L9 Meaning in LoL: Who Low Nine Were and Why the Tag Stuck
The L9 meaning in LoL is Low Nine (often written Low9). It was the club tag of a small group of EUW Challenger players, best known as RATIRL, 0bsess, Ap0calypse and Selfmade, who became famous around 2016 to 2018 for high-level play mixed with deliberate trolling. Today “L9” is mostly slang for a toxic, tilt-prone player.
What is the L9 meaning in LoL?
L9 is short for Low Nine. It started as a club tag, the short label the old League client showed next to a player’s name, and grew into a nickname for a whole style of playing.
Where did the “9” come from? According to a 2020 report by the Spanish esports site Millenium, the name was taken from Hail9, a stream handle linked to a former Cloud9 player. So it has nothing to do with nine members, and the group itself was much smaller than that (four core players).
In practice, you’ll see the term used two ways now. Some players mean the original EUW group. Most just use “L9” or “L9 player” as an insult for someone who flames, pings and throws the game when things go wrong (yes, even in Iron).
Who was in L9 in League of Legends?
Four names come up in every account of the group, and the Millenium report (the most detailed public account we found) lists them like this:
| Player | What happened next (per the 2020 report) |
|---|---|
| RATIRL | The best known member; built a large streaming and YouTube following |
| 0bsess (Obsess) | Played professionally for Misfits, later mousesports |
| Selfmade | Played in Spain, joined MAD Lions, then became Fnatic’s jungler |
| Ap0calypse | High-elo EUW player, no pro career listed |
Selfmade’s path is the easiest to check. His real name is Oskar Boderek, he’s Polish, and Fnatic announced him as its new LEC jungler on November 21, 2019, after spells at MAD Lions and SK Gaming. He went to Worlds 2020 with Fnatic. Thing is, the pro careers are the part people remember least; the solo queue stories are what made the tag famous.
Why was L9 so infamous?
Because the players were genuinely good. That’s the short answer.
Plenty of people are toxic in ranked, but L9 members sat at the top of the EUW ladder while doing it, so their games were seen by a lot of other high-elo players and streamers, and the stories spread on Twitter and Reddit far faster than any normal flame war would. The 2020 report quotes the group saying the club was “a way to make ourselves known”, and that it “eventually was used to trolling”.
The same report describes members ganging up on players from a personal blacklist, spamming pings and throwing games against people they disliked. It also mentions accusations of paid elo boosting, which 0bsess denied. We’d treat the wilder stories you find on forums with care, to be fair; a lot of them can’t be traced back to anything.
The one piece that became a meme of its own is “disco Nunu”, the running-it-down Nunu play most often tied to RATIRL. Funny enough, a lot of newer players know the clip before they know the club behind it.
Does L9 still exist, and what is its meaning in LoL today?
No. By 2020 L9 no longer existed as an organized group, and the members had gone in different directions: pro play, streaming or nothing public at all. What you see in solo queue now are copycats. Anyone can put “L9” in a Riot ID, and some players do it as a joke or to look intimidating.
Is that tag a warning sign? Sometimes. Honestly, a player who names themselves after a famous troll group is telling you something about their mood, but plenty of them just play the game.
What should you do with an L9 player in your game?
Mute early, report after the game. Arguing with someone who wants a reaction gives them exactly what they came for.
- Use /mute on the player (or /fullmute to block pings too) as soon as the chat turns sour.
- Report for the specific thing they did: verbal abuse, intentional feeding or inting.
- Don’t type back, since your own messages can be penalized in the same review.
Riot’s penalties for this kind of behavior go from chat restrictions to ranked restrictions, temporary suspensions and permanent bans. If you’re not sure whether an account you play on carries a penalty, our LoL ban checker guide shows where to look. Curious about where your own games sit? The MMR checker gives a quick read, and the League of Legends memes page covers more of the community’s inside jokes. So that’s the L9 meaning in LoL: a real EUW club once, a lazy insult now.
FAQ
What is the L9 meaning in League of Legends?
L9 stands for Low Nine, or Low9. It was the club tag of a small group of EUW Challenger players known for trolling in solo queue.
Who were the members of L9?
The four best known members were RATIRL, 0bsess, Ap0calypse and Selfmade, all high-elo players on the EU West server.
What is the meaning behind the name L9 in LoL?
According to a 2020 Millenium report, the name came from Hail9, a stream handle linked to a former Cloud9 player. It does not refer to nine members.
Did any L9 members go pro?
Yes. Selfmade joined Fnatic as its LEC jungler in November 2019 and played Worlds 2020 with the team. 0bsess played for Misfits and later mousesports.
Is L9 still active?
No. The group stopped existing as an organized club by 2020. Players who use the L9 tag today are copycats.
What does it mean when someone calls you L9?
It is an insult that means you are playing toxic: flaming, spamming pings or throwing the game when things go badly.
