see if he can help KT Rolster go beyond the semifinals where he was stopped last time.

T-74. HotshotGG, Bigfatlp, Chauster, Bjergsen, Amazing, Lustboy: 5-5 (.500)

Well look at that, we have a CLG and TSM party tied with records of 5-5 apiece. Bjergsen, Lustboy, and Amazing will all have the chances to improve their record this year, the first two still on TSM while Amazing has gone on to play for Origen. Hotshot, while playing in less overall tournaments than Reginald, can at least say he has a better winning percentage across his two competitions in 2011 and 2012.

T-71. Koro1, U, Namei: 6-6 (.500)

More 2014 EDG members! EDG were a favorite coming into 2014 Worlds, yet they needed a tiebreaker to advance over ahq e-Sports Club in the group stage and then lost to Star Horn Royal Club 2-3 in the quarterfinals. Koro1 will be back this year with EDG along with the aforementioned ClearLove.

70. Watch: 11-11 (.500)

Three world championships. Two quarterfinal finishes. One semifinal exit.

11-11 record.

Watch is a magician.

T-67. bebe, Wickd, Froggen: 8-7 (.533)

We are finally into players with winning records! If you're still reading at this point and haven't entirely skipped every section without one of your favorite player, I salute you. Thank you for somehow getting through this massive ordeal with me.

Froggen and Wickd both played together on CLG.eu and Alliance last year. CLG.eu went well, the team finishing in the top four. Alliance, well, got eliminated by LEP and Kabum!

Bebe is the lowest ranked world championship outside of wewillfailer, who didn't play in the grand finals and was a sub. Bebe played with TPA in 2012 and 2014; the 2012 version of the Assassins won it all, and...the 2014 version went 1-5.



T-65. PraY, Cain: 7-6 (.538)

NaJin's bottom lane of PraY and Cain are next. They played together on the 2012 and 2013 Sword teams, and PraY will be coming back for his third Worlds — tying Watch and Imp in the process in terms of Koreans making it to the World Championships — looking to rise up through the rankings.

T-58. Lucky, Wh1t3zZ, Tabe, Snoopeh, yellowpete, Krepo, TheRainMan: 5-4 (.555)

Fun fact #1: All of these players have retired from pro-gaming at one point or another.

Fun fact #2: TheRainMan is the highest ranked TSM member on this ranking. Yes, by this ranking's objective calculations, TheRainMan is the greatest TSM player of all-time. Let's pop the champagne and build a statue of the true TSM legend!

57. YellOwStaR: 20-16 (.555)

The ironman of Worlds! YellOwStaR is the man with the most games played in Worlds history, has now made it to all five competitions, and enters the tournament with possibly the best team he has ever been on. After winning another couple of European titles this year, the only thing missing from YellOwStar's illustrious career is the Summoner's Cup.

T. 55 Saintvicious, Elementz: 4-3 (.571)

And here we go with the highest ranked North Americans in our rankings. Saint and Elementz played together on the CLG team that got 5th place at the World Championship and never played again for the Summoner's Cup.

All hail our North American kings.

54. Voidle: 7-5 (.583)

When Edward left Moscow 5/Gambit in 2013, Voidle became their support when they returned to the World Championships. Gambit went 7-5 that tournament, going 5-3 in the group stage, beating Samsung Ozone in a tiebreak, and then falling to NaJin Black Sword 1-2 in the quarterfinals.

53. Uzi: 17-12 (.586)

Two World Championships. Two second place finishes. Two finals where his team went 1-6 overall, significantly damaging his overall placement in these rankings. Uzi tried to make it back to Worlds this year to get his first world title and join the 20+ win club, but his signing with OMG didn't go as planned and the team failed to even make the Chinese Regional Finals.

T-49. Darien, Diamondprox, Alex Ich, Genja: 10-7 (.588)

Moscow 5, the team that many thought would win the 2012 Summoner's Cup. The team was able to get through iG in the first round, but they fell to the eventual winners, TPA, in the semifinals to end their run. They returned next year with Voidle as their new support and almost beat NaJin Black Sword in the quarterfinals, but once again they lost to a tough Asian team by the score of 1-2. These four are, no matter how they fared at Worlds, legends when it comes to the European scene and Worlds in general.

48. dade: 13-9 (.590)

Dade is one of the most interesting stories in Worlds history. He came into his first tournament, 2013, as one of the best mid laners in the world. His champion pool was nerfed before the competition, he wasn't able to adapt to the new meta, and he put on one of the worst performances in the Summoner's Cup history. He then returned the next year with Samsung Blue and did much better, leading his team all the way to the Top 4 before getting blown out by his teammates from the year before, Samsung White.

Then he went to China, signed a big contract with Masters3, and did not return for a third straight year. But he still got a really big contract so don't feel too bad for him.

T-45. GoSu Pepper, MaKNoon, SSONG: 3-2 (.600)

The last remaining NaJin and Moscow 5 players end up tied for 45th place. Gosu Pepper (Edward) only played in one Worlds and went out in the semifinals. The NaJin duo got to the quarters of the Season 2 Worlds and got eliminated by TPA, just like Edward did with M5 in the semifinals.

We will title this trio the anti-Assassins Squad.

T-41. Cola, inSec, corn, Zero: 12-8 (.600)

Here are 2014's silver medalists: Star Horn Royal Club! The previous year was the first Worlds for all four members, and they had a good tournament up until they got completely smashed by Samsung White in the finals. All four stayed with SHRC for the 2015 spring split and got relegated. They then became King Gaming for the summer split and were relegated once again.

From second place finishers to double relegation in one year. That has to hurt.

T-39. sOAZ, Cyanide: 20-13 (.606)

These two players were enemies during Season 1's Worlds but came together to compete on the same Fnatic team in 2013 and 2014. aAa and Fnatic actually ended up with the same overall record in 2011 (even with Fnatic winning the title) meaning that sOAZ and Cyanide are tied in record. That will change this year when sOAZ plays for Origen at Worlds while Cyanide has retired from pro-gaming.

T-35.Acorn, Deft, Spirit, Heart: 8-5 (.615)

Samsung Blue sans Dade come in next on the ranking. While all five Blue members broke up to play on different LPL teams in 2015, two of them have made it back to the world-stage: Acorn with LGD Gaming and Deft with EDward Gaming. Both Chinese teams are considered favorites to win it all, so don't be surprised if either Acorn or Deft are in the Top 10 come the end of Season 5's Worlds.

34. Cloud: 5-3 (.625)

Cloud was the support that took over for Dada77 during last year's tournament on OMG. He came in during the quarterfinals and blanked NaJin White Shield in the first round. Cloud's Worlds run would end in the semifinals against SHRC, but it was good enough to put him in the unlikely 34th slot.

T-30. Gogoing, Lovelin, Cool, San: 15-9 (.625)

Weirdly enough, the rest of OMG from 2014 finished with the same win percentage as Cloud, but they got the edge due to having more wins. As mentioned before, OMG had a terrible year, trying to start an all-Chinese team while the rest of the league imported topflight Koreans. Gogoing and Lovelin both retired from pro-gaming following their disappointing season. Although considered a Chinese superpower in '13 and '14, OMG could never make a final, losing to Royal Club in back-to-back years.

29. xPeke: 19-11 (.633)

Xpeke comes in just above Cyanide and sOAZ in the rankings. That would be because of Xpeke's missing the first day of the 2011 World Championship. Fnatic went 1-2 without Xpeke on that day, he returned for the bracket stage, and the team went on to win it all. However, his ranking might be higher, but due to missing that one win, he doesn't get to join the rest of the players tied at a Worlds-high 20 victories.

28. Svenskeren: 2-1 (.666)

The true outlier of our ranking, Svenskeren didn't play in the first half of SK Gaming's 2014 group stage because of a suspension due to misbehavior online. Following a 0-3 start, he returned to the lineup, went 2-1 in his next three games, and then didn't play anymore games since SK didn't qualify for the next round.

T-17. Shy, CloudTemplar, RapidStar, Woong, MadLife, Shushei, LamiaZealot, Mellisan, kujaa, MoMa, Linak: 8-4 (.666)

This will be the final major logjam in the rankings. We have Azubu Frost from Season 2 that lost to the Taipaei Assassins in the final and old members from the Fnatic/aAa squads that were in the finals of Season 1. None of these players have made it back to Worlds since, and Madlife along with Shy are the only two players who haven't retired out of these players.

16. puszu: 10-5 (.666)

European fans who laughed at North America when retired players Saint and Elementz were the region's Top 2 players, meet Europe's #1 player: puszu. The Fnatic AD Carry started over the young Rekkles that was slated to take over in the 2014, and he made the most of the opportunity, going 10-5 and finishing in the Top 4.

15. bigpomelo: 7-3 (.700)

Chinese fans who laughed at North America and Europe's top players in the rankings, meet China's #1 player: bigpomelo. It's the same situation as with puszu, OMG running wild in the group stages with only one loss and then an exit in the bracket stage. Again, this list isn't subjective. I can only rank what the records give me.

T-11. Looper, DanDy, imp, Mata: 20-6 (.769)

Samsung White sans PawN from last year are just outside the top 10. Although White had a dominating run last year, their overall records were tarnished because of their terrible outing in 2013 where they didn't even make it out of groups under the Samsung Ozone brand. Imp will be the only member of this group that can bump up his score this tournament, playing alongside Acorn on LGD Gaming.

T-7. Stanley, Lilballz, Toyz, MiSTakE: 7-2 (.777)

The underdogs that won it all from Taiwan come in at the 7th spot sans Bebe. TPA were a team that no one really knew coming into the 2012 tournament, people knowing that they were good but not knowing how far they could actually go in the competition. TPA toppled the Korean giants Azubu Frost in the grand finals to take home the Summoner's Cup and put the Taiwanese scene on the map in League of Legends.

T-2. Impact, bengi, Faker, Piglet, PoohManDu: 15-3 (.833)

You probably thought SKT T1 and Faker were first, right? The picture of Faker as the title image. The only team in the Worlds history to sweep through the grand finals.

Nope.

SKT T1 tie for second, their close semifinal against NaJin Black Sword costing them the first place spot. If they had closed out NaJin one game sooner or didn't drop a game to OMG in the group stages, T1 would have tied for the top spot. Luckily for Faker and bengi, they're finally back to the World Championships and can become the first players in history to win two Summoner's Cups.

1. PawN: 15-2 (.882)

The Little General.

The King Slayer.

The non-believer that has time and time again beaten Faker, eliminating him from five tournaments over the past two years. PawN is not the best Worlds player of all-time. He's certainly a great player and was a vital part of Samsung White's title run last year, but he was carried early in the tournament when his shakiness got him in trouble. But, as I've said before, we can only go by what the records give us. Dade's terrible 2013 tournament stopped the rest of Samsung White from possibly being tied at the top spot, and PawN took over for Dade the next year and helped the same team win the tournament.

One step above his ultimate rival Faker, the King Slayer will meet his nemesis in the group stages in a battle that could be a preview of the Grand Finals come Halloween.

Tyler "Fionn" Erzberger is a staff writer for theScore eSports. He will never be doing another 194 man ranking ever again his life. You can follow him on Twitter.