Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok is in Singapore this week to celebrate 10 years of partnership with Razer.
The T1 mid laner is not currently competing because the team’s journey in the inaugural LCK Cup 2025 ended with a 5th-6th place finish in the playoffs.
The five-time League of Legends world champion flew in on February 26, 2025 in the afternoon and immediately went down to Razer HQ for the celebrations. Welcomed by an entire lobby of fans, he answered questions that were submitted online and took photos with lucky winners.
In a separate session, he spoke with local Singapore media the next day, reflecting on his esports career and what keeps him going.
Faker’s reveals secrets behind his 12-year long esports career in League of Legends
Since his debut in 2013, Faker has redefined what it means to be a professional League of Legends player.
His career, marked by five World Championship titles in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2023, and 2024, two MSI victories in 2016 and 2017, and a staggering ten LCK championships, showcases not just talent, but enduring excellence.
With two World Championship MVP awards (2016, 2024) and multiple LCK MVP recognitions, Faker’s legendary status is built upon his exceptional mechanical skill, deep game knowledge, and the ability to deliver under immense pressure. His Worlds 2024 clutch performance is a testament to this.
Faker has always loved games and computers, he reiterated during the fan meet. Before turning pro, he played games as “light entertainment,” but all that changed when he turned it into a career.
“Once I became a pro gamer, how I view the game has changed because I realized there are very delicate and small compartments that compose and make up games,” said Faker. “There’s so many things I can learn from the game and through the game and that’s motivation for my growth.”
“As a pro gamer I believe that number one is most important is factor is passion. Whatever you do, if you have an interest and want to do well in it, then you’ll try to figure out what’s lacking and learn to fill that gap,” Faker told press.
The lowest point in his career was at Worlds 2017 in Beijing, China. SK Telecom T1, as they were called at that time, fought their way to the finals, only to get swept 3-0 by Samsung Galaxy in front of a sellout crowd. On stage, inside the team’s booth, Faker broke down and cried.
“During the period you mentioned, which was 2017 to 2022, as you know, there weren’t a lot of victories. But during that time I tried to read as many books as possible and think about how can we improve, how can we do better,” said Faker. “Those were the things I contemplated a lot.”
“Because of those tough times, I developed a new value system. From 2023, I tried to focus how I can enjoy the game more, how I can feel happiness through the game more because I found a co-relation between my happiness and performance,” Faker added.
He continued to apply his analytical, problem-solving mindset during those challenging years, which started to pay off at Worlds 2022. Once again, T1 qualified for the finals, but fell short to DRX 3-2. Fielding the same roster, they finally claimed a championship the following year at Worlds 2023, sweeping Weibo Gaming 3-0.
Right now, Faker’s goal is to feel less pressure while increasing his enjoyment of the game with no end in sight.
“I don’t have any plans about retirement. Never thought about it. I don’t have any concerns about reflexes because what’s important for pro longevity is to keep my passion burning and continue to put effort to improving,” Faker said.
READ MORE: Exclusive: Title doesn’t want to be compared to Faker — but they do have one thing in common
