Faker U-turns on the Decision for His Worlds 2023 Skin
Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok has announced onstream, his change of heart regarding his Worlds 2023 skin. Previous reports and insights from his teammates suggested that Faker was most likely angling for Ahri as his champion of choice.
This was based on several factors: Faker had expressed an interest in making an Ahri skin that dates back nearly 7 years, he has one game played with Ahri at Worlds 2023 (meeting the minimum requirement for a champion skin choice), and during the post-Grand Finals interview, he related how he would like to pick a champion skin that ‘people would like.’
Ahri Enjoyers Heartbroken - Faker Changes his Mind
Days following his Worlds 2023 win, Faker revealed his choice of champion for the commemoration skin. Serving as his 4th Worlds title notch, this will now be Faker’s 4th skin in the game; the previous being Zed, Syndra, and Ryze.
That said, there were pre-set conditions that had to be met in order for a Worlds winner to select a particular champion as their Worlds skin. The most notable one being that Worlds winners are restricted to picking a skin for a champion that they have played at the event. This particular rule was the very one that prevented fellow teammate Ryu “Keria” Min-seok from selecting Lux as his champion skin choice.
Of the options remaining to Faker, there were 5 potential candidates - Azir, Orianna, Sylas, Ahri, and Akali. Ahri was the most obvious candidate as Faker had initially expressed interest in selecting her due to Ahri being an incredibly popular champion that many would love.
However, in a recent stream, he has decided to go with Orianna instead as according to him, ‘Ahri already has too many skins.’ At 17 skins, clocking in at 3rd most skins in the game - he’s not wrong. Orianna by contrast has 11 skins.
While most fans will still be happy to purchase a ‘T1 Faker’ Skin in 2024, there are the disappointed few who were anticipating a Worlds 2023 Ahri skin.
Lady of Clockwork over the Nine-Tailed Fox
The popular Nine-Tailed Fox Champion known as Ahri is one of the most popular champion in the game. An incredibly forgiving Mid Laner that offers superior mobility, sustain in lane, and high single-target burst damage.
Ahri is also designed as an attractive female character and one of the main poster figures for League of Legends. It is no surprise that she is one of the most popular champions in the game.
Orianna by contrast, is older than Ahri as a champion. She has skins in her collection that have not aged well and in general, her model appears more outdated than most.
She also does not boast any Legendary or Prestige skins, unlike Ahri. Orianna was Faker’s most played champion at Worlds 2023, making it a fitting choice to cap off the Demon King’s 4th title.
End of the day, Faker has elected to select a skin that he would prefer, over one that would sell and generate more wealth for himself. You have half a year to start maining Orianna, better get to it.
Credit: Fernando Decillis/Riot Games
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