A League of Legends fan has put together a video showing how SK Telecom T1’s Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok’s champion pool has evolved throughout his career.
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Faker is not only considered the greatest League of Legends player of all time, he’s also one of the most veteran players still competing at the highest level, having made his breakthrough in Spring 2013.
Throughout what is now a six-year career, Faker has been famed for both his incredible peaks of play on his best champions, and also the immense depth of his champion pool.
The video shows his pick and win rates on his most-used champions over the years, giving a look at how Faker’s champion pool has evolved and just how effective he is on his signature picks.
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Faker’s most iconic champions
When thinking about who Faker is as a player, many fans picture the incredible highlight plays with assassins and burst mages – his most iconic play ever is with Zed, after all, and his fearsome LeBlanc was famously undefeated until 2015’s Mid-Season Invitational.
The greater part of Faker’s career, however, has been a rather more controlled style which can perhaps be credited with the reliability of his success. At 58 games played, by far his most-used champion over the entirety of his career has been Orianna, arguably the quintessential control mage.
In second is Azir, perhaps somewhat ironically given that 2015 saw Faker spend more time on the bench than any other year due to the availability of a substitute, Easyhoon, who was played primarily for his proficiency in then-meta champions like Azir.
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The third is Ryze, a champion that will be very familiar to viewers who primarily watch Faker play internationally. Many a World Championship match has been carried on the back of Faker’s Ryze, which got a Championship skin after the team’s victory in 2015.
Faker’s most successful champions
Naturally, the more games played on a particular champion, the harder it will be to maintain the highest win-rate on them. Within his top 10 most-played champions, however, Faker still boasts some incredible numbers.
Despite 28 professional games on Lissandra, Faker has a massive 82% win-rate on the champion – which no doubt explains SK Telecom’s inclination to pick it for him even when fans would rather see him given something flashier to work with.
Those flashier champions are very much still within his repertoire, however, as his famous LeBlanc still resides in his top 10 champions at 26 games played and, while no longer unbeaten, still boasts an 81% win rate.
Further down the list you find more niche or meta-dependant champions, and here too the dual nature of Faker’s capabilities can be seen. In the top 20, his most successful champion is the assassin Zed, at a 92% win rate over 12 games. Closely behind, however, is the much more supportive Zilean, with a 90% win rate over 10 games.
Faker experienced arguably the worst season in his professional career in 2018, but with a rebuilt SK Telecom he’s once again claimed the LCK title in Spring 2019. From May 10 to 19, Faker’s SKT will attempt to re-establish South Korea’s dominance at the Mid-Season Invitational, following a 2018 in which the country failed to win either there or at the World Championship for the first time since Faker himself led their ascent in 2013.
