LoL National Team’ catches the eye of the public
“I thought it was only Faker (Lee Sang-hyuk), but Chovy (Jung Ji-hoon) was also good.” “The young players Zeus (Choi Woo-jae) and Keria (Ryu Min-seok) were good.” “Kanaby (Seo Jin-hyuk) and Ruler (Park Jae-hyuk) were in China. “They say you’re so good at it.”
This is the story the reporter heard most from relatives and acquaintances during the Chuseok holiday after the League of Legends national team won the gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games on September 29. As the Asian Games overlap with the Chuseok holiday, LoL is attracting attention not only among those in their 20s and 30s who mainly watched LoL, but also among those in their 40s and 50s. Naturally, a lot of attention is being paid to the 2023 League of Legends World Championship (Worlds Cup), in which the national team will participate. This World Cup, which will be held in Seoul and Busan starting on the 10th, will be held in Korea for the first time in five years.
Until now, when the general public thinks of 'LoL', what comes to mind is 'Faker (Lee Sang-hyuk).' Lee Sang-hyuk, who won Worlds 3 times, MSI 2 times, and LCK 10 times, contributed to the popularization of LoL as an icon as much as his career. In addition, Deft (Kim Hyuk-gyu), who won the 2022 World Cup, appeared in the news and made his face known. The story of how he won the World Cup in 6 matches and 7th period became famous as a meme called 'Jungkkeutma (the important thing is an unbreakable heart)'. However, by showing overwhelming skills in this Asian Games, 'Rollpan's next generation stars' made a clear 'imprint' on the public.
The question that usually follows is, “So is Faker’s era over?” In this Asian Games, Lee Sang-hyuk did not appear as a starter after the quarterfinals. However, just this year, he reached the finals of all domestic competitions and battled with Jeong Ji-hoon for first and second place. Of course, I partially agree with the assessment that his form is not as good as it used to be. Because the person he used to be was so overwhelming. He debuted in 2013 and won the League of Legends World Championship, the world's best competition, three times in just four years until 2016. Until 2017, he won the LCK, a domestic competition, six times, literally lifting the trophy as if he were eating a meal.
However, Faker ‘now’ is also a top mid laner. Even after 2018, when he was at his worst, he won the LCK championship four times. He has advanced to the LCK finals eight times from 2018 to this year. Half of them, or 4 times, won the championship cup. Even narrowing it down further, he advanced to the LCK finals for a total of five consecutive seasons from the summer of 2021 to the summer of this year. During the same period, he competed in Worlds in all years except 2018 and 2020. He reached the semifinals in 2019 and 2021 and the finals in 2022. His team, T1, also showed faith in his consistency. T1 signed a three-year long-term contract with Lee Sang-hyeok last year.
This means that Lee Sang-hyuk is still alive and well to find a ‘post-Faker’. Perhaps in that respect, the 2023 World Cup, which will be held in Seoul and Busan this year, is expected to attract great interest from existing League of Legends fans and the public. Will Lee Sang-hyuk wash away the disappointment of being the runner-up and prove that he is still alive by winning the championship, or will Jeong Ji-hoon claim his first championship trophy and declare that it is his era? Of course, like last year, a nova that no one expected may appear.