Doinb

Kim Tae-sang (Korean: 김태상; born December 30, 1996), better known as Doinb (/ˈdɔɪnbi/ DOYN-bee), is a South Korean professional League of Legends player for LNG Esports. Doinb was the first player in the LPL to win the title of most valuable player twice; he won the title while playing for Qiao Gu Reapers and FunPlus Phoenix, in 2017^[2] and 2019^[3] respectively. On November 10, 2019, Doinb won his first international title after he and his team swept G2 Esports in the grand finals of the 2019 World Championship.^[4]

Career[]

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2015[]

Doinb began his career in 2015 when he was picked up by the Qiao Gu Reapers as their starting mid laner. In the Demacia Cup, the Qiao Gu Reapers placed third despite being an LSPL (secondary league to the LPL) team. After winning the finals of the 2015 Spring LSPL, Doinb won his first championship title,^[5] and his team qualified for the LPL. The Qiao Gu Reapers went on to defeat Invictus Gaming in their first LPL semifinal,^[6] but finished runner-up after losing to LGD in the final.

2016[]

In the 2016 LPL spring playoffs, Doinb and his team were defeated by Team WE in the third-place decider match, placing fourth overall. In May 2016, the Qiao Gu Reapers renamed to Newbee and Doinb was transferred to Newbee Young (Newbee's academy team in the LSPL) due to a conflict he had with the team's jungler, Swift.^[7] Newbee Young defeated Young Miracles 3–2 in the 2016 LSPL Summer finals, qualifying the team for the LPL and earning Doinb his second LSPL title. Newbee Young rebranded to QG Reapers due to LPL rules afterthefact.

2017[]

The QG Reapers placed third in the 2017 LPL Spring regular season. However, they were defeated by I May 2–3 in the first round of playoffs. In April Doinb was given the MVP award for the 2017 LPL Spring season. Before the summer season, QG Reapers was purchased by JD Gaming, and Doinb remained on the roster. In the first game of the Demacia Cup, JD Gaming lost to LGD and placed 9th–12th. JD Gaming failed to make the 2017 LPL Summer playoffs after ending with a 6–11 record. In the 2017 National Electronic Sports Tournament finals, JD Gaming lost to Invictus Gaming and finished runner-up. In December 2017, Doinb joined Rogue Warriors. Rogue Warriors lost to Invictus Gaming 1–2 in the 2017 Demacia Championship.

2018[]

In 2018 Rift Rivals, Doinb and his team won the Rift Rivals championship for the LPL, along with Royal Never Give Up, Edward Gaming and Invictus Gaming.^[8] Doinb moved to FunPlus Phoenix in December 2018.

2019[]

In the 2019 LPL Spring regular season, Doinb and his team FunPlus Phoenix placed first with a 13–2 record.^[9] They then lost to JD Gaming in the semifinals but won to the third-place decider match against TOPSPORTS Gaming.^[10] For his performance throughout the 2019 LPL Spring season, Doinb was again awarded the MVP title.^[11]

In the 2019 LPL Summer Split, FunPlus Phoenix once again finished first in the regular season and automatically qualified for the semifinals. In the semifinals they defeated Bilibili Gaming 3–1, qualifying them for the finals and the 2019 World Championship, as any result in the finals would allow them to qualify (i.e., a victory in the finals would give FunPlus Phoenix the first LPL seed, a loss would award them enough championship points to qualify by having the most).^[12] FunPlus Phoenix then defeated three-time champions Royal Never Give Up 3–1 in the finals, securing their first title.^[13]

For the main event group stage of the 2019 World Championship, FunPlus Phoenix was placed in Group B along with Splyce, J Team, and GAM Esports.^[14] After defeating Splyce in a tiebreaker match, FunPlus Phoenix qualified for the knockout stage as the first seed in their group.^[15][16] In the quarterfinals FunPlus Phoenix defeated Fnatic, which finished runner-up the year prior,^[17] and in the semifinals they defeated fellow LPL team and defending world champions Invictus Gaming to advance to the finals.^[18] After defeating G2 Esports 3–0 in the finals, Doinb and his team won their first international title and were crowned 2019 Worlds champions.^[4]

After playing in the league for five years, Doinb became the first foreigner to acquire LPL residency on December 12, 2019, meaning he would henceforth be considered a domestic player.^{[19][20][21][22]}

2020[]

In the 2020 LPL Summer Split playoffs, FunPlus Phoenix was eliminated in the first round by Victory Five.^[23]

At the 2020 LPL Regional Qualifier for Worlds 2020, FunPlus Phoenix was knocked out by Invictus Gaming in a Best of 5.^[24] Doinb and his teammates couldn't defend their title in Worlds 2020.

Player data[]

Source:^[25]

Achievements[]

Qiao Gu Reapers []

• 3rd — 2015 Demacia Cup
• 1st — 2015 Spring LSPL
• 2nd — 2015 Summer LPL
• 4th — 2016 Spring LPL

Newbee []

• 1st — 2016 Summer LSPL
• 5th–8th — 2017 Spring LPL

JD Gaming []

• 2nd — 2017 NEST

Rogue Warriors []

• 1st — 2018 Rift Rivals

FunPlus Phoenix []

• 1st — 2019 Spring LPL regular season
• 3rd — 2019 Spring LPL playoffs
• 1st — 2019 Summer LPL regular season
• 1st — 2019 Summer LPL playoffs
• 1st — 2019 World Championship
• 3rd — 2020 Spring LPL regular season
• 3rd — 2020 Spring LPL playoffs
• 5th – 2021 Spring LPL regular season
• 2nd – 2021 Spring LPL playoffs
• 1st - 2021 Summer LPL regular season
• 2nd - 2021 Summer LPL playoffs

Individual awards[]

• Best New Player in the LPL (2015)
• 2017 LPL Spring Split MVP
• 2019 LPL Spring Split MVP
• 2021 LPL Summer Split MVP
• 16th player to achieve 1,000 kills in the LPL (February 2019)^[26]
• First South Korean to play 300+ games in the LPL (March 2019)

Personal life[]

Doinb is married to Li Youzi (better known by her in-game name Tang Xiaoyou); he first met her when he was 18-years-old and still a new player in the LPL.^[27] At the time, Li was a professional player and official commentator for the online fighting game Dungeon Fighter Online.^[28] Doinb and Tang began dating in 2015, but they did not publicly reveal their relationship until 2016. On Doinb's 22nd birthday he proposed to Tang, who accepted.^[29]

References[]