It is the risk of those who are at the top to fall lower than everyone else. And almost exactly two years ago, Lee Sang-hyeok fell to the ground.
Lee is known worldwide as "Faker" and is a professional League of Legends player. More precisely, the 23-year-old is the best player this discipline has produced so far. Three times, the South Korean led his team SK Telecom T1 World Champion title, from today he plays at the World Cup in Europe (from 14 clock, livestream: Twitch) for his fourth title. It is probably the most important of his career. Because his reputation as "Unkillable Demon King", the invincible demon king, as his fans call him, has been cracking since November 2017.
Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games
Fans in Taipei - "Faker" is a pop star in South Korea
At the World Championships in China everything went as usual. After a small wobble against the European outsiders of the team Misfits in the quarter-finals SKT pulled by a victory against the secret favorite Royal Never Give Up in the final in the "Bird's Nest", the Olympic Stadium in Beijing. But instead of winning the third consecutive title, the game became a disaster for Faker and his team. SKT not only lost for the first time a World Cup final, but went down against the Korean opponent Samsung Galaxy downright. It was a defeat with consequences.
The story of a virtuoso
Lee was already known for his unique talent when "Faker" did not even exist. Under the name "GoJeonPa" he mixed from early 2011 on the Korean League of Legends scene. When he rose to top league player in early 2013, Korean telecom giant SK Telecom signed him and built an e-sports team around him. "GoJeonPa" became "Faker".
"Honestly, 'Faker' is not interested in much outside the game," said his coach Kim "kkOma" Jeong-gyun once. "If he's not eating right now, he's playing League of Legends all day." With less effort you do not become the number one in a game that plays nearly 100 million people worldwide.
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In League of Legends players choose from over 140 characters, who not only have different basic characteristics, but also have five individual special abilities. "Faker" not only knows them all, but also has in mind how often his direct opponent can use them. He knows how the balance of power changes with rising levels. He closely monitors how players improve with new equipment. What already reads complicated is in the game an even more complicated mixed situation, which changes every second.
But the direct duel is not everything, the whole game is in a constant flow. A player not only has to be able to gauge the strength of his opponent, but must capture as much as possible of any movement on the entire playing card. Nobody has penetrated this river so far as "Faker". Added to this are his outstanding mechanical skills. All this he trains daily against the best players in the world in the Korean league. At least it was long considered the measure of all things.
The Korean debacle
From 2011, world championships are held annually, since 2013, each year won a South Korean team's title. SKT won in 2013 and repeated its success in 2015 and 2016. But already during this time it became apparent that the dominance of the Korean league would not last forever.
Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games
"Faker" at the peak: Here he poses in front of the Staples Center in Los Angeles - just before he wins his third world title
In the fall of 2014, it attracted the first Korean players to the Chinese league, attracted by high salaries. More and more talent followed and the wandering movement became known as the Korean Exodus. "Faker" remained true to his homeland. Nevertheless, the migration had consequences: Just in 2018, when the World Cup was held in South Korea, experienced the big e-sports nation a debacle.
Gen.G failed as reigning world champion under a new name in the group stage, with the Afreeca Freecs and KT Rolster adopted the other South Korean teams in the quarterfinals. In the end, Invictus Gaming was the first Chinese team to win the title.
If 2018 was embarrassing for South Korea, it was a fiasco for Faker. After the lost final of 2017, his team had stumbled in the regular season, also in the game of the superstar, unknown errors crept in. SKT was not represented at the World Cup for the first time since 2014.
The reorganization of the League of Legends world
Meanwhile, SKT seems to have coped with the trauma of the 2017 World Cup finals. For the current season, a new star team was built around "Faker" around. With success: In the domestic league SKT is regained strength, qualified as the first team for the World Cup in Europe.
Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games
"Faker" (right) in tears: After 4 November 2017, the final defeat of SKT, everything changed
But the Beijing final was not just an incision for Faker and SKT, it messed up the entire League of Legends world. Although Invictus brought down the first dynasty, the team could not hold its own at the top.
In the mid-season Invitational, the first major global showdown before the World Cup, Invictus surprisingly failed in the semi-final on North American outsider Team Liquid. With G2 Esports, a European team finally triumphed after defeating SKT in the semi-final.
Now "Faker" returns to the big stage for the first time. Still, he is the star of the scene, this year, "Forbes" selected him among Asia's 30 most important figures under 30 years. But it's still all about the game. Therefore, "Faker" not only wants to win the title at the World Cup in Europe, he wants to show the entire world that the throne is still his.
Read more about the League of Legends World Cup here.
