Recently, the LoL Esports page – the official social media account of Riot for updates on tournaments – has compiled the top 10 plays of the Group Stage from the World Championship (Worlds) 2022. Among them, the representative of League of Legends (LoL) Vietnam, GAM Esports, was ranked 3rd with a spectacular comeback against TOP Esports. The moment Faker took down Jensen in a duel (solo-kill) was ranked first.
In this duel, Faker used the champion Sylas to face Jensen’s Akali. With a skill set that includes crowd control and healing, along with a level and item advantage (Faker had Zhonya’s Hourglass), the Mid Laner of T1 managed to take down his counterpart after both sides unleashed their full skillsets.
Recently, while playing ranked again, it was Faker and Sylas, but this time there was no extraordinary performance for the T1 legend. The opponent’s Blitzcrank was used in the Jungle position and had fairly good stats. Notably, this Blitzcrank brought the Keystone Rune Conqueror – a new playstyle adopted recently after Riot buffed the champion’s Static Field ability.
And when the opponent’s Blitzcrank dueled against Faker’s Sylas, the passive of Static Field made Sylas’s healing ability nearly non-existent. Moreover, Blitzcrank had the burn effect from Red Buff, and Faker missed his skill, losing his healing ability. When Faker closed in, Blitzcrank simply used an E ability – Rocket Grab to take down T1’s Mid Laner.
Witnessing this situation, the LoL community was highly entertained. There were even many opinions suggesting that Faker has begun to feel the harshness of the North American server. Other comments expressed hope that Royal Never Give Up would utilize Blitzcrank in their upcoming quarter-final match against T1.
However, this may just be a momentary oversight by Faker, and one ranked match cannot determine much. Moreover, such duels are very rare and carry high risks. Definitely, when entering the tournament, Faker, like any other player, will exercise maximum caution because each mistake will come at the cost of the entire season.