Currently, Faker is regarded as the “G.O.A.T of the League of Legends scene”, and this status is likely to last until Riot’s game comes to a definitive end. The accolades, professional impact, and influence he has had on his team, organization, and League of Legends in particular, as well as esports in general, are indisputable. Not to mention, Faker’s enduring career is something that not every player can achieve, especially in a fiercely competitive environment like the LCK. There may be older players like Faker still competing (Impact, CoreJJ), but none of these players are currently playing in such a highly competitive region as the LCK.
Recently, in an interview ahead of becoming the first name inducted into Riot’s Hall of Legends, Faker shared extensively about his career as well as his passion for gaming since childhood. The revelations made by Faker himself surprised many: he started playing games at just 5 years old and would go to internet cafes and gaming spots to play various games. However, the game he excelled at back then was Audition. Meanwhile, the game he struggled with the most was fighting games.
This was also surprising for the audience. After all, League of Legends is a real-time strategy action game and can be considered a fighting game as both sides continuously battle each other. In fact, Faker only got into League of Legends when he was in his third year of middle school (equivalent to 9th grade in Vietnam, when Faker was about 15 years old). He also mentioned that once he fell in love with League of Legends, he abandoned all the other types of games he had played before.
This might be seen as a surprise, but it also shows that a genius like Faker wasn’t born skilled; he has put in a lot of effort. While gaming skills can be innate, Faker transformed his “weakness” into a strength, ultimately becoming the greatest player of all time in a genre he wasn’t particularly good at as a child.