T1’s performance took a hit when mid laner Yoon ‘Poby’ Seong-won filled in for Faker, and they dropped to fifth place in the standings with a 7-9 record, including a challenging 1-7 run.

However, Faker made a triumphant return before the regular season’s final week, sparking a remarkable turnaround. T1 finished as runners-up to Gen.G in the playoffs and secured a spot at Worlds 2023. Nonetheless, there have been lingering doubts about his form as the World Championship in South Korea approaches.

Updates on Faker’s wrist injury

On September 25, Faker addressed these concerns and reassured T1 fans with a significant update on his recovery.

“Thanks to the treatment I received in Korea, the discomfort is gone now,”

“I worked my treatment in Korea. Now, a lot of the discomfort is gone. There is little injury concern here. His form has dropped a lot since his injury, but he’s been picking it up so far. I think it’s getting better.”

Speaking to reporters after a 2022 Asian Games group stage match against Kazakhstan, Faker disclosed that he has fully recovered from his wrist injury, although he acknowledged that he is not yet playing at his peak performance level.

Faker is also a part of South Korea’s LoL national team competing in the 2022 Asian Games, which marks the first time that esports tournaments are official medal events at the multi-sport competition.

T1’s mid-laner complete recovery is excellent news for T1 as they aim to once again compete for international titles at Worlds 2023.

“No official decision has been taken by the committee until now, but there is a possibility that it will be postponed.”

The Asian Games 2022 are expected to be a groundbreaking moment in the history of esports. Esports made a debut as a demonstration only during the 2018 Asian Games. A limited number of games will have complete contests with award ceremonies in 2022. League of Legends, Dota 2, PUBG Mobile, FIFA Online 4, and other games will be played, with the champions receiving an official Asian Games gold medal.

However, according to a Barron’s report, the Asian Games may be postponed until 2023. The announcement comes as the host city of the events, Hangzhou, and China’s largest city, Shanghai, face continuing lockdowns that would make the games impossible to host.

People from Shanghai have decided to migrate to Hangzhou in order to continue living their lives free of shutdown restrictions. The organization is presently monitoring the situation and, as a result, has not taken a final decision.

Due to the compressed schedule, LPL’s representative for the 2022 MSI will be unable to perform live, and will instead participate remotely from their home facilities or the Shanghai LPL Arena.

The LCK had troubles, too. On April 21, coach Kkoma declared his desire to resign as head coach for the national team, citing the ongoing mishandling of the selection and tryout.

Faker looked to have an overloaded schedule, which enraged the LCK fan

KeSPA officially published the shortlist of ten players who will compete in the final selection round for the national team for the Asian Games 2022 a few days ago. This is also the first time that esports in general, and League of Legends in particular, have been given the opportunity to compete for medals.

However, with a well-known player like Faker, aside from Asian Games 2022, or even MSI 2022, as everyone is aware, he has an exceedingly busy schedule in addition to the professional league.

During the April 17 livestream, Faker was frequently attacked with negative comments from the chat. This is due in part to the fact that T1’s contract with Twitch has ended, forcing the players to move to YouTube broadcasting.

Furthermore, Faker’s performances were not as stunning as usual. After being knocked out frequently and suffering successive defeats, Faker instantly lashed out about the situation. T1’s mid lane stated that he did not have enough time to prepare and hence did not perform well, and he spoke out against T1’s harsh schedule, which enrage the fans.

“The T1’s schedule has been really difficult lately. I had to stream between the ad shoots as well as my personal workout schedule, which led to the situation as it is now. I don’t know why it’s so unreasonable to schedule.”

And, according to certain LCK rumors, KeSPA also made Faker’s schedule heavier when it began to collect players to practice for the Asian Games 2022. In reaction to Faker’s statements, the T1 fan base took to social media to vent their displeasure with the manager. Many comments stated that following T1’s excellent performance in the LCK Spring 2022, the organization did not hesitate to push them through their limits with commercial shots, practices, and streams.

Immediately after noticing the reaction from Faker as well as the fan community, T1 manager canceled the whole livestream schedule of the players on April 17 for a day off. The team stated that it will revise their players’ schedules as soon as possible.

Gen.G AD Carry Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk has chosen not to participate in the 2022 Asian Games selection list. Jihun Lee, the team General Manager, shared this message on Twitter on April 14. According to the translation, Ruler did this for personal reasons in order to have better synergy with Lehends, Gen.G’s Support.

This has a number of ramifications for both him and the South Korean side. Ruler was previously on the 10-player shortlist of potential League of Legends prospects to represent South Korea at the Asian Games 2022. With his stepping down, DRX Deft was requested to take his place. T1 Gumayusi still remains the other bot lane carry potential. He is now the obvious favorite to take the position, as he will be competing against someone who was not previously a candidate for the reduced tryout list.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Gumayusi is much younger than Ruler, and he has much more potential than Ruler. If he maintains his current form and even improves, Ruler may find it tough to compete with him for a position on the team. 

Having stated so, the player chose to withdraw from the competition. This demonstrates not just his belief in himself, that he can continue to play at a high level, but also his devotion to Gen.G. Many supporters would appreciate his decision to take time off with the express objective of developing his teamwork with his support.

The Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA) revealed their first initial roster of players for the Korean League team for the 2022 Asian Games in September on April 4. Back then, there were 13 players on the list; presently, there are just ten left.

According to a tweet by a Kukmin Ilbo reporter, Korea’s Asian Games 2022 team selection for League of Legends has been reduced to ten players.

The list appears to feature all five T1 players who won the LCK Spring 2022 final versus Gen.G with a never before unbeaten record in League history. There are also two players from Gen.G, one from KDF, one from DRX, and one from DWG KIA.

• Top: T1 Zeus, KDF Kiin
• Jungle: T1 Oner, DK Canyon
• Mid: T1 Faker, GEN.G Chovy
• Bot: T1 Gumayusi, GEN Ruler
• Support: T1 Keria, DRX BeryL

Six players, one of whom will serve as a substitute, will be chosen to represent Korea at the Asian Games. According to the report, the substitute must be a top or a mid laner. Fans are expecting that the full T1 lineup will be chosen to represent Korea, since this will lessen any synergy and teamwork concerns. After being chosen, the players will begin training in preparation for the regional qualifications, which will be place in Hangzhou in June.

Asian Games 2022 will take place later this year, from September 10 to September 25. After being presented in 2018, esports, including League of Legends, will be introduced as medal sports for the first time in Asian Games 2022.

The Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA) released a press release on April 4 announcing the initial list of players that will be considered for selection to the Korean League team for the 2022 Asian Games in September. The LCK Spring 2022 champion is already represented on the roster with all five positions in the game: mid, top, bot, support, and jungle. Meanwhile, Gen.G Esports also see 3 players in the lineup.

• Top: T1 Zeus, GEN Doran, NS Canna
• Jungle: T1 Oner, DK Canyon
• Mid: T1 Faker, GEN Chovy, DK ShowMaker
• Bot: T1 Gumayusi, GEN Ruler, DRX Deft
• Support: T1 Keria, DRX BeryL

KeSPA is expected to choose the official team of 5 main players and 1 reserve player from the 13 names listed above. Meanwhile, Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun will be the Korean national team’s head coach. In 2018, the South Korean national team included: Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, Go “Score” Dong-bin, Han “Peanut” Wang-ho, Kim “Kiin” Gi-in, Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk, and Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in, as well as the team’s head coach Choi “Edgar” Woo-beom, but they were defeated by the Chinese national team in the Final.

With the present lineup, South Korea has a great chance to win the gold medal after four years. The defending LCK champion has a winning record all season – an unmatched winning run in League of Legends history. The players all put up strong performances. Meanwhile, Gen.G also provided 3 players to the list.

League of Legends is widely regarded as the most popular esports in Korea, and it is widely expected to win the gold medal at this year Asian Games.  The game is thought to be the most distinct contrast with the Asian Games and other esports such as FIFA, PUBG Mobile, …

More information can be viewed on the official homepage of the Olympic Council of Asia.

Coach Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun has officially became the head coach of the Korea League of Legends team at the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games in China

This is the most recent official confirmation from the Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA). In addition, the coaches for FIFA Online, PUBG, Hearthstone and Street Fighter V teams were also announced.

The fact that kkOma became the head coach of the Korean League team was not too surprising and received many supports from fans and players. The legendary former SKT T1 head coach previously won 3 World Championships with SKT T1 before moving to DWG KIA. He then managed to lead the team to a second-place result at Worlds 2021, while also winning the LCK Summer 2021.

Since the LCK Spring 2022 is still ongoing, the Korea e-Sports Association has not announced the form of selection of players to attend.

Of course, regardless of the form, Faker was nearly guaranteed a spot in the mid lane. Not only does he have a large fan base, but the “Demon King” is still in his top form, having finished the group stage with 18 unbeaten matches with T1. The next member is undoubtedly Keria in the support, who has recently won the MVP award in LCK Spring 2022 with a landslide of votes.

With that concluded, coach kkOma will return as head coach at the Asian Games, where he may be reunited with T1 mid laner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok if he is picked for the national team.

From September 10 to 25, 2022, the Asian Games will be hosted in Hangzhou, China. After debuting as a sport in 2018, esports is being recognized as a medal event for the first time.