Faker (video gamer)

Faker
Lee Sang-hyeok

Faker speaking in 2015
Status Active
Born (1996-05-07) May 7, 1996
Seoul, South Korea
Nationality South Korean
Current team SK Telecom T1
Role Mid
Games League of Legends
Championships 2x Mid-Season Invitational: 2016 2017
3x League of Legends World Championship: 2013, 2015, 2016
6x League of Legends Champions Korea
Professional career
Feb 2013 - Nov 2014 SK Telecom T1 K
Nov 2014 - SK Telecom T1

Lee Sang-hyeok (Korean: 이상혁, born May 7, 1996), known by his in-game name "Faker" (Korean: 페이커), is a South Korean professional League of Legends player. Formerly known as "GoJeonPa" (Korean: 고전파) on the Korean server, he was picked up by SK Telecom in 2013 and is currently the mid laner for SK Telecom T1, which competes in the League of Legends Champions Korea.[1]

Faker is renowned for his high mechanical skill at the game and is considered by many to be the best League of Legends player of all time. Faker is renowned for having a huge champion pool and being able to play any champion at the top professional level. He is best known for playing LeBlanc, Zed, Orianna, Ahri and Ryze.[2] He is consistently ranked number one by analysts and is often referred to as the "God" of League of Legends.

He is one of only two players, along with a former teammate Bengi, to have won the League of Legends World Championship three times, having done so in the 2013, 2015 and 2016 seasons. He has also won the All-Star Paris 2014, Mid-Season Invitational tournament in 2016, Mid-Season Invitational tournament in 2017 and IEM World Championship 2016. As of the end of May 2017, Faker has won $1,049,272.93 in prize money, and is ranked #28 in prize money won across all esports.[3]

Early life

Faker was born in Seoul on May 7, 1996. He and his brother were raised by their grandparents and their father, Lee Kyung-joon in Gangseo District, Seoul. Faker always loved puzzles and video games, including custom maps for Warcraft III and the MOBA "Chaos". He discovered League of Legends in late 2011, and quickly became very good at the game. He dropped out of high school in order to join SKT.[4]

Playing career

Season 3

Faker was picked up by SK Telecom T1 K in 2013 as their starting mid laner. SKT T1 K dominated the Korean scene and in October 2013 Faker led them to win their first League of Legends World Championship.

Season 4

In 2014, SKT merged their 2 teams, SKT K and SKT S. Faker remained the mid laner for the consolidated SKT T1. Throughout 2014, SKT T1 struggled and they failed to qualify for League of Legends World Championship 2014.

Season 5

Between season 4 and 5, many top Korean LoL players, including the entire world champion team, Samsung Galaxy, left South Korea to play on Chinese LoL teams for higher salaries. Faker on the other hand, declined an offer of over $1,000,000 by a Chinese team, preferring to stay in Korea on SKT. In November 2014 it was reported that Faker had declined contract offers from several Chinese companies including one offer of ₩500 million for streaming.[5] Gu "Imp" Seung-bin, from Samsung Galaxy, reported in a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) that his salary in China was larger than $200,000 a year. If this remains true, then it is speculated that Faker might be making notably more than any of the offers from Chinese teams. It is speculated Faker has made more than $1,000,000 in his pro-gaming career.

Throughout 2015, Faker shared the mid lane position with Lee "Easyhoon" Ji-hoon. Depending on the team composition the team wanted to play, either one of the players could be substituted into the game. Faker had many notable performances in the LCK such as a pentakill against NaJin e-mFire.[6] SKT ended the summer split in first place and advanced to the world championship.

In the 2015 World Championship, he and his team won while only dropping one game in the finals for a record of 15–1 throughout the series.[7]

Season 6

Faker and his team started off the 2016 Season by winning the LoL Champions Korea Spring Split. By winning the 2016 LCK Spring Split, SKT T1 was guaranteed a place in the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational.[8] At that point in time MSI was also the only major tournament they had yet to win. They were heavily favored coming into the tournament, but were initially unable to perform up to their usual standards, unexpectedly losing several games in the group stages. However, they managed to turn things around during the elimination round and eventually clinched the title by sweeping the North American team, Counter Logic Gaming, in the finals.[9]

SKT placed third in the 2016 Summer League of Legends Champions Korea, but still qualified for the 2016 League of Legends World Championship through circuit points. The team swept through the group stage into the playoff round. In semi-finals they defeated the ROX Tigers in a close 3-2 series. In the finals they defeated Samsung Galaxy in another close 3-2 series, winning their third world championship title. Faker was voted as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.[10]

Season 7

Faker renewed his contract with SK Telecom T1 with an "unprecedented offer" [11] which was rumored to be over $2.5 million USD.

On 6th February 2017, Faker recorded his first livestream on Twitch.tv and recorded a peak views at 245,100, setting the record for most views for a single streamer in the history of the site.

Team results

A group picture of SK Telecom T1 at the 2013 World Championship.

SK Telecom T1 #2

SK Telecom T1 K

SK Telecom T1

Individual awards

References

  1. ↑ "Faker". Retrieved June 23, 2016.
  2. ↑ "SANGHYUK FAKER LEE". Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Faker - Lee, Sang Hyeok - League of Legends Player Profile :: e-Sports Earnings". esportsearnings.com. Retrieved 2016-10-30.
  4. ↑ Kimes, Mina (June 10, 2015). "The Unkillable Demon King". ESPN The Magazine. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
  5. ↑ Kulasingham, Nilu. "Faker reportedly declined contracts valued up to $1 million in total by Chinese companies.". OnGamers. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  6. ↑ Lingle, Samuel (January 7, 2015). "Faker gets benched, comes back with a pentakill". The Daily Dot. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  7. ↑ https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CV1drzCUsAEe8GB.jpg:large. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ↑ "About Mid-Season Invitational". LoL eSports. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  9. ↑ Marshall, Paul (May 15, 2016). "Korea's SKTelecom T1 wins the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational". LoL eSports. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  10. ↑ Lam, Kien. "SK Telecom T1 wins World Championship again". LoL eSports. Riot Games. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  11. ↑ "'페이커' 이상혁, SK텔레콤과 사상 최고대우 재계약...뱅-울프-블랭크 남고, 듀크-벵기 떠난다(종합)" (in Korean). Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  12. ↑ Cho, Hak-Dong (2015-11-25). "This year's Grand Prize awarded to Faker".
Preceded by
Taipei Assassins		 League of Legends World Championship winner
2013 		Succeeded by
Samsung Galaxy White
Preceded by
Samsung Galaxy White		 League of Legends World Championship winner
2015-2016 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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