I have very much accepted at this point that I am, in fact, a K-pop stan. Where I once spent my breaks watching Twitch, it’s now become a flurry of BTS and Enhypen videos, with Run BTS, Run Jin, and EN-O’CLOCK fully taking over my life. As expected from every rabid K-pop animal, I follow all of BTS on Instagram, definitely not tuning into every single story and video. I was shocked, then, to see that, in his post confirming that BTS wouldn’t be participating in the Grammy’s this year, Kim ‘V’ Tae-hyung had also seemingly attached confirmation that he’s reached Masters in League of Legends.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the League of Legends ranks, Master falls into the ‘apex tier,’ sitting just below Grandmaster and the highly coveted Challenger. Per Esports Tales, only 0.84% of players sit in this rank as of June 2026, with patch 26.09’s hard ranked reset clearing the decks somewhat. V, then, sits in the top 0.84% of players worldwide on the Korean server – notoriously the MOBA’s most competitive one. Nothing to smirk at, then.
This is made more impressive by the fact that BTS are currently on their world tour to celebrate new album Arirang; the first tour in seven years following their mandatory military service. Somehow, between performing, rehearsing, and travel, V has managed to hit Master – something a lot of League of Legends players can only dream of. Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok would be proud.
V confirmed his Master status in an Instagram story, showing the purple wings that border your in-game icon with the caption “Highest rank. Master. Solo/Duo.” He’s been keeping fans up to date – he hit Diamond 2 back in June – and I’ve been watching far too intently.
Using machine translation, the main body of post reads, “We have decided not to enter the Grammys this year. I hope the music itself can be heard and loved rather than being distinguished by region or language.” This refers to the group’s decision to pull out of the 2027 iteration of the award ceremony after the addition of the ‘Asian Pop’ category. The boycott has sparked mass discussion on whether or not K-pop, J-pop, and other Eastern music should have its own, separate award, or whether groups should simply be placed alongside other, Western artists. I firmly lean towards the latter, but ask me about that over a coffee sometime.
I find the intersection of K-pop and competitive videogames fascinating; we’ve seen V and Jung Kook play together (including LoL) on various BTS livestreams, and several Enhypen videos also make reference to League of Legends. It’s odd to see two seemingly polar opposite worlds collide, but as an avid fan of both, it consistently makes me smile.
V continues to impress, however – from Diamond 2 back in June all the way up to Master, I wonder if he’ll make Grandmaster (or maybe even Challenger) before the year is out. T1 V, please?
