T1 insider betrays Faker

As the foremost figure in LOL, many commentators and players wish Faker would postpone retiring. Fans who have watched the World Championship understand that Faker guarantees strong viewership. The tournaments with Faker involved usually enjoy much higher popularity than those without him. Even well-known LCK jungler Peanut openly stated during a livestream that as long as Faker remains active, LOL competitions will never lose their appeal; but if Faker retires, the popularity of LOL matches will plummet rapidly.

Although most industry insiders acknowledge Faker’s contributions to LOL, some viewers and insiders believe he has disrupted the ecosystem balance of LOL. Among these Faker critics is T1’s own esports professor Lee Min-seok. Despite his role as a youth coach for T1, which would suggest support for Faker, Lee has repeatedly disparaged Faker on his social media and in his classes.

During his tenure coaching at T1, Lee Min-seok made numerous controversial statements. He insisted that Faker’s status as the number one in LOL was entirely due to Riot Games’ “god-making” marketing tactics. Moreover, he argued that Faker should have retired as early as 2022. In Lee’s view, Faker’s current presence harms the LOL competitive environment, and the LCK would be better off without him. Ultimately, Lee claimed that Chovy is the true number one in LOL esports.

T1 owner urgently responds

After Lee Min-seok’s outrageous remarks were exposed, many T1 fans flooded his personal account with criticism. Aware of the backlash, Lee quickly deleted his videos and online tutorials. Meanwhile, some fans discovered that Lee had once publicly declared on social media that he was part of a T1 championship team. (Many T1 supporters see Lee as shameless for disparaging Faker online while trying to leverage Faker’s fame to boost his own credentials.)

As public outcry intensified, T1’s owner recently issued an official statement addressing the matter. He said that upon learning the situation, he immediately contacted the team management to verify the facts. The truth deeply saddened him; he could hardly believe that someone wearing a T1 uniform would openly defame a T1 legend online. Finally, the owner revealed that T1 has dismissed Lee Min-seok and placed him on the team’s permanent blacklist. No T1-affiliated company will employ him again.

Following the owner’s direct response, many T1 fans criticized the management, with Faker’s supporters suspecting an insider leak. Some of Lee Min-seok’s inappropriate comments had circulated online as early as two years ago, yet the management ignored them. If Faker hadn’t recently won the “Blue Dragon Award” and topped LCK trending lists again, these remarks might still have gone unnoticed by T1 fans. Many hope the management will strengthen oversight and discipline of internal staff to prevent any unfair treatment of Faker within T1.