T1 fans stunned by instant impact of Faker’s LCK return: ‘The GOAT is back’

The player is gaining much praise, deservedly so.

Faker standing in front of Madison Square Garden, with the Empire State Building in the background.
Photo by Lance Skundrich via Riot Games

Faker is back in T1’s starting League of Legends roster in the LCK, and has already helped the team. The squad convincingly defeated Kwangdong Freecs upon Faker’s return, and fans can’t actually believe how big of an impact the midlaner has on the team.

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T1 claimed a quick 2-0 victory against KDF on Aug. 2, but they weren’t carried by Faker gameplay-wise. The player injected tons of confidence into the rest of his teammates, who were far superior to their opponents. After the win, fans praised Faker’s influence on Reddit.

“My GOAT is so back,” one of the fans wrote. “It’s so funny how immediate the effect Faker has on T1 and the game. It’s not even a meme anymore,” another one added.

Some fans pointed out jaw-dropping statistics T1 has with or without Faker in the last couple of splits. In the last eight series without Faker, the team won only one match. In the last four LCK splits, however, T1 are 56-6 with Faker during the regular season, so the difference is massive. “It’s just bizarre how much he adds to the team, don’t think I can even put words on it anymore,” one top comment reads.

It’s tough to disagree with them. In today’s series, T1 looked like an entirely different squad, once again playing aggressively and looking for control early. They didn’t hesitate and didn’t commit simple mistakes, which cost them a lot of games in July when Faker was substituted for Poby due to a wrist injury.

Related: How the impact of Faker’s injury draws comparisons to the absence of one sports star

In fact, T1 once again put focus on their bot lane and Zeus by making Oner prioritize these positions early against KDF. Faker mostly played safely on Jayce, didn’t overextend, and played his role. Yet, this was enough to turn T1 into a title contender, right before the start of the 2023 LCK Summer Playoffs, which are set to begin next week.

Author
Image of Mateusz Miter
Mateusz Miter
Staff Writer
Freelance Writer at Dot Esports. Mateusz previously worked for numerous outlets and gaming-adjacent companies, including ESL. League of Legends or CS:GO? He loves them both. In fact, he wonders which game he loves more every day. He wanted to go pro years ago, but somewhere along the way decided journalism was the more sensible option—and he was right.