How An "Inter" Changed League of Legends Forever

Summary

Thebausffs, known for his unconventional and polarizing playstyle in League of Legends, has redefined the game's perception of KDA and bounties. Despite accusations of intentional feeding, he has achieved top rankings and influenced game mechanics. His unique approach, focusing on gold and objectives over kills, has earned him both a massive following and criticism, showcasing his talent and impact on the gaming community.

Takeaways

• 🎮 Thebausffs, or Simon Hofverberg, is a polarizing figure in League of Legends known for his unconventional and high-risk playstyle, often resulting in a negative KDA.
• 🏆 Despite his playstyle, Thebausffs has achieved remarkable success, reaching rank one on the EUW server and Challenger on the world's most competitive server within a month.
• 👶 Thebausffs started his gaming journey at a young age, inspired by watching his older brother play World of Warcraft and later playing League of Legends from Season 2.
• 💻 After high school, he pursued a career as a Twitch streamer against his parents' wishes, eventually proving his potential with early streaming success.
• 🔥 Thebausffs' playstyle, particularly with champion Sion, involves prioritizing gold and objectives over kills, often resulting in a high death count but strategic advantages for his team.
• 📉 He has been accused of 'inting' or intentionally feeding, which has led to widespread controversy and even calls for a permaban, but his skill and impact on the game are undeniable.
• 🏹 Thebausffs is credited with creating the 'inting Sion' strategy, which involves trading deaths for gold and objectives, exploiting the game's bounty system to minimize his own bounty while maximizing team advantages.
• 📈 His success and unique approach to the game have influenced changes in League of Legends, including adjustments to the bounty system and champion nerfs.
• 📺 Thebausffs' YouTube channel and Twitch streams have grown significantly, with his Ultimate Sion Guide video gaining nearly 2 million views and boosting his popularity.
• 🌐 In 2022, Thebausffs moved to Korea to play on the Korean server, quickly reaching Challenger status and further solidifying his reputation as an elite player.
• 🔄 Thebausffs' influence on the game has been a double-edged sword, earning him both admiration for his skill and innovation, as well as criticism for the perceived negative impact on gameplay experience for others.

Q & A

Who is Thebausffs, and what is his significance in the League of Legends community?

Thebausffs, also known as Simon Hofverberg, is a high-level League of Legends player known for his unconventional playstyle and significant influence on the game's meta. He has achieved rank one on the EUW server and reached Challenger on the world's most competitive server, despite often having a negative KDA.

How did Thebausffs start his gaming journey?

Thebausffs began his gaming journey by watching his older brother play World of Warcraft at a young age. He got his first computer at the age of six and started playing League of Legends during Season 2 at the age of 12.

What was the deal Thebausffs made with his parents regarding his streaming career?

Thebausffs made a deal with his parents to pursue a career in streaming on Twitch instead of going to university. His parents, seeing his potential, allowed him to embark on this career path.

What is unique about Thebausffs's playstyle, and how does it differ from traditional KDA-focused strategies?

Thebausffs's playstyle focuses on gold and objectives over kills, often resulting in a negative KDA. He is known for playing off-meta champions and prioritizing turrets and gold over personal survival, exploiting the game's bounty system to his advantage.

What is 'Bausen’s Law' and how does it relate to Thebausffs's approach to the game?

Bausen’s Law, a term coined by Thebausffs, states that every turret plating equals one kill, and every turret equals two kills. This law reflects his focus on objectives and gold over traditional kill counts, emphasizing the value of map control.

How did Thebausffs exploit the bounty system in League of Legends to his advantage?

Thebausffs exploited the bounty system by making himself worth as little gold as possible through frequent deaths without kills. This allowed him to farm and take objectives safely, as his opponents gained less gold for killing him.

What was the impact of Thebausffs's playstyle on the League of Legends community and professional play?

Thebausffs's playstyle has been both influential and controversial. It has inspired many players to adopt similar strategies, leading to changes in the game's bounty system and champion balance. His skill has also earned him spots on professional teams as a substitute.

What was the significance of Thebausffs's Ultimate Sion Guide video on his career and the game?

The Ultimate Sion Guide video was a turning point for Thebausffs, garnering nearly 2 million views and significantly increasing his popularity. It also led to a surge in AD Sion play, which was both emulated and criticized by the community.

How did Thebausffs's move to the Korean server impact his career and the perception of his skills?

Thebausffs's move to the Korean server and his rapid rise to Challenger status there silenced critics who doubted his skills. It demonstrated his ability to compete at the highest level in one of the most competitive gaming environments.

What changes did Riot Games make in response to Thebausffs's influence on the game?

In response to Thebausffs's playstyle, Riot Games made significant nerfs to the champion Sion and adjusted the bounty system to reduce the effectiveness of his strategy. This included changes to how bounties are calculated based on gold disparity and team standings.

What is the current status of Thebausffs's streaming and content creation career?

As of the script's knowledge cutoff, Thebausffs continues to be a prominent figure in the League of Legends community with over 1.25 million Twitch followers and over 800,000 YouTube subscribers, maintaining a consistent presence through streaming and content creation.

Outlines

00:00

🎮 The Rise of Thebausffs: Redefining KDA in League of Legends

This paragraph introduces the concept of KDA in gaming and presents Thebausffs, a controversial figure known for his unconventional playstyle that often results in a negative KDA. Despite accusations of intentionally feeding, Thebausffs has achieved high rankings, including reaching rank one on the EUW server and Challenger status on the world's most competitive server. Thebausffs, whose real name is Simon Hofverberg, started gaming at a young age, inspired by his older brother, and became determined to become a streamer after high school. His early success on Twitch is attributed to his unique playstyle and personality, which includes a focus on gold and objectives over traditional kills.

05:02

🛡️ Baus's Unconventional Playstyle and 'Bausen's Law'

The paragraph delves into Thebausffs's unique approach to playing League of Legends, particularly with his off-meta champions and his main, Sion. Baus's playstyle involves prioritizing gold and objectives over kills, even at the cost of his own deaths. The concept of 'Bausen's Law' is introduced, which values turrets and their platings equivalent to kills, emphasizing the importance of map control over individual player kills. This strategy exploits the game's bounty system, where a player's worth in gold decreases with each death without a kill, allowing Baus to farm and create advantages for his team while minimizing the gold reward for enemies killing him.

10:04

🏆 Thebausffs's Competitive Success and Impact on the Game

This section highlights Thebausffs's competitive achievements, including his consistent high rankings and his brief stint as a professional player with G2 eSports and Berlin International Gaming. Despite not making official appearances, his inclusion in professional teams underscores his skill and reputation. The paragraph also discusses the popularity of his streaming and YouTube channel, which grew significantly after he posted his Ultimate Sion Guide, a detailed video that contributed to the rise of the AD Sion playstyle and sparked controversy among players who attempted to emulate it without understanding the strategic depth behind his decisions.

15:05

🤣 Thebausffs's Fun-Loving Attitude and Community Reaction

The paragraph discusses Thebausffs's lighthearted and enjoyable approach to gaming, which contrasts with the more serious demeanor often found in high-level play. His fun-loving attitude and ability to joke around have endeared him to viewers, making him relatable and entertaining. Thebausffs's popularity and influence are evident in his Twitch and YouTube growth, as well as his invitation to join the LEC Summer Split's casting booth in 2021. However, his unique playstyle and the spread of the AD Sion strategy have also attracted criticism and calls for him to be permabanned, with some blaming him for influencing lower-level players to intentionally feed in their games.

20:09

🌐 Thebausffs's Korean Server Triumph and Game Influence

The final paragraph details Thebausffs's move to the Korean server, where he quickly climbed the ranks and achieved Challenger status in just 23 days, playing alongside renowned pros like Faker. This accomplishment further solidified his reputation as an elite player. The paragraph also touches on the backlash that followed, with Riot Games making significant nerfs to Sion and the bounty system, seemingly in response to Thebausffs's playstyle. Despite this, Thebausffs remains unbothered and continues to dominate, showcasing his adaptability and skill. His influence on the game is undeniable, having changed the course of League of Legends and inspiring countless players to adopt his strategies.

Keywords

💡KDA

KDA stands for 'Kill/Death/Assist ratio', a statistic used in multiplayer online battle arena games like League of Legends to measure a player's performance in a match. A high KDA indicates a player has contributed significantly to their team's success without dying often. In the script, KDA is mentioned to contrast with Thebausffs' unconventional playstyle, where he often has a negative KDA but still achieves high ranks due to his focus on objectives and gold.

💡Thebausffs

Thebausffs, or Simon Hofverberg, is a professional League of Legends player known for his unique and controversial playstyle. He is a central figure in the video, having influenced the game's meta and mechanics with his strategies. Thebausffs is credited with popularizing the 'inting Sion' playstyle, which focuses on objectives over traditional KDA, challenging the conventional understanding of player performance.

💡Inting

Inting, derived from 'intentional feeding', refers to the act of deliberately dying in a game to provide the opposing team with an advantage, often seen as a negative behavior. However, in the context of the script, Thebausffs uses a form of 'inting' as a strategic choice, where he sacrifices his KDA for gold and objectives, leading to a different kind of advantage for his team.

💡Bausen's Law

Bausen's Law is a term coined by Thebausffs to articulate his philosophy on the value of objectives over kills. It suggests that taking down turrets is equivalent to getting kills, emphasizing the importance of map control and gold accumulation over the traditional focus on kills. This concept is central to understanding Thebausffs' playstyle and his impact on the game's strategy.

💡Bounty System

The Bounty System in League of Legends is a mechanic that assigns a gold value to players based on their performance in the game. A player with many kills and no deaths has a high bounty, making them a lucrative target for the opposing team. Thebausffs exploited this system by minimizing his own bounty while maximizing his gold income through farming and objectives, as discussed in the script.

💡Twitch

Twitch is a live streaming platform often used by gamers to broadcast their gameplay. Thebausffs started his Twitch channel in June 2018, and it played a significant role in his rise to fame. The platform is where he showcased his unique playstyle and attracted a large following, which is a key part of the narrative in the video.

💡Sion

Sion is a champion in League of Legends known for his tankiness and utility. Thebausffs is a Sion main, particularly favoring a full AD (Attack Damage) build. His innovative playstyle with Sion, including the 'inting' strategy, has made the champion popular and has led to changes in the game's mechanics, as mentioned in the script.

💡EUW Server

The EUW (Europe West) server is one of the servers in League of Legends where players from Europe can compete. Thebausffs is noted for hitting rank one on this server, showcasing his high skill level. The EUW server is part of the backdrop against which Thebausffs' achievements are measured.

💡Challenging the Meta

Challenging the Meta refers to the act of playing against the most popular or effective strategies in a game. Thebausffs is described as having a revolutionary gameplay that changes people's perception of the game, indicating that he does not follow the conventional meta but instead creates his own, influencing others to do the same.

💡Riot Games

Riot Games is the developer and publisher of League of Legends. The company is responsible for maintaining game balance and introducing changes to the game's mechanics. In the script, Riot Games is mentioned as having made changes to the game in response to Thebausffs' playstyle, such as nerfing Sion and adjusting the bounty system.

💡Casting Booth

The term 'casting booth' refers to the area where commentators or casters provide live commentary during esports events. Thebausffs was invited to join the casting booth for the LEC (League of Legends European Championship) Summer Split in 2021, indicating his recognition within the professional League of Legends community despite the controversy surrounding his playstyle.

Highlights

Thebausffs, or Simon Hofverberg, is known for his unconventional and polarizing playstyle in League of Legends, which has influenced the game's meta and mechanics.

Despite frequent deaths and negative KDA, Thebausffs has achieved high ranks, including hitting rank one on the EUW server and Challenger on the world's most competitive server.

Thebausffs' playstyle focuses on gold and objectives over kills, with a unique approach to exploiting the game's bounty system.

His strategy, referred to as 'Bausen’s Law,' equates turret platings and kills, emphasizing the importance of objectives over individual player deaths.

Thebausffs is a Sion main, credited with creating the 'inting Sion' playstyle, which prioritizes gold farming and turret destruction over survival.

Thebausffs' success and streaming growth can be attributed to his skill, unique playstyle, and fun-loving attitude, making him relatable and entertaining to watch.

His YouTube channel and Twitch streams showcase his gameplay and strategies, gaining significant popularity and influence.

Thebausffs' high-level play and streaming success have led to professional opportunities, including a stint with G2 eSports and Berlin International Gaming.

His 'Ultimate Sion Guide' YouTube video became viral, significantly increasing his viewership and Twitch followers.

Thebausffs' influence has led to changes in how players and even Riot Games view and balance certain aspects of League of Legends.

His playstyle has been both celebrated and criticized, with some accusing him of encouraging negative gameplay behaviors among lower-elo players.

Riot Games has made changes to the bounty system and champion balance in response to Thebausffs' strategies, impacting the game's meta.

Thebausffs' trip to Korea, where he quickly reached Challenger rank, further solidified his reputation as an elite player.

His success in Korea and continued streaming has led to a rapid increase in his Twitch and YouTube following.

Thebausffs' influence extends beyond his playstyle, as he has also been invited to participate in the LEC Summer Split as a guest caster.

Despite controversies and hate from some segments of the community, Thebausffs maintains a positive attitude and continues to innovate within the game.

Thebausffs' career and impact on League of Legends demonstrate the power of unconventional strategies and the ability to challenge established norms in gaming.

Transcripts

Let’s just face it; from time to time, everybody  feeds. Whether you’re Iron V or Challenger,  

we all have the occasional (let’s be real,  frequent) game where we stack up more deaths  

than kills. And for most of us, a negative KDA is  something that we avoid at all costs. It’s like  

the certificate of sucking. But what if someone  flipped our idea of KDA on its head? Thebausffs  

is one of the most polarizing figures in League of  Legends, regularly stacking up death after death,  

rarely ever posting a positive KDA, and being  accused of inting to the point where there have  

been widespread requests for him to receive a  permaban. However, he regularly plays at the  

game’s absolute highest level, hit rank one on  the EUW server, and even hit Challenger on the  

world’s most competitive server in less than a  month’s time. So, who is Thebausffs? And how did  

his irrational and revolutionary gameplay change  not only people’s perception of bounties and KDA,  

but of League of Legends as a whole? This  is LoLAthlete, and today we’re looking  

at the Ingenious Rise of Baus. Thebausffs, or Simon Hofverberg,  

was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and like  countless other gamers out there, he got his  

start spending hours watching his older brother  play World of Warcraft as a young kid. Seriously,  

what is it about watching an older sibling play  WoW? It beats going to the movie theater. Anyway,  

at the age of six, the Baus got his first  computer of his own, and embarked on his own  

gaming journey. It was at the age of 12, however,  that his current trajectory began, and he started  

playing League of Legends back in Season 2.  The Baus played League all through high school,  

and once he graduated, he was determined to become  a streamer at all costs. He knew he had talent,  

and he felt that he had the personality it took  to become a Twitch personality. While his parents  

were, surprise surprise, not totally on board with  the idea and were pushing him to go to university,  

the Baus made a deal with them. (about 6:05 here  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh8rNpcuPns) Lucky  

for him, the Baus’s parents seemed to see his  potential, and they let him embark on a Twitch  

career. He started his Twitch channel in June  of 2018, and his gamble quickly paid off. By  

the end of his first year, the Baus had amassed  over 7,000 followers and was averaging a couple  

hundred viewers per stream. Achieving something  like that in your first year of streaming  

is incredibly impressive, and the Baus’s early  success can be attributed to a number of factors.  

First and foremost, it’s impossible to talk  about the Baus without talking about his  

playstyle. Remember when we talked about the KDA?  And the inting? This is where that all comes in.  

If you take a look at the Baus’s op.gg account,  you’ll see that on every single one of his most  

popular champions, he never averages more  kills than deaths. His top four champs have  

the following K/D ratios: 5/11, 5/8, 3/9, and  4/10. Wait a second; didn’t we say this guy  

hit Rank One? What gives? These sound like my  numbers. The answer really is simple. The Baus  

developed a style of play that while it appears  to many to be intentional feeding, is actually a  

precise and highly intuitive style that brutally  punishes the enemy team and exploits weaknesses in  

the very structures of League of Legends. (you  can find footage of him dying from any of his  

videos https://www.youtube.com/@Thebausffs) The Baus has been able to play a number of  

off-meta toplane champs on an insanely high  level. Quinn, AP Irelia, and Rammus, to name  

a few. But despite having a few different go-to  champions, the Baus is ultimately a Sion main.  

Full AD Sion to be precise. And the Baus is more  or less credited with creating “inting Sion.” But  

what the Baus does is far from trolling. He will  regularly keep himself parked in the top lane,  

prioritizing gold above anything else, even if  it means his death. He will regularly die over  

and over again if it means gaining a gold  advantage in some other way, and Sion’s  

passive allows him to clean up turrets and enemy  champions even after he’s died on the Rift.  

The playstyle really comes down to a few main  components. One is the theory of “Bausen’s Law,”  

a term coined by…you know…the Baus. Simply put,  Bausen’s Law states that every turret plating  

equals one kill, and every turret equals two  kills. So if you’re 0/3 but you’ve taken down  

two turrets, you’re actually 4/3. Pretty airtight  logic right? Bausen’s Law speaks to the Baus’  

focus on gold and objectives over kills. If he  has an opportunity to down a turret but it means  

the enemy laner will kill him in the process,  he’ll take that trade 99 out of 100 times. It’s  

all about creating advantages for your team. You may be asking, how can the Baus possibly be  

creating an advantage for his team if all he  does is die? Isn’t he just feeding the enemy  

team endless gold? And that speaks to the  other core tenet of the Baus’s playstyle.  

He found a way to exploit League’s bounty system. Most of us are familiar with how the bounty system  

works in League of Legends. Although there have  been recent changes which we’ll discuss later,  

the system the Baus abused was straightforward:  When a player keeps getting kills without dying,  

they generate a bounty to be collected once they  are eventually brought down. Alternatively, the  

more a champion dies without ever getting a kill,  the less gold they are worth. There are other  

factors at play as well, such as gold earned from  CS as well as assists, but the quickest way for a  

bounty to go up or down is from champion kills. If  an enemy is Legendary, they could be worth 1,000  

gold if they’re killed, whereas a player who is  0/6 will be worth 100. The bounty system is in  

place to offer losing teams more of an opportunity  to come back. If the enemy carry was fed during  

lane phase but your assassin successfully  picks them off, that gives a huge boost  

to your own carry, hopefully tipping the scales  and making the game more even in the long run.  

So the Baus used the bounty system to  his advantage by making himself worth as  

little gold as possible. By sticking to side  lanes, farming, and focusing on objectives,  

he created gold for himself and his team without  focusing on kills. And if he died in the process,  

all that would do would make him worth even less  gold. He’d then go back to lane and continue to  

do the same thing. This was something that while  extremely effective, highlighted some inherent  

flaws in the bounty system of League, and is most  likely a big factor in the most recent changes.  

Basically, Baus was able to manipulate the  bounty system to the point where he would be  

worth nothing to kill, but from his consistent  farming and objective takedowns, he could have  

more total gold than the opposing team. As a  result, his opponent, while far behind on paper,  

would actually have a bounty that could then  be utilized by Baus’s teammate or himself. The  

losing player would be worth far more gold. Later  on in the game with enough items under his belt,  

the Baus would look for picks on weak  champions in order to secure even more gold,  

and he would stand a lot to gain while another  death on his end wouldn’t make much of a  

difference for the enemy team. Essentially,  Baus turned Sion into a huge, irritating,  

pestering juggernaut. He would consistently split  push and soak up as much pressure as possible,  

to the point where the enemy team was forced to  come and deal with him or risk losing their nexus.  

The only problem was killing him didn’t gain them  any gold. So at a certain point in Baus’s games,  

his enemies would have no choice but to send  everyone over to stop his split push for no  

reward. The Baus believes that when behind in  kills, you become the ultimate playmaker. (21:10  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jFRkGEwWuw&ab_channel=Myth-LeagueofLegends)  

Baus’s playstyle, while unorthodox and seemingly  troll-y, was by no means ineffective. Another  

reason the Baus’s stream grew so fast? The man  is an insanely skilled player. He ended the  

season in Challenger in four consecutive  seasons from season 7 through season 10,  

and was able to maintain a rank in the top ten  for the entirety of the 2018 season. People love  

to watch pros excel at their craft, and the  Baus was no exception. He was consistently  

competitive at the highest possible level, and he  even hit rank one in EU West in January of 2019.  

Lastly, the Baus brought a sort of  fun-loving attitude that can sometimes  

be missing in high-level players. As his play  style suggests, the Baus loved to joke around,  

have fun, and just enjoy playing League of  Legends. While he still gave out tips on his  

stream, telling his viewers why he made certain  decisions or approached the game the way he did,  

the Baus’s main goal was always to have fun on  stream. And boy did that translate. From his  

on-screen antics to his popularizing certain  phrases like “we shilling” and “Solo-Bolo,”  

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ_b_cJsMr8&pp=ygUYY2hpbmVzZSBjYXN0ZXIgc29sbyBib2xv  

) the Baus quickly cemented himself as one  of the goofiest, most good-natured players in  

League. Oftentimes when players reach a certain  level, their stream becomes strictly analytic,  

and any disruption to their rank can cause them to  slip and get tilted. With the Baus, as long as he  

was goofing off and enjoying himself, that was all  that mattered. He smiled through ups and downs,  

even hate from the community and bans from Riot  (another topic we’ll get to later). People loved  

watching Baus because he was relatable and fun in  addition to being one of the best players in the  

world. That’s a hard combination to achieve. The Baus continued to grow in popularity as his  

career progressed, and It was in early 2019,  sitting at rank one with his Twitch channel  

gaining steam, that the Baus made a couple more  big moves. Firstly, he began his YouTube channel,  

which consisted of stream highlights  and continued to grow his audience.  

Most videos garnered less than 100 thousand  views with the occasional viral exception,  

but The Baus’s channel would take off in due time,  due to two more factors we’ll touch on later.  

The other career move the Baus made at this time  was his brief foray into professional play. In  

January of 2019, he joined G2 eSports as a top  lane substitute, and held a spot on the G2 roster,  

as well as the roster for their academy team  G2 Heretics, until the contract expired in  

November. The following year, he held the same  position for Berlin International Gaming from  

January to November of 2020. While he didn’t  make any official professional appearances,  

the fact that the Baus was selected for a  professional team says a lot not only about  

his skill at the game but his reputation in the  pro scene. Considering how many people view him as  

a negative influence on the game, the fact that  professionals are willing to add him to their  

roster, even as a substitute, speaks volumes. The Baus’s time in pro play was short and limited,  

but it was another event in 2020 that really  started to get the ball rolling for him in a big  

way. In late March, with almost 28,000 followers  on Twitch, the Baus posted his Ultimate Sion Guide  

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzQ7s5r7NiA&t=1630s)  on his YouTube channel. The over half hour-long  

video went into depth about every aspect  of playing the Undead Juggernaut. The Baus  

discussed runes, masteries, items, and gameplay  for every situation and phase of the game. He  

spoke about his tactics and explained when and  why he trades deaths for objectives. The video  

was massively popular, gathering almost 2 million  views on YouTube and resulting in a massive spike  

in his popularity. From then on, every video on  his channel got hundreds of thousands of views,  

numbers he was barely ever able to hit before. And  his Twitch began to grow at a rapid pace. Whereas  

he had 28,000 followers at the time of his video,  by the end of 2020 he had amassed over 222,000.  

His channel had gained almost 200 thousand  followers in a matter of months, and this was  

in many ways still the beginning for the Baus. This is probably a good time to talk about some  

of the flame that the Baus gets, as it can largely  be traced back to this video. As we said before,  

the Baus is more or less credited with creating  “inting Sion” as a playstyle. And after his guide  

came out, as you can expect, we started seeing  a lot more AD Sion tops, almost always running  

it down lane and dying countless times. This was  the epitome of a playstyle that was fun to watch  

and to play, but not so fun to play with or  against…See, for people watching the Baus on  

stream or glancing through his guides, it really  can look like all he does is charge lane, die, and  

pick up the occasional kill with his passive. But  most people don’t realize just how much thought  

goes into every decision the Baus makes. A lot of  the players trying to emulate him didn’t take into  

account when to control waves, where and when  to apply pressure, and when it was advantageous  

to trade life for strategic purposes. As a result, full AD inting Sion became a complete  

menace on the Fields of Justice, and players were  not happy about it. The Baus got the majority of  

the hate from this phenomenon, as people believed  he was responsible for influencing all of these  

lower level players to intentionally feed their  games. There were calls for the Baus to be  

permabanned, with some people saying he was one of  the worst things to ever happen to the game. Now,  

clearly the Baus isn’t any more responsible for  what other players choose to do than anyone else,  

and if people try to emulate his style and fail  miserably, is he really to blame? That’s for you  

to decide. Regardless, players around the world  called for the Baus to be punished for inspiring  

lower-elo players to grief their teammates. The  Baus has even received bans from Riot in the past,  

citing intentional feeding, but after being  appealed and reviewed, the bans were overturned,  

with Riot announcing they had made a mistake.  Even the almighty Riot staff dropped hints that  

the Baus should change his tune. Throughout all  of this, the Baus has maintained his fun-loving,  

goofball attitude, and never let the  hate get him down. At the end of the day,  

League is just a game, and the Baus treats  it as such. He has fun with his teammates,  

he has fun with his Twitch chat, and he  has fun with Sion. Despite the hate he’s  

received for popularizing a seemingly troll-y  playstyle, the Baus has kept his head held  

high. He even received an invitation to join the  casting booth for the LEC Summer Split in 2021,  

which also made some people unhappy. Here was a  guy who had climbed to the top of the leaderboards  

by dying time after time after time, and now  Riot was rewarding him with a coveted guest  

casting position. The more success the Baus  got, the more people felt it was undeserved.  

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZJ20v1ZS-U&pp=ygUSdGhlYmF1c2ZmcyBjYXN0aW5n)  

While his Sion guide in 2020 kickstarted a  huge spike of growth for the Baus’s popularity,  

it wasn’t until 2022 that he reached his  final form. The Baus’s channel continued to  

grow throughout 2020 and 2021, and by April  of 2022, he had over 500,000 followers on  

Twitch. That month, he decided to do what many  other streamers and content creators attempted,  

and he moved to Korea to join the Korean server  and see how high he could climb. That’s right;  

the Baus was a part of Korean boot camp. And  this is where he really earned his stripes.  

There’s no beating around the bush here.  The Baus crushed it in Korea. He won the  

vast majority of his games, gained respect  from Korean pros like Ruler and Showmaker  

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jFRkGEwWuw), and  ended up getting to challenger in just 23 days. 23  

days to reach challenger in the hardest server in  the world. Oh, and he played with Faker. This is  

like the ultimate fantasy for a League player. Any  naysayers who felt like the Baus’s high elo was  

a fluke were silenced by his trip to Korea,  and considering the fact that he streamed the  

entire ordeal, this is really what provided his  Twitch and YouTube channels with an atomic boost.  

On April 1st, the Baus had 551,000 followers  on Twitch. By early May, that number was over  

700,000. In one month, the man had gained almost  150,000 followers. His YouTube videos went from  

getting anywhere from 100 to 500 thousand views to  600 thousand at the lowest. This trip to Korea did  

a couple of things. It made The Baus even more  popular than he already was, and it completely  

cemented him as an elite player, whether anyone  liked it or not. Reaching challenger in EUW  

is one thing. Reaching challenger in Korea  is another. This man is a special talent.  

Needless to say, The Baus’s trip to Korea provided  another huge spike not only to his own popularity,  

but to the popularity of Sion, which resulted  in a brand new wave of hate. This time,  

however, it seemed like the hate  was maybe coming from higher up.  

Immediately after his trip to Korea, Riot  announced huge nerfs to Sion, lowering his damage  

in zombie form against structures, including basic  attacks as well as on-hit effects. On stream,  

the Baus reacted to the changes, and surprisingly  enough seemed unbothered by them. He went on  

to say that if the nerf didn’t stretch into  runes and items, as was the case on the PBE,  

Sion would really be fine. Lo and behold,  the next day when the changes went live,  

Riot had expanded the nerf to effect runes and  items, and the reduced damage to structures  

became even more severe. At this point, it felt  personal for the Baus, like Riot was out to get  

him. Whether or not you think Riot listened to  the stream and made more changes accordingly is  

up to you. But that seems a little fishy to me…  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jFRkGEwWuw)  

Another change Riot made that seems to  affect the Baus more than others were  

the changes to the bounty system we hinted at  before. Trying to negate the Baus’s loophole,  

Riot implemented a change which lowered a player’s  bounty if their team was significantly behind in  

gold in addition to increasing a player’s bounty  value if they gained 1000 gold or if they had  

gathered far more gold than the enemy team’s  average since their last death. So remember  

when we talked about AD Sion’s style? Prioritizing  turrets and gold and not caring about deaths so  

you can abuse the enemy’s bounties while you  yourself have none? Now, Riot had made the  

enemy’s bounties smaller, your bounties bigger,  and just for fun, they’ve made it significantly  

harder for you to take down turrets. The Baus had single handedly changed  

the course of League of Legends. Not  only did he get his champion nerfed,  

but he got Riot to change a fundamental  aspect of the game. Let’s see; Rank one,  

Challenger in Korea, brief teammates with Faker,  influenced Riot to alter the game itself…this  

might be the most decorated career of all time. And that more or less brings us to today. The  

Baus has done nothing but continue to climb  since his trip to Korea, and his YouTube  

channel currently has over 800,000 subscribers,  while his Twitch has one and a quarter million  

followers. He continues to stream and post  regularly, and he shows no signs of slowing  

down. He sticks to his patented play style and  continues to dominate at the highest level,  

inspiring countless other players to try his  style. Love him or hate him, whether you view  

him as a revolutionary gamechanger or just a one  trick pony troll, you cannot deny that Thebausffs  

is one of the most talented players in the world,  as well as one of the most influential players in  

the history of League of Legends. And we’re left  never having to wonder what the game would be  

like if his parents didn’t agree to let him try  streaming…Thank you for watching LoL Athlete.