God is not dead: Faker

With a new season comes new stars and new stories. Here is one of the players you should look out for in 2015! Team: SK Telecom T1 Region: Champions Korea Position: Mid In the entire history of League of Legends, no player has dominated a single position as much as Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. Making his debut in Champions Spring 2013 with SK Telecom T1 #2, Faker immediately earned the adoration of fans with his incredible mechanical ability and unparalleled influence from the mid lane. It would only be two seasons of Champions before Faker reached the pantheon of Korean League of Legends -- a first place trophy and a ticket to the World Championship. Two months later, Faker had completely cleared up any doubts about his status as the world’s best, and took home a Worlds trophy to boot. A flawless run in Champions Winter 2013-14 capped off the most dominant esports dynasty seen to date in League of Legends. Yet, that tournament would be the last time Faker would see first place. SKT T1 K finally met their Kryptonite in Samsung Ozone and their new mid laner Heo “PawN” Won-seok. Against Ozone, Faker was forced to play with uncharacteristic recklessness in lane to make up for his team’s deficiencies. Ozone’s jungler Choi “DanDy” In-kyu punished Faker’s aggression, and SKT T1 found themselves repeatedly caught in the Ozone snowball. This pattern continued against NaJin White Shield in SKT T1 K’s last-chance match to make it to Worlds, and Faker finished Season 4 in disappointment. When the changes to Korea’s competitive circuit were announced, Faker found himself with a new team, and new prospects for 2015. Additionally, many of his mid lane rivals such as Bae “Dade” Eo-jin, Song “Rookie” Eui-jin and PawN moved to compete in China. The road was paved for Faker’s return, and the first test of his ability would be the OGN preseason games. Although Faker has been sharing the mid lane with his teammate Lee “Easyhoon” Ji-hoon in the preseason, he has already shown a return to his championship form, setting up plays and winning his lane with relative ease. Furthermore, his partner in the jungle Bae “Bengi” Seong-ung has improved greatly from last year, and is back to being one of Korea’s top junglers. This has freed up a lot of pressure on Faker, allowing him to play with greater comfort. As we move into 2015, there are still a few caveats to consider before putting all our eggs in Faker’s basket. Firstly, he is still the centerpiece of SKT T1, meaning he will not be escaping the pressure of junglers any time soon. Should Faker’s team fail to perform, he will be faced with the same situation he was in for much of 2014. Additionally, his opponents are catching up to him in various aspects of the game, as made evident by his solo death to Samsung’s Park “BlisS” Jong-won’s Fizz in the preseason. At any rate, Faker is still the best League of Legends player in the world. This fact alone means that SKT T1 will be demanding a certain amount of attention in 2015 -- and given their stellar preseason performance, we may be witnessing the rebirth of the SKT T1 dynasty. The season has still yet to begin, and a lot could change between now and Worlds. For now, Faker should be one of your players to watch. Check out the full list of players to watch in 2015 right here.