Legendary T1 mid laner and League of Legends GOAT Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok has maintained his record of always reaching the top four at every World Championship he has attended following the quarter-finals win over Top Esports.
The Korean fourth seed booked their semi-final place with a dominant 3-0 victory against the LPL side to secure Faker’s 9/9 top-four record.
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Faker’s GOAT status and legacy built up through the years
Faker’s early years saw his SK Telecom team create what is still the game’s most commanding dynasty. Three world titles within four years quickly saw him cemented as the game’s greatest-ever player as he rapidly collected a Summoner’s Cup haul that was already nigh on impossible to beat.
First triple crown (2013, 2015, 2016)
At the height of his power, Faker’s 2013 showings marked the peak of solo dominance in LoL esports history. Such was his individual brilliance in his debut season that it’s thought that he inspired changes to the game itself to make League of Legends more team-oriented and reduce the ability for a Faker-esque player to 1v5 an entire season ever again.
After failing to attend Worlds in 2014, SKT returned to the top in 2015 to become World Champions once again. With Faker forced to share time with substitute mid laner Easyhoon, his impact throughout the tournament was much more subdued than in his first Worlds run.
With most of the roster remaining, and Faker the sole mid laner, SK became the first team to win successive World Championship titles in 2016. They were made to work for it in their 3-2 finals win against Samsung Galaxy – the first Worlds grand final to go the full five games.
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Tough rebuilding years did not make him waver (2017, 2019, 2021)
The tinkering of the back-to-back winning roster saw Faker and SKT fail to claim another World Championship title for seven years. During that time, however, Faker’s Worlds buff ensured that they were still competitive whenever they qualified.
The most heartbreaking Faker moment, a finals rematch versus Samsung this time ended in a crushing 3-0 defeat in 2017. It led to his infamous devastated reaction as a full house Bird’s Nest, Beijing audience looked on.
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Two years on, and for the first time in his career, Faker failed to reach the grand final of a World Championship that he attended. Despite winning both LCK splits that year, SKT was convincingly beaten by the enigmatic 2019 G2 roster who were the world’s best across that season.
By 2021, SKT had become T1 and had an entirely new roster, Faker aside. The team struggled through much of the season but grew as Worlds approached. However, Korean first seed and then-Worlds holders DWG KIA had T1’s number, besting them in both the LCK finals and Worlds semi-finals series.
The second dynasty? (2022, 2023, 2024)
Continuous tweaks to T1’s roster saw them finally assemble the current lineup of Zeus, Oner, Faker, Gumayusi, and Keria. While they’ve been bested by Gen.G domestically, international results may see them become the organisation’s and League of Legends’ second dynasty.
The roster’s first full year together realistically should’ve led to a Worlds 2022 title. They were heavy favorites in the final against Deft’s DRX and led the match 2-1 before a collapse saw them lose the series. It was not to be..
Building on the 2022 defeat, T1 kept the roster together for 2023 and, despite having faults for much of the season, finally regained the clutch factor to win their first Worlds title for seven years. If anything, the DRX defeat the year prior ultimately proved a learning experience for the side as they came back to re-write the script at Worlds the following year.
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2024 – 3rd/4th (at least)
Though still continuing to be in Gen.G’s shadow domestically, T1 has again grown into form during the World Championship. The Worlds patch had already led many to believe the a T1 resurgence was on the cards once again, but those suspicions were confirmed when they dismantled Top Espots in the quarter-finals to book their place in the top four for the ninth time in theirs and Faker’s history.