On December 9th, Niklot met “Tolkin” Stüber finally on LoL world champion T1 and especially on Faker at the Red Bull League of Its Own event in the Velodrome in Berlin. MeinMMO author Fabienne Kissel was there and spoke to Tolkin.
A notice: The cover photo is an edited collage, using images from the Red Bull League of Its Own 2023 content pool. Photographer Credit ©: Marius Faulhaber / Red Bull Content Pool.
It’s the dream of many “League of Legends” professionals and streamers: to compete against the best of the best – we’re talking about the Unkillable Demon King Faker and T1. The man is a living legend – the Goat.
For German LoL player, caster and streamer Niklot Tolkin Stüber, who officially co-streamed Worlds 2023, this dream became a reality at the Red Bull League of Its Own event. As a huge fan, he had previously been happy that Faker was able to win his fourth world championship title – now he could play with his team NNO Old against world champions T1.
He wasn’t sure whether the whole thing would actually happen, as he tells us:
For me it was absolutely surreal that the whole thing could happen. […] The concept was presented to me about six months ago. For the last few months I’ve thought to myself that T1 would never come here. Faker had an injured wrist, the question was whether the roster would stay together, whether they would even make the playoffs and go to the Worlds, all of that was questionable.
And especially because T1’s schedule is very busy all year round, I thought maybe they would like to have a little vacation too, the boys. That they then did it, came here and I wasn’t just allowed to play against them – I was also allowed to interview them.
There were over 7,000 people in the arena and everyone was up for this event. […] Absolute dream come true. […] Great of Red Bull and especially great of the fans for making the whole thing possible. […] I am eternally grateful for that.
Tolkin at the Red Bull League of Its Own event
Tolkin fulfilled his dream of meeting T1 and especially Faker
The opportunity to not only play against T1 but also interview them was a highlight for Tolkin, he pointed out. He emphasized how nervous he was and said about the interview with T1:
It was only clear half a day before that I was allowed to interview T1. And I actually sat writing questions until 2 a.m. […] I was super nervous, I didn’t know how to handle it because I’m a tough fanboy. I’m a big, big fan of this line-up, this team – and especially of Faker.
And I only slept for 2 hours. I was much more nervous before the interview [mit T1] than before the game. […] In general, they are extremely polite and, above all, very professional.
Tolkin at the Red Bull League of Its Own event
T1 gave Tolkin a unique gift
After the interview with T1, Tolkin even received a very special gift from the entire team – namely his own T1 jersey with his name on the back, which Faker and the entire team also signed.
You can see the moment here:
Rock star feeling when playing against T1
The impressive emotional match NNO Old vs T1 caused a real fan frenzy in the velodrome. We wanted to know what it felt like for Tolkin to play at this event and whether NNO expected so many fans:
We didn’t know exactly what extent it would be. It can sometimes be hard to visualize 7,000 people. The largest arena I’ve ever played e-sports in was around 4,000 people and that was almost double that.
[…] And that there were so many people for us that the whole hall went wild – even the T1 boys turned to us when we ran in. […] It was extremely cool to experience that feeling, almost like a rock star. Incredible, once in a lifetime opportunity and that was wonderful.
Tolkin at Red Bull League of Its Own
Tolkin is a big fan of Faker, if not the biggest
During our conversation it became clear again and again how great Tolkin’s enthusiasm is for the LoL superstar and how happy he was that he was able to fulfill his lifelong dream of meeting Faker. He highlighted how much of a fanboy he is of T1 and especially Faker.
What Tolkin shared about his dream of meeting Faker:
Super cool, […] It was definitely crazy, especially to meet Faker and then play against him. […] I even killed him in game. […] That was really wonderful. […] I don’t know what the increase might be, if there is one.
Tolkin at Red Bull League of Its Own
The moment he killed Faker in Game happened at minute 24, which Tolkin also posted on X.
On the toplane against T1 Zeus: He was by far the objectively best toplaner today
In the match against T1, Tolkin picked the champion Camille and Zeus then picked Vayne, so a hard counterpick against Camille. As an Aatrox fan, he had hoped that Zeus would play Aatrox, which is why he picked Camille. Zeus is one of the best Aatrox players, if not the best.
We wanted to know what it was like for Tolkin to play against T1 Zeus on the toplane. He had been looking forward to this for a long time:
[…] At first I felt a little bad because he had already hit me hard. But then I saw Wunder, Viziscacsi, Cabochard all destroyed. BrokenBlade also from Zeus.
He was by far the objectively best top planner today. That was somewhat clear from the start. […] Zeus is incredibly young, […] is already world champion and LCK champion. […] I won the German championship a few times, the man is in a much better position.
Tolkin at Red Bull League of Its Own Zeus now had to pick a toplaner that has an SKT skin
Tolkin later reflected on the match and the entire event in his stream and explained why it was his own fault that Zeus had chosen Vayne:
[…] I really wanted to play Camille against Aatrox. And of course I already realized at that point that we were playing against SKT-Draft. […] But as Camille prep bans […]we took out Jax and Renekton.
Both Jax and Renekton are champions who have a SKT T1 skin. Tolkin said in his stream: Zeus now had to pick a toplaner who has an SKT skin – in this case Vayne. Because all T1 players chose a champion with an SKT skin. Faker, who rarely plays with skin, chose the T1 Azir skin from player Easyhoon.
He emphasized that Vayne was a hard counter to Camille, but Zeus no longer had a choice. That’s why you have to say at this point that it’s your own fault if you could have thought of it.
You can see the clip here:
Tolkin asked T1 toplaner Zeus for tips
In Tolkin’s interview with T1, he told us that he asked top planner Zeus for tips for the Aatrox matchup. Zeus’ reaction when he realized he would be playing against Tolkin the next day was, in Tolkin’s words: Huh, I’m not giving you any tips, I want to win – which Tolkin found funny and incredibly endearing of Zeus.
Huge thank you from Tolkin to the community
At the end of our interview, we asked Tolkin if he had anything else he would like to share with the community. These are his words to you:
I would just like to thank you again, because yes, it wasn’t possible for me to play against Faker as a pro player – but as a content creator it was possible. And that’s only because of the people, just because of the people who were here, who were up for it.
That’s why Red Bull invited us too. You could feel that in the arena, it was a lot of fun – the people at home were also really keen on watching us. The way this passion for esports has been passed on, to everyone, and given back, is something to be eternally grateful for. It only works thanks to the people who are up for it at home, who are up for it here.
Tolkin at Red Bull League of Its Own
Disclaimer: MeinMMO was on site as a press representative at the Red Bull League of Its Own event. The costs for entry, travel and stay were borne by the organizers.
I myself also watched the match between Tolkin and his team NNO Old vs T1 live and it was the most emotional match I have ever experienced: I was there live when the German team NNO lost to world champions T1