Faker

Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok established his name in esports in 2013, when he made his professional League of Legends debut with SK Telecom T1, the organization later rebranded as T1. From the mid lane, he built a career defined by mechanical precision, map awareness, tactical discipline, and an unusual ability to decide games under pressure. His first major lineup featured Impact, Bengi, Piglet, and PoohManDu, the core that introduced him to the international scene and won the 2013 World Championship. During that broader early phase, Casper also appeared around the roster after PoohManDu temporarily stepped away for health reasons, in a period when Faker stopped being just a prodigy and became the competitive face of the club.

Faker’s second defining era began when the sister-team system was dissolved and a single SK Telecom T1 roster was formed. In that cycle he shared the team with MaRin, Easyhoon, Bang, Wolf, and Piccaboo, and later with Duke, Blank, and Scout within the first-team structure. This period mattered because it showed that his influence did not rely on one fixed lineup, but on his ability to remain the competitive center while the organization changed pieces around him. With those rosters he won the 2015 and 2016 World Championships as well as MSI 2016, turning a dominant run into a dynasty and transforming himself from a mechanical superstar into the historical pillar of T1’s sporting identity.

The next chapter was less stable, but more revealing in terms of legacy. Faker played through different stages alongside Huni, Peanut, Untara, Profit, Bang, Wolf, Thal, Blossom, Pirean, Effort, and Leo, and later with Khan, Clid, Teddy, Mata, Haru, and Crazy. Once the organization officially became T1, a new rebuilding phase brought him together with Canna, Cuzz, Roach, Ellim, Gori, Gumayusi, Kuri, Clozer, and Burdol, combining veterans, young prospects, and constant rotation in search of another dominant cycle. Even when those years did not always end in a world title, they strengthened Faker’s image as the club’s point of continuity, leadership, and competitive stability through shifting metas, staff changes, and roster overhauls.

The modern era once again reshaped Faker’s legacy when T1 built around him one of the most recognizable cores in the history of the game: Zeus, Oner, Gumayusi, and Keria. With that lineup the club returned to the top and won the 2023 and 2024 World Championships, and during the same period Riot named Faker the inaugural inductee of the Hall of Legends, a distinction that reflected both his competitive value and his cultural importance in League of Legends. Specific moments of that era also involved names such as Asper, Poby, and Smash, while later stages of the project brought in Doran and, more recently, Peyz. Taken as a whole, Faker’s T1 career is not defined by a single roster, but by the fact that he linked multiple generations of players — from Impact and Bengi to Zeus, Oner, Keria, Doran, and Peyz — under one enduring winning identity.

Mentioned people

Gumayusi

Esports player

Zeus

Esports player

Oner

Esports player

Keria

Esports player

Doran

Esports player

Show more