Faker has been a part of T1 and SKT T1 since his debut in 2013. Did anyone really think that would change in 2022?
The last week has been anxiety-inducing and awful for any League of Legends fan. Cloud9 is apparently creating a Korean super team, Team Liquid is becoming Team LEC and over in the LCK, anyone who is a T1 fan was inhaling huge amounts of hopium at the thought of Nuguri returning to Korea.
But there was one free agent that had fans all over the world worried – Lee “Faker” Sanghyeok. The 25-year-old mid laner who has played his entire career on SKT T1 and T1, the best player the world has ever seen – and his contract was expiring.
Would he switch teams? Would he switch regions? Would he retire? Fans couldn’t help but worry, but news came on November 19, 2021.
I'm back. pic.twitter.com/66hCuoXzXc
— T1 LoL (@T1LoL) November 19, 2021
I’m Back
The statement was clear and simple. “I’m Back.” Nothing else, nothing more was released by T1 Entertainment & Sports. Faker is back to play another season. The details of his contract have not been made public, but any League of Legends fan can breathe easy because the unkillable demon king is going to stay.
In 2021, Faker and T1 managed to find the perfect team synergy after completing their roster only 5 months before the 2021 World Championship. Before then, players have constantly shuffled around and moved, which just goes to show that if T1 can stick with their roster from the latter half of 2021, they could make it far.
Faker’s Role in T1
Faker hasn’t played the role of solo carry in a while, but with age and experience he shifted into a more defensive position, picking control champions to keep any games afloat when his young teammates get a little trigger happy.
To see him re-sign with T1 should be a relief for fans. Gumayusi, Oner and Keria are all young and aggressive players who smell blood in every single match. So to have one ‘voice of reason’ amongst such a young squad will help them grow.
T1 Roster Changes Thus Far
So far, T1's sub-jungler Moon “Cuzz” Woochan has left T1 and joined KT Rolster. Sub-mid laner Lee “Clozer” Juhyeon has joined Liiv Sandbox, and star ADC Park “Teddy” Jinseong also terminated his contract early to look for other opportunities.
- For a full list of LCK transfers, check out RiftFeed!
Rumors are afloat that Teddy might be joining Afreeca next season, but nothing is confirmed yet. Also, the top laner for T1 is also not confirmed, but it seems like T1 will probably stick with Zeus and Canna for the 2022 season – T1 TheShy is too much hopium I guess.