T1 Triumphs: 5-Time World Champions After Thrilling Hillside Showdown Against China’s BLG

MVP Faker: “I’m disappointed with the process, I’ll take care of the discomfort next year.”

Lose-win-lose. T1 beat the Chinese team in the world’s biggest e-sports tournament, the ‘League of Legends (LOL) World Championship (Worlds)’ and came out on top of the world after a fierce four-hour battle. For the second year in a row, he has risen to the top of the world. At the center was Faker (Lee Sang-hyuk, 28).

T1 secured its victory by defeating China’s Bilibili Gaming (BLG) by a 3-2 set score in the 2024 World Cup finals held at the O2 Arena in London, England on the 2nd (local time). T1’s captain Faker set a new record in eSports history by winning his fifth championship. Since the first competition in 2011, this is the first time a team has won the world twice with the same starting members.

T1 got off to a tough start losing the first set. They succeeded in winning the second set but were defeated by BLG’s quick attack in the third set. Fokker saved the team in the moment of crisis. Faker, who led the win with a series of super plays in the 4th and 5th sets, showed his ace-like qualities and was adjudged the MVP of the finals.

In a press conference after the final, he said, “I won, but the process was frustrating and I still feel uncomfortable,” and expressed his ambition, “My goal is to alleviate this next year.” Regarding the secret to sustaining his career as a player for 11 years, Faker added, “The biggest driving force is the fans.”

Faker, who debuted as a professional gamer in 2013, has had a phenomenal career winning the World Cup, an international tournament, five times and the LCK, a domestic league, ten times. Fans even nicknamed him the ‘Immortal Demon King’ because he always survives in games while showing high level skills.

In the past, Faker received an offer from a Chinese professional gaming team for an annual salary of $20 million (about 24.5 billion won at the time). But I refused and stayed in T20. He revealed his reason for staying, saying, “My goal is to learn and grow more than money or fame.” As Faker gained huge popularity at home and abroad, the saying “I don’t know LoL, but I know Faker” was circulated.

According to viewership statistics site ‘Esports Chart’, the tournament final between T1 and BLG recorded around 6.94 million concurrent viewers (PCU). This is the highest number in the history of the world. The excitement for the final was so great that the seats for the 14,500 spectators were sold out early. The total prize money for this year’s competition is $2.225 million (about 3 billion won).

Reporter Jong-ho Han hjh@donga.com