For the League of Legends community and Esports in general, especially in the LCK region, Faker is viewed as an icon, the “idol of idols.” His reputation is something that no one passionate about Esports has not heard of. Even world-renowned players and gamers with strong personalities like Perkz, Doublelift, Uzi… or even the “toxic god” Tyler1 have to show respect to Faker.
However, back in the Summer 2021, the LCK and the League of Legends scene witnessed an exception, and that name is a young player: Gori – currently the new mid-laner of FunPlus Phoenix, taking over Doinb’s position. Specifically, in both matches where he defeated T1 in the first and second rounds of the LCK Summer 2021 group stage, this player raised his thumb in a disrespectful gesture to mock his senior. Notably, during his time with T1, Gori was Faker’s substitute. This action by the player born in 2000 has made the entire League of Legends community and fans of Faker as well as T1 extremely outraged.
Recently, shortly after joining the LPL, Gori continued to “stir up trouble.” Specifically, in the match between FPX and Ultra Prime in the Demacia Cup 2021, at the 10th minute, both teams had their first major skirmish near the Dragon pit. At that moment, top-laner xiaolaohu, using Jayce, took down 4 members of UP and was chasing Cryin. The former mid-laner of Royal Never Give Up was already under turret fire. However, while the jungler Beichuan had retreated to allow xiaolaohu to secure the Pentakill, Gori charged in and took the kill, much to the dismay of the audience and the casters. Even xiaolaohu was stunned by his teammate’s “Pentakill steal.”
Witnessing Gori’s actions, LPL fans could not contain their anger. Many comments criticized the former NS star. Some even connected this incident with Gori’s past mockery of Faker, declaring that his actions showed “poor sportsmanship.”
Essentially, stealing a Pentakill from a teammate is not an enormous issue. In fact, in VCS, it has even become a topic for players to jokingly tease each other, exemplified by Optimus and Levi. However, Gori’s backlash may largely stem from his previous display of disdain towards Faker – a player whom even LPL fans must respect and “deify.” The act of stealing a Pentakill might just be the “straw that broke the camel’s back” causing LPL fans, particularly Faker’s fans in China, to explode in anger.