To start the final week of games in the LCK, the players from T1 and Kwangdong Freecs lined up to make their entrance. On the left-hand side of the screen, third in line stood Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok – eager to make his return to professional play.
For nearly a month, the League of Legends community held its collective breath as he stepped away due to injury. Wrist injuries have been detrimental to countless careers when it comes to esports competitions. And to watch an individual who has well earned the moniker of “Unkillable Demon King, “it was frightening.
It is hard to recall the time when Faker was not involved in the greater esports storyline. Since emerging in Season 3, his presence has always been felt – even when not participating in international play. On the Rift, he is constantly marked by his opponents. And off the rift, players are attempting to find an opportunity to be in one of his matches.
T1 immediately felt the pain of Faker not being in their line-up for the month of July. The team would be 4-14 in overall match play. Their star-studded line-up felt lost. And even their head coach Bae “Bengi” Seong-woong – the “right hand of God” – would step down from his position.
Faker’s return on August 2, could not have come at a better time. It meant relief. Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong would photobomb the zoom-in onto Faker. The team as a whole looked happy. They closed out the regular season strong and put together an impressive post-season run to qualify as the second seed for South Korea at Worlds 2023. All of the hype is centered around Faker’s first Worlds appearance on home soil and the story writes itself.
But should we talk about how Faker just had a career-threatening injury?
The stress on the arm and wrist with little to no rest when it comes to a training regiment is a lot to handle. And Faker has been doing this not only for years but at the highest of levels.
It also comes at a less than opportune time for T1 who is rebuilding their academy pipeline following the construction of their current main line-up. His temporary replacement — Yoon “Poby” Sung-won – was a player thrust into the spotlight far too soon. And his style of play exposed fundamental flaws with the current roster construct – specifically the struggle for skill players to step up to the moment and respond to more pressure. The team was desperate for a pure in-game leader.
T1 has always been a lineup that has relied on the aura of Faker to influence the general map play. His ability to constantly force teams to tag him at every point of the game – even when not in the greatest form – is mesmerizing. Faker truthfully has not been in the discussion for best player in the world for some time – arguably hasn’t been the best player on T1 for some time either — yet continues to be the most prioritized member on the rift.
His magic transcends all other players. But it hasn’t necessarily turned into success. With every great moment of Faker, there have also been moments that remind us that even gods cry.
In 2014, SKT T1 K could not overcome the obstacles in their path – Lee “KaKAO” Byung-kwo’s KT Arrows playing spoiler, the incredible Samsung line-ups and NaJin White Shield quietly eliminating them from Worlds contention. In 2015 at MSI, EDG coach Ji “Aaron” Xing would produce a Game 5 draft that tortured Faker, stunning SKT. They would then proceed to Worlds 2015 in commanding fashion and then win both MSI 2016, Worlds 2016 – completing the back-to-back – and MSI 2017. But it is fun to remember this moment and the chaos that came afterward. In 2017, Faker’s misstep in Game 3 would solidify another stunning defeat, this time at the hands of Samsung Galaxy at Worlds. In 2018, they would miss out on Worlds entirely – struggling to put the pieces together with arguably the worst line-up the team has ever constructed. In 2019, they would be ousted on European soil by the greatest line-up the region has ever produced – capped off by Faker’s Qiyana being caught out in the final team fight of the game. And more recent, they experienced the greatest of all heartbreaks – a reverse sweep at the hands of DRX at Worlds 2022.
Yet in an Undertaker like fashion, he has always managed to find his way back. You cannot slay Faker, you can only hope to contain him or subdue him for long enough. Then again, we all realize that there is a human side of the Undertaker. He ages and has injuries even in a controlled entertainment setting.
A month-long injury is not normal when it comes to esports.
The elephant in the room is that the end of Faker’s historic career will happen sooner rather than later. Just ten months ago, he signed a three-year contract that should have effectively been seen as a final contract. Even at the time, the contract seemed far too long. And now, it seems unlikely that he will be in a position to meet that end date.
Despite providing an update in an interview during the Asian Games that he is no longer needing treatment, his admitted early return from injury still provides some long-term concerns.
It will lead to many questions that T1 may not want to answer. How would they respond to not having the greatest player of all time in their lineup? Could this lineup survive without him? What do they need to do next? How many trucks can their fans afford?
Faker’s legacy is one that will remain untouched. He is and was the main character for so long, to the point where it is impossible to think of the time without his presence. But it does feel as if the world needs to begin to prepare for this reality. It is not fun to watch a crippling veteran trot out onto the field, or the rift in this case. It was not fun to watch Peyton Manning struggle to throw a ball five yards. It was only kind of fun to watch an old Shaquielle O’Neal play basketball. And Ric Flair should not have been taking bumps at the age of 70. And it won’t be fun to watch Faker play mechanically intensive champions with a bad arm.
One final Worlds run could be the fairy tale moment for League of Legends’ ‘GOAT.’ In all reality, it would need to be a fairytale moment to beat out the top seed from Korea and the clear favorites from the Chinese region. But if anyone can do it, it is Faker.