Faker Reveals Reason for Tears! Career's Darkest Moment, Failure to Achieve Triple Crown Leaves Deep Impression

Hello to all LPL viewers and League of Legends summoners, this is World Game Hub.

The LCK league is ongoing, and recently Faker's T1 team has been underperforming, suffering a sweep against GEN in their match, with Faker's own performance not meeting audience expectations.

Outside the arena, Faker also discussed some topics of interest in a recent interview program.

Reason for Faker's Tears: A Defeat That Left Him Feeling Powerless

The Korean MBC interview program "Son Seok-hee's Questions" recently invited Faker and Lee Sedol (9-dan) as guests. Both are competitive players who engage in strategic battles against opponents on the stage, leading to a series of deep conversations. One question asked Faker to choose a defeat that left a lasting impression on him, and Faker selected the S7 World Championship finals.

At that time, Faker's SKT had the opportunity to achieve their first triple crown in World Championships. Having won S5 and S6, SKT once again reached the finals in S7 and was widely favored to win the championship.

However, in the finals, SKT was swept by SSG with a 3-0 score. After the match ended, Faker could not let go of the loss for a long time, weeping bitterly on the stage for quite some time before leaving. That moment left an extremely deep impression on viewers, especially the instant Faker turned back, making many feel that the Demon King's peak era had passed.

Now, mentioning that defeat again, Faker also explained the reason he couldn't accept the loss at that time—he didn't feel that the opponent played exceptionally well, yet they lost 0-3, a defeat that felt utterly powerless, a scene that remains etched in his memory.

Experiencing the Darkest Moment, Then Years of Hibernation

If any other player made such a statement, they would likely be heavily criticized. However, with six championships, Faker's credibility stands firm, allowing him to express his true feelings directly. Because he felt SSG wasn't as strong as imagined, he couldn't accept the loss afterward.

After all, it was a chance nearly achieving a triple crown, and Faker at that time probably didn't believe he could rise again years later to accomplish the triple crown feat. The perception of LOL esports players has continuously evolved with Faker's ups and downs. Normally, people might think a top player's peak career lasts maybe three years at most; generally, professional players having one or two peak years is considered good. But Faker's peak lasted at least six years (judged by the strictest standards).

When we reanalyze the S7 World Championship finals from today's perspective, we can draw some different conclusions.

First, the core reasons SKT lost that match:一是 player underperformance, 二是 pre-match tactical planning差距. SSG's mid-laner Crown locked down Faker with heroes like Malzahar, while both top and bottom lanes created huge gaps, causing SKT's intended strategies to fail completely.

LCK System Evolution, T1's Championship Code

At that time, SKT couldn破解 SSG's既定战略. SSG also demonstrated their实力 as another底蕴深厚的 club in LCK. Their control over vision, handling of宏观 game sense,加上 stable operation and late-game拖能力,延续至今. The earliest SSG could be said to be the team that pushed LCK's defensive-counter运营 to the极致.

We can also see traces of当年 SSG in today's GEN. The failure of当年 SKT,个人认为,主要原因是 SSG completed system进化先一步, SKT没能跟上 SSG's脚步. SKT's previous一套落后了,也伴随着 player状态下滑. Afterwards, the entire LCK began learning from SSG, following the path of Korean传统运营.

After years of failure and hibernation, the迷茫 SKT finally found their championship code, completing a新一轮进化. After this evolution, LCK's gameplay no longer局限于不冒险不犯错的传统运营, but instead uses more imaginative战术组合,更强的进攻性与回合制拉扯能力 to dominate LOL.

From this perspective, Faker felt that SSG at that time didn't play exceptionally well一方面 because T1 players performed确实太差,另一方面, from today's视角来看, that finals单论比赛质量确实不如这几年. But SKT at that time had such局限性, facing the already进化 SSG,基本没什么获胜的可能性.