The gigantic finals in League of Legends (LoL) are over. A drama unfolded and there were dragons.
The eSports in League of Legends essentially follow the same rules as any professional sport. There are top teams and stars. What LeBron James is in basketball and Lionel Messi is in soccer, is a slender Korean boy known as “Faker” in League of Legends. His fans also call him the “immortal demon king” or simply “God”.
Faker – the Lionel Messi of LoL
Faker is considered a superstar who has elevated the LoL game to a new level. From his position as a “mid-laner”, he has dominated matches for years, regarded as incredibly versatile, with 30 champions in his repertoire, which he masters outstandingly. However, Faker does not indulge in star airs; he is a shy-looking, slender young man who appears humble and modest.
His reputation is legendary. However, the player Faker is always in the foreground, about whom little is known.
Faker serves as the ascetic role model for a generation of LoL players. When the Korean magazine Inven recently asked the US player Maxlore of Misfits if he had a girlfriend, he replied: “As long as Faker doesn’t have a girlfriend, I don’t have one either.”
Faker plays for the team SKT T1 – and they are somewhat the “Real Madrid” of LoL. They have won the club world championships for the last two years. However, there are also problems in LoL Wonderland Korea.
Star player resists the temptation of Chinese millions
In fact, Korea has been producing the best LoL players for years – however, the big money is made in China. A Chinese team is said to have offered Faker a million US dollars in 2014 if he played for them. In the years that followed, there were rumors that teams had offered him up to 4 million US dollars. However, Faker repeatedly declined. He stayed with his team, SKT T1.
However, some of his teammates left SKT T1 over the years.
The 2017 League of Legends World Championship was held in China. 24 teams battled for the trophy. The clear favorite was the team SKT T1 led by Faker, which had won the last 2 years.
Ardent Censer Meta strengthens AD Carry
However, the legend of SKT T1 took early dents this year. The LoL Worlds were played with a patch in which a single item dominated LoL. “Ardent Censer” makes the bot lane in an LoL team the decisive factor.
From the beginning of the tournament, it became clear that SKT T1 with “Bang” and “Wolf” would not be first-class. Especially the experienced Bang faced heavy criticism for his performances throughout the tournament. Observers agreed: “This is the weakest SKT T1 in years. Never have they been so beatable.” But at least they had God on their side, and he turned up.
Faker carries SKT T1 to the finals
Already in the quarterfinals, it took a miraculous performance from Faker for SKT T1 to prevail against the European team Misfits. By the way, a German player named PowerofEvil plays for Misfits, who narrowly missed the sensation.
Misfits surprised the Koreans with unusual picks like Blitzcrank and Leona. SKT T1 was already against the wall but made a comeback with a 3:2 victory. A dragon steal by Blank is regarded as the decisive moment of the series.
In the semifinals against the Chinese team “Royal Never Give Up”, Faker played the champion “Galio” in all 5 matches, which is actually an unusual pick for him. SKT T1 narrowly won 3:2. For observers, this was evidence of Faker’s versatility, as he bolstered his struggling bot lane as Galio.
In both series, Faker was named the “MVP” of the matches. Everything seemed to point towards a hero story: Against all odds and an unfavorable meta, the immortal demon king prevails and leads SKT T1 to their third world championship in a row. Everything much harder, much bigger, much more significant than the years before. Worthy of a God.
Final with Dragons
For the huge final, organizer Riot Games had something special planned and allowed a virtual dragon to circle above the battlefield.
SKT T1 faced Samsung Galaxy here. A rematch from last year. Samsung Galaxy is regarded as a disciplined and clever team that plays rather “boringly”, wearing down their opponents.
Not Faker wins the final, the AD Carry loses it
SKT T1 had problems from the outset. The AD Carry of SKT T1, Bang, made several mistakes that seemed inexplicable. The player was particularly criticized for his behavior in team fights. He had saved the opposing carry, Ruler, multiple times with his own ultimates. It’s puzzling, after all, Bang is a two-time world champion and was long considered an outstanding player.
There are two explanations:
- Some suspect that Bang simply didn’t play enough LoL in the weeks and months leading up to the Worlds and was burned out.
- Others think that the heavy criticism during the tournament could have further unsettled Bang after a weak start, leading to a complete failure in performance.
Especially the fans on the Korean gaming site Inven were mercilessly critical of Bang during the tournament. Some believe this could have broken him to the point where he made glaring errors in the final, such as this unnecessary flash that isolated him in a team fight and led his team down the path to defeat.
In any case, SKT T1 was hopelessly defeated 0:3 against the rivals Samsung Galaxy. They are thus the 2017 champions of League of Legends. AD Carry Ruler was named the MVP of the finals. Like his support CoreJJ, Ruler had impressive statistics throughout the knockout phase.
Ultimately, it was not the hero story of Faker, but the tragedy of Bang that shaped the final.
After the tournament, during the handshake, Faker was seen in tears. Despite an outstanding tournament performance, he was unable to lead his team to a third consecutive victory. Even gods can weep.
The western star ensemble “Team Solo Mid” failed incidentally already in the group stage. They had already made no friends in Korea before the world championships:
LoL: “Drive straight to China” – TSM not welcome in South Korea
