As of now, it has been over two weeks since T1’s victory at the 2023 World Championship (Worlds 2023), but the aftermath is undoubtedly still felt. On many forums, numerous League of Legends fans are still reminiscing about T1’s journey as one of the most shocking events. This is because T1 did not enter the Worlds 2023 as a championship contender despite being the runner-up of the LCK Summer 2023. Even after defeating Bilibili Gaming, many still believed, especially LPL fans, that T1 would be defeated, even in the semifinals against JD Gaming.
However, even though T1 has surpassed all four representatives from the LPL on their way to the championship, many forums still see ardent anti-fans or rival team fans fervently “pressing” Faker and his teammates. Interestingly, when confronted by the community, these viewers demanded that the community not criticize or mock the players. Notably, many of them have continuously “spammed” images of Faker crying after the 2017 loss to Samsung Galaxy or images of Keria slumped on the table after the loss to DRX in 2022 every time T1 is defeated.
Moreover, according to arguments from anti-fans or some extreme fans of T1’s opponents, despite winning the Worlds in 2023, T1 still lost to Gen.G in the LCK and did not achieve MSI. Some even claim that there is interference from Riot since T1 has Faker, a player seen as a symbol of success in League of Legends. Therefore, T1’s championship, in the eyes of these individuals, is still not convincing enough.
In light of the “double standards” from some T1 anti-fans and fans of the opponents, even neutral viewers feel “heated.” According to many counter-arguments, the image of Faker crying in 2017 has continuously been used every time he has a poor result, so there’s no reason that Gen.G’s recent failure at Worlds 2022 should be overlooked. Moreover, this marks the third consecutive time Gen.G has been eliminated early, despite being top contenders for the title and the reigning LCK champions each time. Gen.G’s weakness at international events has caused the LCK to be viewed very poorly compared to the LPL.
The incident continues to spark controversy within the Vietnamese League of Legends communities. However, it is clear that Gen.G fans or any other opponents of T1, especially anti-fans, are simply facing the consequences of their actions towards Faker and his teammates over an extended period of time.