Currently, Faker and his teammates from the South Korean League of Legends team have landed in Hangzhou to prepare for their journey at the Asian Games. This tournament is particularly important for Faker in particular and the Esports community as well as the LoL scene in general. A gold medal in this first time Esports is an official medal sport at the Asian Games will make history.
However, for the Western LoL audience (the rest of the LoL community), attention is largely focused on the 2023 World Championship (Worlds) – the tournament that Faker and the South Korean LoL team will participate in right after the Asian Games conclude. This is also an important tournament as T1 missed out on the title last year. Nevertheless, in this return to Worlds, Faker and T1 are not rated very highly based on their performance in the recent Summer LCK.
According to an expert who created a ranking of players by position for the upcoming Worlds 2023, the most attention-grabbing and controversial position is Mid Lane. In the S+ tier, it is no surprise to see Chovy and Knight included, as both are the current champions of the two largest tournaments in the LoL scene. However, Faker’s position has sparked much controversy as he was ranked shockingly low: Faker was placed in tier A, equal to Humanoid. Notably, Humanoid was only the runner-up of the 2023 Summer LEC.
Faker’s position is lower than even his “defeated foes” from T1 in the LCK, when Faker played alongside his team (like Bdd, ShowMaker). In fact, despite being the captain of the runner-up team, Faker is ranked lower than an opponent he has defeated twice in a row during the playoffs, Bdd. ShowMaker’s DK has not been able to win against T1 since Worlds 2021 whenever Faker is in the match. Additionally, Faker is ranked lower than Scout (LPL runner-up), Yagao (LPL third place), and Xiaohu (Mid Laner of Weibo Gaming – a team that must qualify for Worlds 2023 through the regional qualifiers).
This ranking immediately sparked controversy. Clearly, in terms of skills, Faker may be inferior to Chovy, but he has shown exceptional abilities in making plays and especially in commanding the game. Moreover, Faker’s influence is undeniable, and evidence from the 2023 Summer LCK is still fresh in our minds. The ranking itself does not specifically clarify the criteria for evaluation.
Of course, at this moment, in terms of “skill level”, it may be hard for Faker to match names like Chovy, Knight, or Yagao. But if he is undervalued too much, a bitter outcome is hard to avoid. Similar to how KT Rolster chose T1 in the playoffs and ended up empty-handed in the recent Summer LCK, even nearly losing their Worlds qualification.