It can be said that it was not the match against Gen.G on the opening day of LCK Spring 2024, but the match against Nongshim RedForce that truly made LCK fans, especially T1 fans, hold their breath. This is because, in this match, T1 at one point made people feel that they could completely lose. However, after all, the superstar moments shone at the right time, and the gameplay still showed a clear superiority over NS, T1 still won on the day Faker marked his 900th match in his career specifically in LCK.
However, also on the day marking a new milestone in his career, Faker had an outstanding performance with the champion Hwei. Perhaps everyone knows that Hwei is a new champion released by Riot, and up until now, it can be said to be quite successful. Specifically, in the Mid Lane position of LCK Spring 2024, Hwei has appeared in 8 matches, winning 6 and achieving a win rate of up to 75%. Among them, Faker and BuLLDoG of Kwangdong Freecs are the two players who used Hwei the most, but only Faker has a 100% win rate with this champion (2 matches).
Notably, Faker also set a remarkable record with the champion Hwei. Accordingly, Hwei officially became the second champion with the most kills in a match throughout Faker’s career, including international tournaments. The first champion, which also brought Faker to the spotlight – Zed, in the match between SKT T1 and KT Rolster on March 2, 2017.
If you think 12 kills might seem low, here are Faker’s statistics in the professional environment. Perhaps everyone understands that in this setting, players compete with utmost concentration and it’s unlikely that both sides will engage in enough fights. Not to mention, there was a long period when the general meta of professional League of Legends was a slow playstyle, only engaging in a few full team fights from mid to late game. Moreover, sometimes kills also have to be given to other positions such as Top Lane, Jungle, and especially the AD Carry.
In addition, in the post-match interview, Faker also had an extremely “loud brag” but everyone had to agree: “Personally, I think I am the best Hwei player right now.” Indeed, Faker’s performance with Hwei in the match against NS was truly impressive. This is also the 76th champion in League of Legends that the “Demon King” has used in a professional match at LCK.
It is very likely that in the near future, Faker will use Hwei more often, as this champion has shown impressive power in the hands of T1’s captain. Of course, this will also depend on T1’s strategy as well as the opponents on the other side. And the opponents may also have to spend a banning turn for the artist champion every time they face T1 in the future.