One of the best League of Legends players in the world: Who is Lee Sang-hyeok or Faker?

His family bought him his first computer when he was eight years old. He played on PlayStation and other consoles, and when the old cassettes didn't work, he blew them out and put them back in. His earliest memories of games include fighting in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai.

He also didn't care much about playing competitively when he was younger. He would never have thought that he would play in front of the eyes of thousands of people watching live in packed halls and millions of people watching on the internet. He discovered League of Legends in 2011 when he was in middle school. He adopted this very quickly.

Lee Sang-hyeok (born May 7, 1996), better known as Faker, is a South Korean professional League of Legends player for T1. He gained prominence after joining SK Telecom T1 (now T1) in 2013, where he has since played as the team's mid-laner. Throughout his career, he has secured a record of 10 League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) titles, two Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) titles, and a record four World Championship titles. Faker is widely regarded as the greatest League of Legends player in history and has drawn comparison analogizing him to basketball player, Michael Jordan for his esports success.

He watched professional StarCraft matches as a kid, but he never really admired any esports athletes. But during the first period of League's professional arena, he was inspired by EDG's former mid-laner "HooN". He read HooN's guide to Ryze, a champion he still plays occasionally today, and this pushed him to turn pro.

He got better day by day until he reached level 30 and competed against great talents in Korea. He was still an amateur player, but he kept winning and eventually rose to #1 in the server rankings.

He did not consult with his family before signing a deal with SK Telecom in 2013. In fact, he never talked to them about becoming a professional actor. Instead, he made his family feel that if he took this seriously, everything would be fine. His family does not support him to death or try to motivate him in this regard, but they give him the freedom to pursue his dreams.

He admits:

After the ROX Tigers defeated him 2-1 in the third game of the semi-finals of the 2016 League of Legends world championship, there was a moment when he thought he might lose the series.

He tries to keep a poker face during the match. He asks his teammates to do the same. They stay calm, don't give a shit, and try not to do anything that could undermine the match.

In 2013, they fell behind 2-0 against KTR Bullets in the OGN Summer Finals; but they won the next three games in a landslide to win the series. In League of Legends, it just takes a few good moves to release the tension.

Many large and small tournaments are held throughout the year, but the main target is of course the world championship. There is a gilded championship trophy and millions of dollars on the table. No tournament is more lucrative or more prestigious than this one. His team won this tournament twice in 2013 and 2015.

He gets angry when he loses to players he knows are not at his level.

He is confident that two decades from now, esports will grow in ways we could never have imagined, with more players, more viewers, and bigger arenas around the world.

Lee Sang-hyeok (born May 7, 1996), better known as Faker, is a South Korean professional League of Legends player. He joined SK Telecom and SK Telecom T1 team in 2013, formerly known as "GoJeonPa". He is known as the best League of Legends player of all time.

In 2015, he and his team became champions at the World Championship without losing anything, except for KOO Tigers, until the final.

In 2016, it won its 3rd championship by beating Samsung Galaxy 3-2 in the final.

He is the only player other than Bengi to become a champion 3 times.

In 2022, he reached the finals of MSI and Worlds tournaments and lost 3-2. Faker extended his contract with the team for 3 years.

He won the gold medal as champion at the 2022 Asian Games and was granted exemption from military service.

Faker, who was last world champion at Worlds 2016, became world champion for the 4th time in total by becoming champion at Worlds 2023. He is the first and only player to become a four-time world champion. Faker also won the Best Esports Player award at The Game Awards ceremony on December 7, 2023.