Hitting Challenger in any League of Legends server is an impressive feat in itself, moreso if one is able to accomplish it on the Korean server. Soondangmu has hit that Challenger milestone and is one of the very few players that can add that achievement to her resume. Soondangmu is also one of the incredibly few female players that have broken the glass ceiling of higher-level play and has received less than positive reception from her fellow Korean challengers.
Here’s a video of the in-game promotion, but be warned, because there’s a lot of screaming.
Current League of Legends World Champions Ghost and Beryl, the bot lane for Damwon KIA, saw this accomplishment and were unimpressed for the most part. When reading about this post in the background of Prince’s stream (ADC for Liiv Sandbox), the duo did not specifically know whom they were speaking about. Neither Ghost nor Beryl saw this feat as anything extraordinary and deemed the support main as a simple backline Lulu player. This has drawn enough backlash for DWK to make a Facebook post apologize for the conduct of its players.
Ohq and PawN, both retired League of Legends veterans, have also downplayed Soondangmu’s Challenger run, especially PawN who does not consider Challenger support players as ‘real’ Challengers. Both Ohq and PawN have since issued apologies for their conduct.
Even Ashley Kang, the reporter best known for connecting the LCK to Western audiences for years, made a post regarding this incident using the infamous pizza fire meme.
Upon learning about the criticism levied against her, Soondangmu was reportedly distressed as she had taken inspiration from Beryl for her support playstyle. Soondangmu is one of the most skilled players in the world and she represents the minority of female players in the League of Legends ecosystem. Although this controversy was messy, female representation is slowly but surely increasing, especially in the CBLOL, where six new female athletes will be competing this upcoming season.
