By 
2021 was not a bad year for Faker. His team got decent results both regionally as well as internationally. But he didn’t win anything. And for players of his caliber, such years are not regarded as a big success. If anything, they’re ok.
T1’s Results in 2021
For T1, 2021 had a total of 4 important competitions. I’ll take them one by one:
LCK Spring 2021
LCK Spring 2021 was quite tough for T1 and the results clearly tell a dramatic story: 11 W – 7 L. The only team that managed to beat Faker in both rounds was DAMWON Gaming. In every other case, T1 either drew (getting 1 victory and 1 defeat) or won. The problem is that the draws came against the strong teams, such as Gen.G, DragonX, and KT Rolster. One exception was Hanwha Life. T1 defeated this opponent even though it ended up finishing 3rd.
The Playoffs of LCK Spring 2021 started well for Faker, with a 3 – 1 victory against DRX. But in the Semifinals, Gen.G simply obliterated his team (0 – 3), ending his dream of taking part in the Mid-Season Invitational.
Mid-Season Invitational
MSI 2021 was a beautiful LoL event that provided a wide variety of LoL betting possibilities, covered on esports betting sites such as Rivalry. This should have been Faker’s 2nd big event of the year but his team was not capable of defeating the other regional giants.
LCK Summer
LCK Summer was hugely important for Faker because based on its results, the South Korean participants to Worlds 2021 were going to be selected.
The Group Stage was tough. Once again, T1 finished with a record of 11 W – 7 L. But what is strange is that it won against the likes of DAMWON, DragonX, Hanwha Life, and Gen.G, but lost against Afreeca Freecs, Nongshim RedForce, and SANDBOX.
Despite finishing 4th and having to start in the Quarterfinals, T1 proved to be much stronger this time. Its first opponent, SANDBOX, lost without winning a single game.
The second opponent was Gen.G, the team that had eliminated them in the exact same spot during the Playoffs of the Spring Split. In game 1, it looked as though the match would finish with the same score. Gen.G won quite easily and was so confident in its draft that it kept the Aphelios + Thresh combo for 2 more games. Meanwhile, Faker decided to pick Ryze 3 times in a row. And he absolutely owned with him. The final score was 3 – 1.
Thanks to this result, T1 was now guaranteed a ticket for Worlds 2021.
Worlds 2021
The biggest LoL event of the year started well for Faker. His team finished 1st in Group B, even though EDward Gaming, which was going to end up winning the race, was there as well. The score between the two competitors was equal (1 – 1). But T1 still won overall with a record of 5 W – 1 L, simply because EDG lost an additional match against 100 Thieves.
In the Playoffs, T1 defeated Hanwha Life (3 – 0) and then had to fight against its nemesis again. DAMWON looked defeated after game 3, in which T1 took the lead (2 – 1). But then it made a spectacular comeback in games 4 and 5, ruining Faker’s hopes. Still, a 3rd – 4th place in the LoL World Championship is not bad at all. But will it set the stage for an even better season in 2022?
T1’s Chances in 2022
If he wants to have a great year in 2022, Faker needs to finish LCK Spring 2022 in the top 4, LCK Summer in the Playoffs Final, and then hopefully win Worlds 2022. Anything less than a victory at Worlds would be a disappointment. By the time we reach this event, it will have been 6 years since his last world championship title.
The biggest rivals of T1 should have been the ones from last season. But given the massive transformations, they all went through, everyone’s waiting to see who will be able to challenge Faker’s team in 2022. Every LoL organization in South Korea seems to be in disarray, except his. T1’s roster has remained stable. But the others are barely recognizable. And because of that fact, this might just be Faker’s year.
Comments