Longest Ongoing Esports Careers

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Image credit: DreamHack

Athletes often have a tragically short career – while many people don’t know what they want to do in their twenties, for an athlete, hitting 30 can mean the end of their career. It’s similar in esports – there’s always younger talent gunning for the top. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t a few tenacious pros that can hold their own against those who are after their glory – and here are some of the best!

Mew2King – Fighting Games

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Mew2King – a fighting game legend from years past. (Image credit: Jason Zimmermann via Twitter)

Jason "Mew2King" Zimmermann has been playing fighting games – specifically, various Nintendo franchises like Super Smash Bros., Melee, Ultimate, and so on – for a long time.

In addition to his esports seniority, his long career has earned him plenty of notoriety – he has been winning tournaments since 2005. He spent thousands of hours learning everything there was to know about SSB Melee, and in 2007 (when he was aged 18) he managed to come in ninth at EVO World.

F0rest – CS:GO

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Image credit: Patrik Lindberg via Instagram

Patrik "F0rest" Lindberg is a Swedish CS:GO player and one of the "oldest" esports pros – at least going by esports standards. F0rest started his long career way back in 2005 – and he’s still going strong in 2020. Initially, he played the original Counter-strike before moving over to CS:GO in 2012.

He is known as one of the best CS:GO players in the world – a title well-earned across his long career. He’s played for teams like Fnatic, Ninjas in Pyjamas, SK Gaming and more – the definition of esports seniority in CS:GO.

READ MORE: CS:GO Hall of Fame – Top 10 players of all times – Part 1

Puppey – Dota 2

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Puppey – one of the longest careers of Dota 2. (Image credit: Clement Ivanov via Instagram)

Dota 2 was released in 2013 – but many Dota 2 pros started with the original DotA – among them was Clement "Puppey" Ivanov. He is one of the most well-known European Dota 2 pros – and one with plenty of esports seniority. He stands behind one of the Dota 2 powerhouses – Team Secret.

There is a number of players like Kuro "KuroKy" Salehi, Jonathan "Loda" Berg, Tong "Mikasa" Junjie, and more that started roughly around the same time – but Puppey is one of the most notorious names on that list. He has played with notable teams like Na'Vi, even lead several teams of his own – all the while keeping up a friendly rivalry with fellow player KuroKy.

As esports keeps expanding, we might see more veteran pros extend their careers. Who do you think will keep going for many more years to come?

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