Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok has long been considered the best player of the League of Legends. He is now 22 years old and one of the oldest midlaners in the Korean LoL league LCK. However, Faker believes that he and his team are far from being has-beens.
This is the situation: The team “SK Telecom T1” has long been regarded as the strongest LoL team in the world and has won the League of Legends World Championship multiple times. Last year, however, they did not qualify for the Worlds.
Rival Korean teams such as KT Rolster, Afreeca Freecs, and Gen. G represented Korea at the LoL Worlds – but did not bring joy to their country. Ultimately, the 2018 Worlds turned into a disaster for the success-oriented Koreans.
But for SK Telecom T1, who had to watch from the sidelines, it was clear: something needs to change, as long-time members of the team apparently could not perform as well as before.
Star player Faker had carried the team to success for years, but in 2018, the veterans let him down: analysts agreed that in 2018, a standout star player was no longer enough for the championship.
In winter 2018, SKT underwent a transformation, bringing in not only young players but also experienced veterans like Mata, a legendary support player who is already 24 years old. This makes SKT1 almost a retired squad in a sport where the stars are 18 or 19.
Currently, SKT stands 7-2 and is performing excellently in the Korean league, placing them third.
“They only live off their big names”
This was the conflict: Faker’s team was accused by a Korean caster in a stream of being too old and over the hill (via Dexerto).
According to “NiceGameTV”, SKT1 consists of “has-beens”, or players who are past their prime. The team only lives off their big names.
A former teammate of Faker, Bang, has thus taken a stand for the team. SKT 1 have earned their results by working harder than anyone else.
Faker says: I can still play at this level for a long time
This is what Faker himself says: In a recent interview with ESPN , Faker states that professional players in League of Legends rarely exceed the age of 22 or 23. This holds true not just for Korea, but for all leagues worldwide.
However, Faker believes that he himself will still be able to play well for a long time, especially if he takes care of himself and his health.
The average age at SKT 1 is high. The top laner and support are also relatively old. Faker finds it interesting that, as a team, they are still able to deliver good results.
He still considers himself the best, or at least the second-best midlaner in the Korean league. He just needs to bring consistency to his game to become even better.
This is what Faker says about the young competition: Faker states in the interview that, according to his own assessment in the LCK, he has yet to see a player perform so well that he was truly impressed.
Therefore, Faker is “not impressed” by the young competition. It will be interesting to see if he and his “retired buddies” will rock the LCK in 2019.
Currently, Faker has set his sights on the team “Griffin”, who remain unbeaten in the LCK after 9 games. Their midlaner Chovy is only 17 years old.
