Legendary jungler Diamondprox returns to professional League of Legends.

One of the pioneers of League of Legends esports, legendary jungler Diamondprox, recently made a brief but impressive comeback at the EMEA Masters Winter 2026 tournament.

In the loser's bracket of the tournament, where a loss would mean elimination, Diamondprox was urgently called up to replace Turkish player TElramir. Elramir was reportedly absent due to personal reasons after his mother suffered a heart attack. Despite not having competed professionally since joining EGN Esports in the Summer 2024 season and mostly participating in smaller tournaments, the 33-year-old Russian player still proved his timeless class.

In the first game against Vantex Esports, he achieved a perfect KDA of 7/0/9, helping Bushido Wildcats create a gold advantage of up to 13,000. The Turkish team continued their dominance in the second game to secure a 2-0 victory, thus keeping their hopes alive in the tournament.

It's important to know that this year's EM Winter tournament is extremely crucial, as the top two teams will qualify for the Esports World Cup Qualifiers, where they will compete directly with LEC representatives for a spot in the multi-million dollar event featuring the world's strongest teams in Saudi Arabia.

For long-time fans, Diamondprox is a name synonymous with the jungle role revolution in the early days of League of Legends esports, especially when he played for Moscow Five (M5) in 2012. He was the one who shaped the concept of 'priority' in this MOBA game, focusing on champions with extremely fast jungle clearing abilities and teaming up with teammates who chose champions that could win their lane to push minions early.

This pivotal tactic allowed Diamondprox and M5 to always maintain the initiative, constantly invading the enemy jungle even while they were still struggling to complete their first jungle clear. Core concepts like lane priority, jungle invasion, and timing jungle camp spawns all stemmed from the pioneering, aggressive, and high-pressure early-game playstyle of this Russian legend.