How Faker’s Worlds Dream was Crushed
Few esports athletes are better known than Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. The 26-year-old has only played for one team throughout his entire League of Legends career, and over the last five years, he had to work hard to ensure his team’s success in the LCK.
During this time, T1 suffered a lot of painful defeats and even failed a few times to qualify for Worlds. But by far, the biggest disappointment came in the Grand Final of Worlds 2022, which seemed impossible to lose for Faker’s team.
DragonX, the team they had to compete in the last match of the tournament, were lightyears behind them in strategy, tactics, synergy, individual talent, and practically every other aspect of LoL. But, thanks to a brilliant move executed before the fourth and fifth games even began, they managed to steal Faker’s trophy.
Riot Games
In 2022, T1 had the best Spring Split in their LCK history, winning all of their matches. They ended the Group Stage with 18 consecutive wins and then crushed everyone in the Playoffs. At that point, everyone knew that T1 would be one of the favorite competitors at Worlds 2022.
During LCK Summer 2022, T1 showed a few signs of weakness here and there, and no longer terrified their opponents. In the Grand Final, they lost without losing a single game to Gen.G Esports. Many viewed this loss as a bad omen because it happened so close to Worlds.
As soon as the League of Legends World Championship started, it became obvious that T1 had trained hard for the tournament. In the Group Stage, only one team (Fnatic) managed to beat them once. They were the overall winners with a record of 5 W – 1 L and their path to the Grand Final seemed easy.
In the Quarterfinals, T1 smashed Royal Never Give Up without losing a single game. Faker’s Viktor and Akali performance impressed the spectators, who cheered for him and T1 throughout the entire match.
In the Semifinals, T1 had to fight against the strongest team in China, JD Gaming. But despite losing game one, the match was quite easy and T1 advanced to the Grand Final with a score of 3 – 1.
Riot Games
This is where things went wrong. T1 won game 1 after picking Azir for Faker, and then lost a very close game 2 that lasted 46 minutes. In game 3, T1 picked Azir one more time and won with him.
But in games 4 and 5, DragonX decided to steal Faker’s Azir and didn’t just ban the champion. They played him themselves. And what a performance it was! Game 4 ended in just 28 minutes, while game 5 was hard-fought and required 42 minutes to conclude.
Needless to say, Faker was crushed. He had waited 5 years for this moment. In 2017, he lost the Grand Final of Worlds against Samsung Galaxy. Now, despite playing an opponent from their own region that hadn’t done anything significant all season, he lost again, in a very painful way.
During this time, T1 suffered a lot of painful defeats and even failed a few times to qualify for Worlds. But by far, the biggest disappointment came in the Grand Final of Worlds 2022, which seemed impossible to lose for Faker’s team.
DragonX, the team they had to compete in the last match of the tournament, were lightyears behind them in strategy, tactics, synergy, individual talent, and practically every other aspect of LoL. But, thanks to a brilliant move executed before the fourth and fifth games even began, they managed to steal Faker’s trophy.
Riot GamesT1’s Season Prior to Worlds 2022
In 2022, T1 had the best Spring Split in their LCK history, winning all of their matches. They ended the Group Stage with 18 consecutive wins and then crushed everyone in the Playoffs. At that point, everyone knew that T1 would be one of the favorite competitors at Worlds 2022.
During LCK Summer 2022, T1 showed a few signs of weakness here and there, and no longer terrified their opponents. In the Grand Final, they lost without losing a single game to Gen.G Esports. Many viewed this loss as a bad omen because it happened so close to Worlds.
Worlds 2022
As soon as the League of Legends World Championship started, it became obvious that T1 had trained hard for the tournament. In the Group Stage, only one team (Fnatic) managed to beat them once. They were the overall winners with a record of 5 W – 1 L and their path to the Grand Final seemed easy.
In the Quarterfinals, T1 smashed Royal Never Give Up without losing a single game. Faker’s Viktor and Akali performance impressed the spectators, who cheered for him and T1 throughout the entire match.
In the Semifinals, T1 had to fight against the strongest team in China, JD Gaming. But despite losing game one, the match was quite easy and T1 advanced to the Grand Final with a score of 3 – 1.
Riot GamesThis is where things went wrong. T1 won game 1 after picking Azir for Faker, and then lost a very close game 2 that lasted 46 minutes. In game 3, T1 picked Azir one more time and won with him.
But in games 4 and 5, DragonX decided to steal Faker’s Azir and didn’t just ban the champion. They played him themselves. And what a performance it was! Game 4 ended in just 28 minutes, while game 5 was hard-fought and required 42 minutes to conclude.
Needless to say, Faker was crushed. He had waited 5 years for this moment. In 2017, he lost the Grand Final of Worlds against Samsung Galaxy. Now, despite playing an opponent from their own region that hadn’t done anything significant all season, he lost again, in a very painful way.
Header: Riot Games