The South Korean professional gamer known as “Faker” is Lee Sang-hook. He is widely regarded as the greatest-ever League of Legends player. Lee, who was born and reared in Seoul, was an avid gamer from a young age. His passion for solving difficult puzzles enhanced his analytical abilities. Additionally, he designed maps for the games ‘Warcraft III’ and ‘Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA)’ game ‘Chaos.’ In 2011, he was exposed to the alluring world of “League of Legends” and became devoted to it. His passion for the game led him to drop out of secondary school. In 2013, he was recruited by ‘SK Telecom’ (SKT) due to his extraordinary gaming abilities. He never looked back after he was selected to compete for SKT T1 K as a “mid layer” in the League of Legends World Championship. Lee has received the award for top ‘League of Legends player nearly every year since this event. He has also consistently helped his teams finish each season among the best three squads.
Youth and Early Life
Lee Sang-hook was born on May 7, 1996, in Seoul, South Korea. He was the youngest of his family’s children. He has a sibling who is older. As their mother has been largely absent from their lives, their father, Lee Kyung-Joon, and their grandparents raised both siblings. As children, both brothers were ardent gamers. Lee Sang enjoyed playing video games and solving intricate challenges. This enabled him later in life to become a professional gamer.
As an adolescent, he created custom maps for games such as ‘World of Warcraft III’ and ‘The MOBA title ‘Chaos,’ demonstrating his analytical abilities. He was always searching for new games to play. “League of Legends” was already a world-famous game in 2011 when Lee stumbled upon it by accident. As soon as he began playing the game, he became devoted to it. Within a few months, he mastered the game.
South Korea’s ‘SKT’ was one of the teams competing in the ‘League of Legends World Championship,’ and they intended to recruit players. In 2013, ‘SKT’ discovered Lee and made contact with him. This opportunity was a fantasy come true for Lee, so he dropped out of high school to join the team and excel as a gamer.
Lee Sang’s Career
Lee played “League of Legends” in the solitary queue before being recruited by “SKT” and placed with four other players on their team. He used the alias “Faker” as his gaming moniker. His team was given the moniker “SKT T1 K” and was introduced to the gaming community in February 2013. At the conclusion of the ‘Olympus Champions Spring 2013’ tournament, the team placed third due to their performance.
Soon after the tournament, Faker developed into his team’s finest “mid-laner.” The following year, his team participated in the “HOT6iX Champions Summer” and performed exceptionally well. Lee’s performance against the ‘KT Rolster Bullets’ was crucial to ‘SKT’s victory, and it attained its zenith in a match against them. One of the most iconic moments in the annals of ‘League of Legends’ was his flawless counterplay against Ryu Sang-Wook.
The victory also granted ‘SKT’ direct entry into the third season of the ‘Korea Regional Finals,’ where they once again confronted ‘Bullets’ in the finals. This time, ‘SKT’ prevailed with relative ease and became the leading contenders for the ‘Season 3 World Championship.’ Fans’ expectations were met by Faker’s performance, and he led his team to its first world championship. Thus, by the conclusion of the first year of his professional gaming career, Faker was recognized as the world’s best player.
Prior to the start of the 2014 season, ‘SKT’ merged their two teams, ‘SKT S’ and ‘SKT K’, into a single entity known as ‘SKT T 1’ Faker maintained his position as the team’s “mid laner” The squad began the season by winning the “PANDORA.TV Champions Winter 2013–2014” Subsequently, the team claimed the Samsung Ozone championship. Faker’s contribution to the triumph earned him the title of the greatest League of Legends player ever.
The team then competed in the “All-Star Paris 2014” tournament, which they won in typical form. The squad returned to Korea and participated in the ‘HOT6iX Champions Summer 2014’ tournament as the overwhelming favorite. However, they were unsuccessful in the tournament.
At the start of the following season, the majority of South Korean players moved to China to compete for Chinese teams. The Chinese teams apparently offered larger salaries than the Korean teams. Faker declined the offer and instead decided to compete for ‘SKT’. Faker led his team to victory in the 2015 ‘World Championship’, losing only one game throughout the entire competition. This time around, he was not the only “mid laner” on his team, as Lee “Easyhoon” Ji-hoon was there to support him.
The 2016 season began with a victory in the 2016 LoL Champions Korea Spring Split, which granted direct entry into the 2016 LoL Mid-Season Invitational. Despite being the tournament’s pre-tournament favorites, ‘SKT’ labored to meet expectations. In the elimination round, they, however, staged a comeback. In the tournament’s championships, they defeated the North American team Counter Logic Gaming without a loss.
After qualifying for the 2016 ‘World Championship’ with relative ease, the team performed exceptionally well throughout the initial stages and continued to do so in the subsequent phases. SKT T1 defeated Samsung Galaxy in the finals to claim the third championship title. At the conclusion of the tournament, Faker was voted the ‘Most Valuable Player.’
In the 2017 ‘World Championship,’ ‘SKT’ won numerous magnificent victories to advance to the finals against ‘Samsung Galaxy,’ a rematch of the previous year’s championship match. However, the “Samsung” team was better prepared and did not allow Faker any scoring opportunities. Faker was ultimately deceived by his opponent’s “flash Varus ultimate,” and ‘Samsung’ won 3–0.
Awards & Achievements
Since the commencement of his professional gaming career, Lee Sang-hyeok has won numerous individual awards and honors. During the 2013–2014 season, he was the recipient of two Pandora.TV Awards and two Hot Six Awards. In 2015, he won both the ‘Republic of Korea e-Sports Popularity Award’ and the ‘Grand Prize’ for that year. In addition, he was awarded the “Republic of Korea e-sports Legends League Most Valuable Player Award” in 2015 and the “World Championship Most Valuable Player Award” in 2016.
Personal Life of Lee Sang-hyeok
Lee Sang-hyeok desires to return to school once his e-sports career concludes. Lee is extremely reserved and rarely discusses his personal life. In addition, he does not speak English and conducts interviews through a translator. After a disappointing defeat in the 2017 ‘World Championship finals, Faker was escorted by his teammates to shake hands with the ‘Samsung Galaxy players. This incident received extensive media coverage.
Estimated Net Worth
He has won more than US$1.3 million in prize money alone, and his salary is “just shy of US$5 million,” according to the official Olympics website.
Trivia
Lee believes that the two flower pots in his home alleviate his tension and help him manage his hectic gaming schedule. Lee is referred to as the “Lionel Messi of League of Legends” by e-sports journalists.