Faker (League of Legends player)
Faker | |
---|---|
Lee Sang-hyeok | |
Hangul | 이상혁 |
Revised Romanization | Lee Sang-hyeok |
McCune–Reischauer | Lee Sang-hypo |
Date of birth | 7 May 1996 |
Hometown | Seoul |
Nationality | South Korean |
Current team | SK Telecom T1 |
League | League of Legends Champions Korea |
Games | League of Legends |
Championships | LoL Worlds: 2013, 2015 |
Nickname(s) | Peikeo, Ppakeo, The Unkillable Demon King |
Professional career | |
February 2013–December 2014 | SK Telecom T1 K |
December 2014–present | SK Telecom T1 |
Lee Sang-hyeok (Hangul: 이상혁 born 7 May 1996), known by his in-game name Faker (Hangul: 페이커; RR: Peikeo) or (Hangul: 빠커; RR: Ppakeo), is a professional League of Legends player. Formerly known as "GoJeonPa"(Korean:고전파) on the Korean server, he was picked up by the SK Telecom Organization in 2013 and is currently the Mid Laner for SK Telecom T1, which competes in 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. He is consistently ranked number one by analysts and often referred to as the "God" of League of Legends. He is one of only two players, along with teammate Bengi, to have won two Summoner's Cups for winning the League of Legends World Championship, having done so in 2013 (Season Three) and 2015 Season.
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 on 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.[2]
Playing career
Faker is widely considered to be the best LoL player in the world.[3][4] In October 2013 Faker won the League of Legends World Championship as a member of SK Telecom T1 K.
SKT K and SKT S merged in 2014 and Faker became a member of a consolidated SKT T1. SKT T1 failed to qualify for League of Legends World Championship 2014.
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] In League of Legends, there are characters known as "champions", and Faker is renowned as having one of the largest "champion pools" (number of champions in a player's arsenal that the player has mastered). He is best known for his LeBlanc, Zed, Ahri, Ryze and Orianna.[6]
Many former top Korean players, including Samsung Galaxy's members Pawn, Dandy and Imp, left South Korea to play in China, Faker on the other hand declined an offer of over $1,000,000 by a Chinese Team. Imp reported in a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) that his salary was larger than $200,000 a year without any specifics as to how much. 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.
Faker opened the 2015 Spring LCK split by getting benched by the team and then coming back for a pentakill against NaJin e-mFire.[7]
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.[8]
Streaming contract
In 2014 Faker signed an exclusive streaming contract with Azubu. Despite this, a user on twitch.tv created a channel called SpectateFaker, which streamed matches he played on ranked servers using the in-game spectating. Azubu eventually responded by issuing a DMCA takedown request. Riot Games, while questioning whether Azubu actually had legal ownership of the gameplay footage, decided to cooperate with the request because of damages caused to Faker and Azubu.[9]
Team results
- 3rd, OnGameNet Champions Spring 2013 (SK Telecom T1)
- 1st, HOT6iX Champions Summer 2013 (SK Telecom T1)
- 1st, Season 3 World Championship (SK Telecom T1)
- 1st, PANDORA.TV Champions Winter 2013-2014 (SK Telecom T1 K)
- 1st, All-Star 2014 (SK Telecom T1 K)
- 1st, ITENJOY NLB Summer 2014 (SK Telecom T1 K)
- 1st, 2015 SBENU Champions Korea Spring Playoffs (SK Telecom T1)
- 2nd, League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational 2015 (SK Telecom T1)
- 1st, 2015 SBENU Champions Korea Summer Playoffs (SK Telecom T1)
- 1st, Season 5 World Championship (SK Telecom T1)
- 1st, Intel Extreme Masters Season X - World Championship (SK Telecom T1)
- 1st, Kko-Kkal-Kkon League of Legends Champions Korea Spring 2016 (SK Telecom T1
Individual awards
- 2013 Republic of Korea e-sports destination of Legends League Most Valuable Player Award
- Pandora TV Champions League of Legends Winter 2013-2014 Best Player Award
- Pandora TV Winter Champions League of Legends 2013 to 2014 KDA Mid 1st Division
- Hot Six League of Legends Champions Summer 2013 Best Player Award
- Hot Six League of Legends Champions Summer 2013 KDA Mid 1st Division
- 2015 Republic of Korea e-sports destination of Legends League Most Valuable Player Award
- 2015 Republic of Korea e-sports destination of Legends League Popularity Award
- 2015 Republic of Korea e-sports destination of Legends League this year's Grand Prize[10]
References
- ↑ "Faker". Retrieved May 2, 2015.
- ↑ Kimes, Mina (June 10, 2015). "The Unkillable Demon King". ESPN The Magazine. Retrieved June 14, 2015.
- ↑ Fields, Frank. "The Worlds Top 20". LoL Esports. Riot Games. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
- ↑ Mohr, Devin Ryanne. "Froskurinn's Top 20 Players of All-Time [Part 1]". Goldper10. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
- ↑ Kulasingham, Nilu. "Faker reportedly declined contracts valued up to $1 million in total by Chinese companies.". OnGamers. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
- ↑ "SANGHYUK FAKER LEE". Retrieved April 9, 2015.
- ↑ Lingle, Samuel (January 7, 2015). "Faker gets benched, comes back with a pentakill". The Daily Dot. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
- ↑ https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CV1drzCUsAEe8GB.jpg:large. Missing or empty
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(help) - ↑ http://www.dailydot.com/esports/spectatefaker-riot-games-dmca-dare/The Daily Dot
- ↑ Cho, Hak-Dong (2015-11-25). "This year's Grand Prize awarded to Faker".
External links
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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 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |