"Reaching 500 wins is extremely hard"… Kiin becomes first LCK top laner with 500 wins, $430,000 in prize money

Kiin reached 500 career LCK wins with a 2-0 victory over KT on August 7. He is the first top laner and the fourth player ever to do so. Gen.G won its second straight match to improve to 16-6.

Translated from Korean with AI assistance. Read the original. Sources and original publication dates are retained.

Three-line summary

Kiin reached 500 career LCK wins (counted by game) with the victory over KT on August 7, 2026.
He is the first LCK top laner and the fourth player ever to reach the mark, with a win rate of about 59% over 848 career games.
With this win, Gen.G is 16-6, with an identical win-loss record to T1 and Hanwha Life.

5 p.m. on August 7, Chzzk LoL Park in Jongno District, Seoul. When Game 1 ended, the scoreboard read 11-0 in kills and 6-0 in towers. Gen.G also took Game 2, where a 10,000 gold gap opened in just 22 minutes, and the match ended 2-0. At that moment, a personal record belonging to the 27-year-old sitting in the top lane was quietly updated: his 500th career win.

Kiin's 500 wins, a peak no top laner had crossed before

iNews24 reports that Kiin's 500 wins follow those of Faker Lee Sang-hyeok, Peanut Han Wang-ho and Chovy Jeong Ji-hoon, making it the fourth in LCK history. The first three were two mid laners and one jungler. It is the first time a top laner has passed this number since the league began. Here, the 500 wins are individual wins counted not by match but by game.

The pace is not slow either. According to an announcement from the official LCK X account, Kiin hit 400 wins (7th player ever, first top laner) on April 6, 2025. Adding another 100 wins from there took about 16 months. According to Sheep Esports, he has 848 career games with a win rate of about 59%, fourth in career wins. This is a figure from a single outlet that has not been cross-checked against official LCK records.

Players with 500 LCK wins (in order of achievement date)

No.	Player	Position	Date achieved
1	Faker Lee Sang-hyeok	Mid	2022-07-08
2	Peanut Han Wang-ho	Jungle	2025-04-18
3	Chovy Jeong Ji-hoon	Mid	Late August 2025
4	Kiin Kim Ki-in	Top	2026-08-07

Kiin's prize money is $430,000, with his EWC title the biggest payout

For a long time he was known as a king without a title. Born on May 28, 1999, Kiin debuted in June 2017 with Ever8 Winners, then went through Afreeca Freecs and, in 2023, KT Rolster. After joining Gen.G in 2024, an LCK Spring title and Finals MVP, back-to-back MSI titles, and a 2025 EWC title and Finals MVP all came at once.

What about in terms of money? Esports Earnings puts Kiin's career tournament prize money at $434,548 across 30 tournaments combined, 720th in the world and 75th in Korea. His biggest payout was $120,000 for winning the 2025 EWC. In the same tally, teammate Chovy has $635,484 and Faker has $1,922,084.

However, Liquipedia lists Kiin's prize money differently, at about $641,994, so the two tallies differ widely. This figure only adds up official tournament prize money, so salary, streaming and advertising income are not included.

Gen.G at 16-6, with a 3-point set differential deciding the standings

The team had wobbled with two straight losses right after Round 3 began. It stopped the slide by beating Hanwha Life Esports 2-1 on August 5, and Kukinews reported that Kiin's Aurora got a pentakill in that match. With the 2-0 win over KT two days later, Gen.G climbed from 4th to 2nd in the standings.

After the match, Coach Yoo Sang-wook explained the reason for the rebound, saying, "I'm happy we finished quickly with good performances. There were no mistakes in the laning phase, and the teamfights were good overall," and "We understand each other's thinking well during the draft, and our flexibility has grown a lot." Chovy also said, "Lately we've played well both when we were behind and when we were ahead."

The problem is that the top is crowded. As of the morning of August 10, the Legend Group stands as T1 (16-6, set differential +21), Hanwha Life (+19), and Gen.G (+18), in that order. With identical win-loss records, all three teams are within 3 points of set differential. This ranking could change right away when Round 4 begins on the 12th.

After the match, Coach Yoo Sang-wook added the following about his junior's record: "I think 500 wins is extremely hard to reach. Congratulations on reaching 500 wins, and I hope he keeps showing great form going forward." Etoday named the T1-Gen.G match on August 16 at KSPO Dome, "T1 Home Ground," as the biggest turning point in the race for first place. A ninth-year top laner played 848 games to fill that number: 500.

Frequently asked questions

Q. What is Kiin's 500-win record based on?

It is a career win total counted by game, not by match. He reached his 500th win with the 2-0 victory over KT on August 7, and he has played 848 career games (counted by game) for a win rate of about 59%.

Q. How much prize money has Kiin won?

According to Esports Earnings, he has won $434,548 across 30 career tournaments. His biggest payout was $120,000 for winning the 2025 EWC, and this figure does not include salary or advertising and streaming income. LCK teams do not disclose player salaries, so there is no confirmed salary figure.

Q. How old is Kiin, and what team is he on?

Born on May 28, 1999, he is 27 years old and has played as Gen.G Esports' top laner since 2024. On November 20, 2024, he signed a two-year (1+1) contract extension with Gen.G.

Related official sites

LCK official website — You can check the Legend Group standings and the Round 4 schedule directly
LoL Esports LCK page — Riot Games' official match records and replays
Gen.G Esports official website — Roster and team announcements
LCK official X — The account where career record announcements are posted

Main image · Graphic = Whale SV · Background photo = Wikimedia Commons (fomos esports), CC BY 3.0