LoL cleverly stages 28-year-old who doesn’t say a word as an epic hero

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Riot Games is years ahead of other games with their MOBA League of Legends. Their special achievement: They turn LoL players, who lack charisma and eloquence even with the best will in the world, into heroic stars and idols for their fans. The best example, once again, is 28-year-old Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok.

Who is Faker?

  • Faker began his professional career in League of Legends at the age of 16 and won his first world championship shortly afterwards. He became world champion in LoL in 2013, 2015 and 2016, always with the same team; T1.
  • In 2017, the fourth World Championship was actually planned, but Faker lost the final. What followed were “7 years of doubt” as to whether he was still good enough for the 4th World Championship or whether he was now “washed up”. The discussion finally ended in 2023, when he became World Champion again, still with T1.
  • Faker has been an exceptional player from the first season until now. He has won the most titles – 10 in South Korea and 4 internationally. He has the most attention, he is the biggest star of LoL.

    • The life of Faker – Why he is a living legend

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    Faker: A star who is not at all like a star

    Is Faker suitable to be a star? By the usual standards of sport: not at all. Faker is a quiet, serious guy, introverted, almost shy.

    You notice that the few interviews and appearances he gives do not correspond to his nature – he has just gotten used to people wanting something from him and talking to him over the years.

    When he speaks, it’s about sport, success and his fans. He subordinates everything to sporting success and wants to give only the best for his fans, his teammates and his club.

    He reveals little about his personal life and is not a person of great emotion.

    Only very rarely do you get a glimpse of what is going on inside him: the big defeat in 2017, when he burst into tears. Against his rival Ambition, of all people, who, unlike him, has a wife. Or the moment in 2019 when he made a mistake in the decisive game against the Europeans from G2 and was shaking afterwards.

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    But Faker is not a classic sports star like the wide-legged Cristiano Ronaldo.

    His achievements over so many years and his countless titles make him a star, his amazing plays in the mid lane, shared on YouTube compilations for more than a decade, make him a hero, and what he means to his fans makes him an idol.

    LoL stages a hero who doesn’t behave like one at all

    How does Riot celebrate it? Riot Games knows all of this very well. But they need heroes that players look up to and want to root for.

    Normally, when they want to portray their players as heroes, they do so through their Worlds trailers, where players fight as comic book characters like superheroes or gods to epic soundtracks.

    Faker as a comic character.

    In 2024, Riot Games decided that LoL had been around for so long and had such a rich history that it could be officially celebrated. They opened a hall of fame and introduced Faker as the first.

    You honor the “unkillable demon king” with a trailer. And how do you do that?

    Faker doesn’t say a word. Only others talk about him. You can see the result here:

    League of Legends – Hall of Legends: Faker Trailer

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    Riot has perfectly understood how Faker and his stardom work.

    Faker will receive a special honor in a few weeks. He will be inducted into the LoL Hall of Legends and will also receive a skin and a customized Mercedes for a lot of money from the sponsor. He will also be honored in the game, with a big event taking place: LoL opens the Hall of Fame for a player – giving him an incredibly expensive Mercedes

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