With the championship title at World Championship 2023, Faker has become the only player in League of Legends history to win 4 championships at the highest-level international tournament of this game. Additionally, Faker is also the oldest player to have ever won a World Championship. In the recent tournament, the Mid Laner of T1 had numerous “carrying” moments, notably the “Shurima Shuffle” against Ruler in game 3 of the match against JD Gaming that helped T1 secure victory. It can be said that 2023 has ended splendidly for Faker and T1.
However, recently, Imp – the former star of Samsung White and 2014 World Champion made a controversial statement. During a livestream, he was mocked by some viewers because Faker (2013 World Champion) was still competing while Imp (2014 World Champion) was at home livestreaming. Upset by the unwarranted attacks, Imp bluntly stated: “If it weren’t for Riot’s opposition to Samsung, regulating that one organization can only own one team, how could Faker win so many championships? He should thank LPL as well, for buying all of Samsung’s players. If not, he would never have beaten Samsung.”
However, Imp’s comments immediately received a barrage of criticism from LPL fans, as well as many viewers from other regions. The reality is that Imp’s statement is completely inaccurate. SKT T1/T1, led by Faker, has almost completely dominated the League of Legends scene in Korea, even during the time when teams under the Samsung Galaxy system were strong. In fact, during the season they won the 2014 World Championship, SKT T1 did not participate in that tournament, while SSW only placed third in the Summer Split that year. The same scenario occurred for SSG in 2017 when they could not dominate domestically, and that year, the LCK Summer champion was also SKT T1.
Moreover, it is quite normal for one organization not to own two teams in the same tournament, both in traditional sports and Esports. In high-level professional traditional sports, it is never the case that one owner can directly own multiple teams in the same league. For example, Manchester City and Girona are currently under investigation, and the Spanish team risks being banned from the Champions League, even if they qualify due to sharing ownership with Man City.
Not to mention, Imp himself has been one of the most notorious names for “talking too much” in the League of Legends community in the past. Before MSI 2022, Imp had claimed that “GALA is just a mediocre AD carry.” At that time, he also received a lot of backlash and was firmly “shut down” by GALA who went on to win the MSI shortly after.
Therefore, Imp’s assertion may be a moment of impulsive anger when being teased. After all, Imp knows better than anyone that SKT T1/T1 can be strong or weak at different times, and SSG is similar, but SKT T1/T1 won championships based on their own strength, not relying on any collective or individual in an unfair manner.