Among the hundreds of millions of League of Legends players worldwide, only one person is called a “living legend”: Faker, the Immortal Demon King, who has dominated the top position since his appearance. The second position has long been a difficult question to answer, but number 1, the only one, the most elite, has always been Faker.
Any rising name in the League of Legends arena must be associated with miraculous plays and completely superior individual skills, tied to specific champions. While Madlife gained fame with lethal hooks, Foggen made the world respect him with his “bird playing” ability, and the way that Korean jungle genius Choi “inSec” In-seok brought Lee Sin to a different level… Faker, however, convinced the entire world with a remarkably diverse champion pool. In fact, he set the record for the player using the most champions in World Championship history.
With every champion in hand, Faker has the ability to elevate that champion to new heights, so much so that Riot has often had to nerf those champions after witnessing the excessive damage in Faker’s hands. In other words, only Faker can maximize the potential of those champions to the point where even Riot is left shocked.
When mentioning the champion that made Faker’s name, many might immediately think of Zed or Ryze; however, if we expand the statistics to before Faker turned professional, many would probably reconsider the name Riven.
Riven
Surely many people do not know how terrifying Riven in Faker’s hands used to be, simply because at that time, the “Demon King” had not yet revealed himself. At the end of Season 2 and the start of Season 3, Faker chose the North American server as his training ground. Of course, no one knew who Faker was or what he looked like; they just knew that there was a young man wielding Riven, wreaking havoc on the League of Legends battlefield, dominating the entire NA server at not even 17 years old.
Choosing the Exile champion as almost the only champion to climb the ranks under the character name BarcodeKiller, Faker “destroyed” many of the top players in North America at the time, even the “god” BoxBox had to call Faker by the name: A new God. Remember that at that time, the Korean server was just on the rise and still lagged behind North America in terms of skill level, which is why the entire League of Legends community in North America rushed to find out the identity of the owner of the nickname BarcodeKiller.
A few months later, when Faker officially appeared on the professional stage, they finally knew that this Riven god was Lee Sang Hyeok. At that time, the boy’s playstyle and champion preferences were still not clear, but later he proved to the North American elite that: “You guys were right to be beaten by me.” Faker is also seen as the creator of the mid lane Riven playstyle, bringing it into the Professional Arena… and causing Riven to receive quite a few nerfs from Riot.
Leblanc
According to the latest statistics, it took more than two years for a team to break Faker’s winning streak with Leblanc, namely EDG at MSI 2015. Leblanc in Faker’s hands was so powerful that it was said that if you wanted to win against SKT, the first thing to do was to prevent Faker from getting this Illusionist in his hands.
Faker had his first games holding Leblanc while playing for SKT T1 #2 – the junior team of SKT T1 #1 and excellently defeated extremely strong opponents at that time such as: CJ Entus, KT Rolster… The most impressive must be the match against MVP Blue at the OGN Spring 2013 tournament, where Faker’s Leblanc had an incredibly impressive KDA of 11/0/2, forcing the opponent to surrender right at the 20th minute.
Faker used Leblanc until the end of Season 3. After Leblanc became slightly weaker compared to Gragas, Ahri, or Oriana, Faker had to temporarily set her aside; however, the image of Faker being aggressive and elusive, continuously performing “vanishing” acts on opponents with just one combo remains a nightmare for many “losers” at that time like Ambition, Nagne… It can be clearly seen at that time, Faker’s individual skill completely surpassed the team’s strategy; he just picked the champions he was most comfortable with and dominated the match with all his “recklessness” without thinking too much.
Zed and the Legendary Outplay – Of Course
Although he was a star at that time, a hope for the entire League of Legends scene in Korea with a summer OGN championship and a world championship, fans always saw in Faker a humility. He understood that fans had high expectations for him, and any arrogance could be a double-edged sword.
Entering Season 4, Faker had to face a slew of “big-name” players like Ryu, Pawn, Dade… with the rise of physical assassins in the mid lane: Zed, Talon, Yasuo. In terms of phases, Zed would be in third place, but in terms of impact, this is definitely the champion Faker should thank the most among the champions he has ever used. The whole world had to tip their hats in respect to a historic play that would forever be remembered as a legend.
The situation where Faker’s Zed outplayed Ryu’s Zed in the HOT6iX 2013 final is ranked as the best solo play in history. This solo play made Faker the world’s number one mid laner and also haunted Ryu after being defeated by the champion he was best at. Those 6 seconds marked a turning point in the careers of both players, one soared to new heights, while the other lost himself.
Ryze
The champion associated with Faker from the end of Season 4 to the beginning of Season 5 until now is Ryze – both old and new. At this time, the Korean Esports Association required an organization to own only one team, causing SKT (K for Faker and S for Easyhoon) to change their lineup. Impact did not renew his contract, Piglet was fired, Poohmandu went to China to seek new horizons. With Marin, Bengi, and Faker, SKT T1 began their sweeping campaign across all domestic and international tournaments, and throughout that period, it is impossible not to mention the “cornerstone” champion: Ryze.
The Ancient Mage every time he appears in Faker’s hands creates a sense of great reassurance for teammates, and on the other hand, this Ryze will definitely become a nightmare for the enemy team no matter how tough the laning phase is. After numerous adjustments, nerfs up and down, Faker’s Ryze remains incredibly powerful.
According to statistics, Ryze in Faker’s hands has never lost a single match during the three seasons from 2015 to 2017. Once you are “hit” by Ryze in Faker’s hands, you can only stand still and wait to die; Faker has proven to the world how deserving his SKT T1 Ryze skin is.
Conclusion
As mentioned above, Faker has used too many champions effectively, making it hard to choose a few names among them. However, perhaps the most impactful champions on Faker’s career are Riven, LeBlanc, Zed, and Ryze, alongside Orianna, Cassiopeia, Galio, or Kassadin. The LCK Summer Split will officially start soon, and fans are eagerly waiting for Faker to expand his champion pool with newly released names like Neeko, Qiyana, Sylas, or even Sett in the mid lane.