Led by its hero Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, the South Korean team T1 won the League of Legends video game world championships on Saturday November 2 in London for the fifth time, a new record.
At the end of a final of almost four hours of play, the T1 players won (3-2) against the Chinese from Bilibili Gaming, winning a second consecutive title in the competition. They also won in 2013, 2015 and 2016, with « Faker » in common denominator.
The immense O2 Arena in the British capital hosted the final of the « Worlds »the most anticipated event of the year for fans of video game competitions. Warmed up by the group Linkin Park, who performed at the opening of the show, the spectators offered a triumphant welcome to the players of the two teams, with particular affection for “Faker”, who enjoys an iconic status in the e -sport at the age of 28.
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Indecisive confrontation
The confrontation looked particularly indecisive, the two teams having faced each other six times over the last eighteen months with three victories each.
BLG started very strong, giving T1 no chance in the first set. But the South Koreans immediately got back on track by dominating the second in spectacular fashion. The rest was largely to the advantage of Bilibili Gaming during a third « game » one-sided, which offered a match point to the Chinese.
It was then that “Faker” took matters into his own hands, appearing when necessary to save his team with an XXL performance. He once again took responsibility in the decisive round in front of apnea spectators, carrying T1 to another victory.
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Hundreds of fans gathered in Seoul
A rare thing in e-sport where player transfers are much more frequent than in traditional sport, the team was made up for the third year in a row of the same five players, “Zeus”, “Oner”, “Gumayusi” and “Keria” accompanying “Faker”.
League of legends (LoL) is an extremely popular game played five against five where the objective is to destroy the opposing team's fortress. Historically, South Korea has been the dominant nation in the competition, but in recent years, Chinese teams have made inroads into the sport.
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BLG hoped to offer China a fourth title, but it is ultimately South Korea, the historic land of e-sport, which lifts the trophy once again.
Although the match started around midnight in Korea due to the time difference, hundreds of T1 fans gathered at LoL Park, an esports venue in central Seoul. As usual, “Faker”, officially recognized as “national treasure” in his country, made the room roar with each of his appearances on screen.
