Key Stats of Faker at MSI
Currently, the entire League of Legends community is focused on MSI 2026 – the second biggest international tournament of the year, which will begin its Play-In stage in about a week. Notably, the Play-In stage this year will feature T1 – the defending champions. T1 is also expected to pass this stage easily. However, for Faker personally, MSI brings a sense of concern.

Specifically, according to Rft.gg, Faker has maintained at least a 54% win rate across all MSI tournaments he has participated in up to now, excluding MSI 2026. However, throughout the seasons, Faker has only claimed the MSI title twice, in 2016 and 2017—periods when his win rates were near their peak (71% in 2016 and 82% in 2017).
In other MSI seasons, despite T1 still showcasing a dominant performance and even being considered the top favorite to win in 2022, Faker and his teammates often stumbled, especially in the finals (SKT T1/T1 have lost 3 out of 5 MSI finals they attended). This is quite concerning, particularly for a player known for his resilience and vast experience like Faker.

Faker Likely Has High Expectations for MSI 2026
It’s hard to compare T1 2026 with any of their past rosters. After the matches so far, especially on the Road to MSI, unpredictability stands out as the most prominent trait of this lineup. Because of this, T1 is fully capable of winning MSI 2026. They are also highly rated by experts and fans alike, even more so than HLE – the LCK’s first seed.

However, one of the factors that make T1 unpredictable is how easily they can lose control of the game if the laning phase does not go smoothly. And if the opponent does not make mistakes, such as HLE in the upper bracket final, T1 can be defeated. Faker has waited nearly 10 years since his last MSI championship, and he likely does not want to wait another year.