Faker will go to Worlds 2023

Worlds 2023 will be the biggest LoL event of this season. Being the only participant who won the tournament three times and played in two other Grand Finals, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok will look to win his 4^th trophy and avenge what happened in 2022, when T1 lost a relatively easy Grand Final against DragonX.

At the end of LCK Spring 2023, everyone was convinced that Faker would qualify for Worlds. His team finished the split with a record of 17 W – 1 L. In the playoffs, they did get defeated by Gen.G Esports. But apart from this loss, everything they did was nearly flawless.

During the Summer Split, Faker announced that he had injured his wrist and that he was going to take a prolonged break. Following his announcement, all hell broke loose at T1 and the team ended up losing numerous matches. Their final record for the group stage was 9 W – 9 L.

Fortunately for T1, Faker recovered in time to compete in the playoffs of LCK Summer 2023. And as soon as he rejoined the main roster, T1’s results changed dramatically. T1 ended up qualifying for the Grand Final, which unfortunately they lost against their nemesis, Gen.G Esports (3-0).

🏆🏆 2023 #LCK SUMMER CHAMPIONS : @GenG! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/oGMxAHPmVj

— LCK (@LCK) August 20, 2023

What does Faker’s Worlds participation mean

At 27, Faker is regarded as the best LoL player in the history of the game. But he hasn’t won a Worlds trophy since he was 21. He spent more than half of his career trying to claim this elusive title for the 4^th time and failing under a myriad of circumstances.

In some years, T1 didn’t even qualify for Worlds. This year, they nearly had the same fate. But at the very last moment, Faker saved the day.

It’s unlikely that T1 will win Worlds this year. There are a lot of great teams that have the capacity to beat them, and China looks stronger than ever. Chinese teams have been trying to dominate League of Legends for many years and this could be their best season to date.

Both JD Gaming and Bilibili Gaming are in great shape right now. These two teams played in the Grand Final of MSI 2023, which is a clear indication that LPL is probably the strongest LoL league in the world right now.

It will be interesting to see if Europe or North America will be able to stop South Korea and China at this edition of Worlds. In all likelihood, they won’t.

Header: Riot Games