League of Legends World Champion Maciej ‘Shushei’ Ratuszniak has died at the age of 36. The Polish national had been suffering from cancer for several years.
Shushei was best known as a member of the Fnatic team that won the first-ever League of Legends World Championship, and was also the first player to win the MVP award following the victory in 2011 (thanks, Esports Insider).
In celebration of the victory and award, Riot asked Shushei to choose a champion that would receive a tribute skin. He chose Gragas and the Fnatic Gragas skin is still available in-game.
Shushei was also a winner in Season 6 of the Intel Extreme Masters with Fnatic, and won at IEM Hannover with the team myRevenge in 2011. He retired from the competitive LoL scene in 2013. As well as his considerable skills, Shushei was also a much-beloved figure in the LoL scene, and responsible for this legendary chest bump.
“Yesterday, we lost a legend in Shushei,” reads a post from the official Fnatic account. “Shushei was a part of the incredible Fnatic team that won the first-ever League of Legends World Championships back in 2011 that began the Fnatic LoL fandom for so many of our fans. Our thoughts are with his friends and family.”
“Very sad to hear about the passing of Maciej ‘Shushei’ Ratuszniak,” wrote esports journalist and former caster Richard Lewis. “He was instrumental in the rise of early League of Legends, bringing personality and likeability to an esport that needed those characters to propel it forward.
“I had the pleasure to meet him on a few occasions back when I did event coverage and even though he was funny he was deeply thoughtful and understood what professionalising an esport meant. May he rest in peace.”
Lewis also posted this interview with Shushei from 2012:
I had the pleasure to meet him on a few occasions back when I did event coverage and even though he was funny he was deeply thoughtful and understood what professionalising an esport meant. I’ll post this interview from 2012 for those who haven’t seen it. May he rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/etm5XBf66tApril 29, 2025
“Rest in peace, Shushei, one of the first greats of our game,” said LoL host Eefje Depoortere. “Way too young to go.”
“Tough to hear the news about Shushei,” wrote Zygomedia’s Stephen Ellis. “I hadn’t spoke to him in over a decade but many fond memories of the stupid shit we got up to as kids traveling the world. 36… damn. Tomorrow isn’t promised.”
