Another tough match for Faker and his teammates, as T1 successfully made a comeback against Griffin in the group stage of LCK Spring 2020. Like most other matches, T1 found themselves in a position of chasing due to several quite regrettable mistakes.
The notable highlight of this match was still Faker, but in a rather unpleasant way. In game 1, the T1 captain continuously threw the game in the late stages, allowing Griffin to suddenly turn the tide and take a 1-0 lead.
In game 3, Faker once again made an impact by using the champion Akali with the Conqueror rune. This was entirely an ineffective rune for Akali, as this champion doesn’t require attack speed at all.
However, the problem was that Faker’s Akali was still ahead, and T1 still won. While fans were debating fiercely whether Conqueror Akali could be considered a ‘new meta’ initiated by Faker, or if it was simply due to Griffin being too weak, leading Chairman Lee to start… “playing around”.
Underestimating the opponent is definitely not something that fits Faker’s character. But if it were a new meta, even commentators and other Challenger players couldn’t explain what use Conqueror had with Akali.
And then, not letting the audience ponder too long, right after the match, the answer about Akali in Faker’s hands was clarified. When a commentator asked Effort – one of the two MVPs of the match: “In this match, Faker used the Conqueror rune for Akali, could this be a new playstyle you guys have discovered?”
And the answer received was as follows:
– Effort: “No, it was a mistake, Faker accidentally chose the wrong rune because of lag.”
So it’s clear, there’s no new meta here, just a simple mistake. However, Faker managed to use an Akali with a suboptimal rune setup and still beat his opponent, it seems Riot Games should nerf this champion right away, as she remains too powerful as is.