The legendary LoL professional Faker has revealed why winning is no longer so important to him. He also talks about what made T1 even stronger.
Lee Faker Sang-hyeok, also known as the Unkillable Demon King and the Goat, is undoubtedly a legend in League of Legends. His impressive career began in 2013 when the then 17-year-old Faker won his first world championship title at the LoL Worlds with Team T1. Since then he has achieved remarkable success and can proudly look back on four world championship titles with T1.
In an interview with Dexerto, Faker reflects on his perspectives that have changed and the challenges T1 has overcome.
The Life of Faker – That’s why he’s a living legend
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Faker sets new focus
What does he say in the interview? Despite his success at Worlds 2023 and numerous other titles, Faker emphasized that his perspective on life and his career has changed. He talks about not just focusing on victories or defeats, but rather looking forward and taking on new challenges.
He says the following about this:
I can’t say I’ve changed because of the injury last year. But it was around this point that I started to differentiate my mindset and approach to preparing for games. There has definitely been a change. I wanted to become much more stable inside.
I don’t want to be shaken by a single win or a single loss, I just want to face more challenges, be proactive and keep moving forward. These are the changes I had internally.
Lee Sang-hyeok Faker in an interview with Dexerto
His focus is no longer on winning and making money. He even rejected an offer from a Chinese team of almost 17 million euros.
The 28-year-old also shares his thoughts about retiring as a professional, emphasizing that he doesn’t set any limits for himself and wants to gain as much experience as a professional player as possible.
Faker on challenges that T1 overcame and made even stronger
What does Faker say about the team? Faker’s trust in his team and his willingness to rely on his teammates have arguably increased over the years. He sat on the bench for part of last year because he suffered from an arm injury.
He says the following about his team:
As I watched them perform on stage without me, I had some faith in them that they would do great. But they didn’t do as well as I expected, they had a hard time. […]
Faker in an interview with Dexerto
Although it was heartbreaking for him to see her, he didn’t want to focus on the negative aspects. He chose instead to find a bright spot in that moment and focus on that.
Winning Worlds 2023 (along with Faker) marked a turning point that, according to Faker, made the team stronger and the players less dependent on the results of individual games. Faker emphasizes that their victory and the experiences of last year (2023) have made T1 better as a team. He revealed even more in an interview about his life philosophy: LoL legend Faker shares his life philosophy and fans claim: “He has become Ryze”