Summary
Maciej “Shushei” Ratuszniak passed away aged 36 on April 28 after a lengthy battle with cancer. Shushei was a famous figure in the Polish esports community, having won the first-everLeague of LegendsWorld Championships with Fnatic in 2011.
In 2012, Riot Games began the tradition of immortalising world champions with in-game skins. This tradition technically began with season two world champions Taipei Assassins, but Fnatic would eventually receive skins several years later. Shushei’s skin is Fnatic Gragas, a champion he piloted several times in the tournament, most notably in the winner’s finals against fellow European outfit Against All Authority.
Shushei Forever
To honour Shushei, Riot Games has added the title “Shushei Forever” to League of Legends, which is available to all players. Additionally, playing three games of Gragas will reward players with Shushei’s Fnatic Gragas skin for free.
Shushei was best known for playing off-meta champs in the middle lane, such as Gragas, Alistar, Aatrox and Maokai. Shushei tended to gear his builds towards ability power, taking advantage of the sometimes nonsensical ratios of abilities during the early years of League of Legends.
The team of Enrique “xPeke” Cedeño Martínez, Lauri “Cyanide” Happonen, Manuel “LaMiaZeaLot” Mildenberger, Peter “Mellisan” Meisrimel and Shushei remain the only European team to ever win the World Championship, as well as the only “Western” team to achieve this feat.
Shushei played with Fnatic until the end of 2012, moving on to play for several other European teams after leaving the team. He participated in the first-ever EU LCS split with DragonBorns, before retiring from professional play at the end of that year.
One of Shushei’smost famous momentsoccurred during this period, when, in celebration, he accidentally “body slammed” his teammate Eryk “HosaN” Wilczyńsk too hard, causing the bot laner to fall over on stage. Given that one of Gragas' abilities is called “Body Slam,” it was an appropriate move for Shushei.
Shushei remained a gamer until his death, often streaming late into the night for his dedicated community.
