With the Pro View feature launched by Riot Games, Faker is undoubtedly the player under the most scrutiny from this feature. However, many gamers who have watched Faker’s pro view feel incredibly dizzy because he constantly shifts his camera.
Even during his own stream, many Vietnamese fans admit that although they are huge Faker fans, they still have to switch to the channels of other players to “watch along” if they are playing together because Faker’s map check speed makes them unable to keep up. The purpose, of course, is not to make viewers dizzy; Faker does this to gather as much information as possible for himself and his teammates, from the positioning of minions to the resources of allies, enemies, or even vision. This helps Faker make necessary decisions, such as whether to dive a turret, which lane to gank, and where to place wards.
Later on, it was explained that he continuously uses the F1-F5 keys throughout the match, especially during idle times like farming minions or when dead, or while moving from base to lane… In addition, Faker often tabs to check items, teammates’ CS, and especially the enemies, so his screen is rarely “calm” at any moment.
For those who don’t know and want to learn how to control like Faker, you can refer to the following table:
This is in Options => Hotkeys => Camera Control => Select Allies. By default, selecting allies from 1 to 4 will be from F2 to F5, and you can customize it to your liking. When using these hotkeys, just click the key, and your camera will automatically focus on your ally instantly, knowing exactly what they are facing and how much health they have, as well as the state of minions and opponents, instead of just estimating by looking at the Mini Map.
The hotkeys from F1 to F5 are utilized to check on teammates; it may not guarantee you a near-perfect victory, but it will create a very good habit of continuously gathering information to assess what is useful for you and your teammates. Consequently, your strategic thinking and skill level will significantly improve.
Even knowing this, some fans shared that there have been many times they had to abandon Faker’s stream when he switched to serious mode to give… their eyes a break. This is understandable because Faker actively controls what he wants to see while viewers are in a passive position, “forced” to follow what Faker displays on the screen while simultaneously their brains must analyze a multitude of things at once, such as: What did Faker just open? Which position is he checking?… it’s truly not easy. The funny thing is that Faker only takes about 0.3 seconds to shift the screen to check the situation in another lane, while many of us might take over a second just to figure out what’s happening.
Speaking of this, it might be time to revisit Faker’s legendary camera check video; just 1 second, but Faker feels like he can check all the information occurring on the map. Many couldn’t believe their eyes, but those who have witnessed Faker play confirmed this:
1. [+233] This image is not sped up. Based on the speed of the champion’s movement, it is still normal and Mata is adjusting his mic at a normal speed
2. [+655] I’m not sure if this image is sped up, but if you watch Faker play, he spends time monitoring the situation on the map equivalent to the time he looks at his champion (except when fighting, he doesn’t switch the screen much). His screen-switching speed is much faster than when playing solo queue.
3. [+281] If you look at the speed of the minions, you can see that this video is not sped up. This is Faker’s original speed.
4. [+57] I sat behind SKT at the 2016 World Championship, and I swear this is what happens on Faker’s screen. He uses the F keys to monitor the map situation extremely frequently. He plays this way like the habit of Starcraft players. Other SKT members do the same, but not as frequently as Faker. It’s nice to see videos of what makes Faker different from other players.
In the latest development, during the week of June 2-9, Faker was one of the stream channels that made it to the Top Rankings on the Twitch platform. Specifically, in terms of watch hours, Faker’s channel ranked third with 461,536 views, and the Peak Viewer count reached 45,964, the highest. Many fans joked that Faker’s “skill channel” streams once every few days, each time for a few hours, is enough to compete with the hottest streamers in Korea. This is even excluding those who got dizzy and had to switch to watch Teddy or Cuzz’s channel…