Strange things are happening in League of Legends. The South Korean Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (24) is a three-time world champion and is generally regarded as the best LoL player of all time. However, he has now been benched by his team, T1, and replaced by a rookie. The astonishing thing: T1 has only been winning since then.
Why is Faker considered the best player in the world? Faker’s career has been sensational from the very beginning. In 2013, in his first season as a professional player at just 17 years old, he joined SKT T1 and became their starting midlaner. The team dominated everything and won the LoL World Championship in 2013. This was followed by further titles in 2015 and 2016. During this time, the reputation of South Korea as a supernation in League of Legends was solidified.
Faker distinguished himself from the team with his excellent gameplay. He played the position that was in focus. Back then, LoL matches often depended on the midlane, where the “killers” of a team were played: assassins and mages with high burst damage who executed spectacular plays and turned matches around single-handedly.
Here Faker shone in 2019 as Azir against the world champions from Invictus Gaming:
Faker was often featured in highlight videos where he masterfully and mechanically perfectly handled even the most difficult situations.
Even though the roster and the name of his team have changed time and again since 2013, Faker has remained the star of the team and has always played in the midlane.
A legend formed around Faker. He became known as “The Unkillable Demon King,” a stoic gamer who always delivered and played strongly. There were no scandals surrounding Faker, no crazy stories, just his gameplays and interviews in which he emphasized that there was only LoL, his fans, and winning for him.
He shaped a generation of LoL players who grew up with him and modeled themselves after his lifestyle. Young professionals would say: “As long as Faker has no girlfriend, I won’t have one either.”
Faker is a living legend at 24 years old
This is the current situation: Faker is still the face of his team T1 and has recently signed a lucrative contract, even becoming a co-owner of the team. However, he is no longer untouchable. Since 2016, he has not won another world title:
- In 2017, there was a painful defeat in the finals, after which Faker even cried
- In 2018, SKT1 did not qualify for the Worlds at all
- In 2019, Faker with SKT1 lost to the Europeans from G2
At 24 years old, Faker is already quite old for a LoL player. He is a living legend and a piece of LoL history. Fans love him; he is probably the most well-known and beloved LoL player of all time.
However, the team has brought in a new coach who is now turning everything upside down and apparently is not afraid of negative reactions from fans.
At the Worlds 2019, Faker suddenly seemed human:
Faker is replaced by a 17-year-old
This is how the 2020 season went: For T1, the season in the LCK 2020 started quite well, but not outstanding. After the first 6 weeks of the 10-week league, the team was in a mediocre position with 7-4.
Some criticism was directed at Faker. The coach later said that Faker seemed “stressed” and not in top form. Additionally, there were too many people in the team wanting to make calls with Faker.
The coach ultimately decided to bench Faker. Instead, he gave the 17-year-old rookie Clozer the chance to shine in the starting five.
Since then, T1 has not lost a single game but won 5 games in a row, including the last one against direct competitors Afreeca Freecs. With a record of 12-4, T1 is now in excellent shape.
Clozer is by no means a weakness of the team that they are carrying along, but he consistently scores with excellent plays. His favorite champion in LoL is Zoe, with whom he has already shown strong plays.
With Clozer, T1 now has a 100% win rate. Clozer ranks 2nd or 3rd in metrics for midlaners in the league, so he is right up there. It is difficult to find arguments to bring Faker back into the team.
What happens next? This is still not entirely clear. There are still 3 games left for T1 in the regular league. After that, the playoffs begin. The coach has announced that he is considering bringing Faker back into the team when facing “the best midlaners in Korea,” who will now await T1 in the playoffs. Because Clozer has yet to prove himself there.
But much suggests that a new era is just dawning in Korea. Clozer is now 17 years old, the same age Faker was when he started his world career in 2013.
In South Korea, people see that T1 is winning without Faker, but that does not prevent fans from sticking by their idol and doing everything to get him back playing. They have sent some very negative hate messages to the coach, insisting that Faker must definitely play again. It became so bad that even the CEO intervened and threatened legal action:
LoL: Coach dares to bench Faker – Faces severe backlash for it
