Lee Sang-hyeok, also known as Faker, was born on May 7, 1996. He is a professional League of Legends player from South Korea. He began his career in 2013 and has played as the mid-laner for T1, which was previously called SK Telecom T1, throughout his career. He has won 10 LCK titles, 2 MSI titles, and 6 World Championship titles. Many people believe Faker is the greatest League of Legends player ever, and he is often compared to basketball player Michael Jordan because of his success in esports.

Faker was born in Gangseo District, Seoul. Before joining SKT in 2013 at age 17, he was already known for being a strong player in solo queue matches. In his first year, he won an LCK title and the World Championship. From 2014 to 2017, he earned 5 more LCK titles, 2 MSI titles in 2016 and 2017, and 2 additional World Championships in 2015 and 2016. He became the first team to win the World Championship twice and to win back-to-back titles. During this time, he also won the All-Star Paris 2014 and the IEM World Championship in 2016. Between 2018 and 2022, Faker won 4 more LCK titles but struggled in international tournaments. He later won the World Championships in 2023, 2024, and 2025, helping T1 achieve the first ever three-peat with a team mostly made up of younger players. He also played for the South Korean national team at the 2018 Asian Games, where he earned a silver medal, and at the 2022 Asian Games, where he earned a gold medal.

Faker has received many individual awards, including 2 World Championship MVP awards, 1 MSI MVP award, 2 LCK season MVP awards, 1 LCK Finals MVP award, 2 LCK Player of the Year awards, 2 LCK Mid Laner of the Year awards, and 2 LCK First All-Pro Team designations. He holds several LCK records, such as being the first player to reach 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 kills, the first to earn 5,000 assists, and the first to win 700 games in the LCK. In 2025, he became the first person to play 1,000 LCK games with a win over KT Rolster, having won 667 games and lost 333. He also holds the record for the most kills and assists in World Championship matches and was the first player to surpass 100 World Championship wins. His achievements earned him recognition as the Best Esports Athlete at The Game Awards in 2017, 2023, and 2024, PC Player of the Year in 2023 and 2024, and PC Player of the Decade in 2025 by the Esports Awards. He was also named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Asia Entertainment & Sports in 2019 and the Forbes Korea Power Celebrity 40 list in 2025. Additionally, he was inducted into the ESL Esports Hall of Fame in 2019. In May 2024, Riot Games announced him as the first person inducted into the LoL Esports Hall of Legends.

Faker is one of the most well-known esports players. He has appeared in many commercials and on talk shows. In 2020, he became a part-owner and executive of T1 Entertainment & Sports. His annual salary, as of 2020, was estimated by the Olympics to be nearly US$5 million.

Early life

Faker was born in Seoul on May 7, 1996. He lived with his grandparents and his father, Lee Kyung-joon, in Gangseo District, Seoul during his early years. His father described Faker as a quiet child who showed a natural interest in learning on his own. He often challenged himself by solving Rubik's Cubes and taught himself foreign languages. Although he did not play computer games much as a child, he enjoyed arcade games like Tekken and King of Fighters. Later, he began playing PC games such as Maplestory and Warcraft III.

In 2011, when League of Legends was first released in South Korea, Faker quickly started playing the game and became very skilled at it. While attending Mapo High School, the same school as Kim "Deft" Hyuk-kyu, Faker asked his father if he could leave school to focus on a career in esports. His father agreed to this request one month later.

Faker is a 39th-generation descendant of the Gyeongju Lee clan. He is also a distant uncle of former T1 teammate Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyeong.

Professional career

In 2013, Faker began his professional career with SK Telecom T1 2, a team part of the SK Telecom T1 organization. He first played under the name GoJeonPa and was chosen as the team’s mid laner. Later, he used the name Faker as his official gaming handle. Faker made his professional debut on April 6, 2013, in a televised match in Seoul, South Korea. During this match, he defeated Kang "Ambition" Chan-yong, a top mid laner from South Korea.

In his first professional tournament, the OGN Champions Korea 2013 Spring, Faker contributed to 31.6% of his team’s kills and earned 133 kills in 20 games. He was the third-highest performer in both categories. Later that year, during the OGN Champions Korea 2013 Summer split, Faker’s team, SKT T1 2, reached the tournament finals. They faced KT Rolster Bullets, and in a key moment, Faker turned the situation around after being attacked by Yoo "Ryu" Sang-wook. His play helped SKT T1 2 win the match and earned Faker his first major title.

In Fall 2013, SKT T1 2 represented South Korea and SK Telecom T1 at the Season 3 World Championship. They won 15 of their 18 matches and faced China’s Royal Club in the finals. SKT T1 2 won the match, one of the most one-sided finals in League of Legends history.

In 2014, Faker helped SKT win another domestic title by going undefeated in the OGN Champions Winter 2013–2014 season. However, the team lost in the quarterfinals of the Champions Spring 2014 tournament. They later won All-Star Paris 2014, a precursor to the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI). In the Champions Summer 2014 tournament, the team reached the playoffs but was eliminated again in the quarterfinals.

At the 2014 World Championship qualifiers, SKT faced Samsung Galaxy White. Faker was the first player to die in three consecutive games, and SKT lost the match, missing the World Championship. After this, Riot Games changed rules to allow only one team per organization, leading to the merger of SKT T1 K and SKT T1 S into SK Telecom T1.

In 2015, Faker re-signed with SK Telecom despite offers of nearly $1,000,000 from Chinese companies. During the 2015 LCK season, he shared the mid lane with Lee "Easyhoon" Ji-hoon. Faker started the Spring Split opener but was benched after losing the first game. He returned for the third game and led his team to victory with a pentakill. In the Spring Split finals, Easyhoon started all three games, and SKT won. Faker later expressed a desire to outperform Easyhoon in future matches.

SKT participated in the 2015 Mid-Season Invitational, reaching the finals against Edward Gaming. Easyhoon started as the mid laner, but Faker was substituted in game four. SKT won game four, and in game five, Faker used LeBlanc, a champion he had never lost against. However, Edward Gaming countered with Morgana, and SKT lost the final game, finishing second.

During the 2015 LCK Summer Split, Faker played all three games in the finals against KT Rolster and won, securing his fourth LCK title. By this time, he had earned nicknames like "Unkillable Demon King" and "God."

SKT qualified for the 2015 World Championship, where Faker was the starting mid laner. Easyhoon played only four matches, reportedly to keep Faker focused. SKT lost only one game, game three of the finals against KOO Tigers, and won their second World Championship title. Faker became one of only two players to win the title twice. After the victory, he celebrated by eating a raw stalk of broccoli on stage.

In 2016, Faker won the IEM Season X World Championship and the 2016 LCK Spring Split. SKT qualified for the Mid-Season Invitational, where they won the championship by defeating Counter Logic Gaming. Faker earned the MVP title for his performance. On July 11, 2016, he became the first LCK player to reach 1,000 kills. Although SKT did not win the 2016 LCK Summer Split, they still qualified for the World Championship. They reached the finals against Samsung Galaxy and won 3–2, earning Faker his third World Championship title and MVP honors. By the end of 2016, he was compared to "the Michael Jordan of esports."

In 2017, Faker extended his contract with SKT, described as the "best contract in esports history." During the 2017 LCK Spring Split, SKT won the title by defeating KT Rolster 3–0. At the Mid-Season Invitational, SKT finished first in their group and won the championship by defeating G2 Esports, becoming the first team to win two consecutive Mid-Season Invitationals. However, in the 2017 LCK Summer Split, SKT struggled early in matches and lost the finals to Longzhu Gaming. They still qualified for the World Championship, where Faker participated in his fourth finals. He ranked second in kills and assists among mid laners and played the most unique champions in the tournament. SKT lost the finals to Samsung Galaxy 0–3, marking Faker’s first World Championship finals defeat. He was visibly upset and needed support from teammates to shake hands with the opposing team.

National team career

Faker competed for South Korea in the League of Legends demonstration event at the 2018 Asian Games. The tournament was held at BritAma Arena in Mahaka Square, Jakarta, Indonesia, from August 27 to 29, 2018. Faker said he felt more pressure than usual because the audience at the Asian Games included many different types of people. South Korea’s team won a silver medal after losing 1–3 to China in the finals.

In 2022, Faker again represented South Korea as part of the League of Legends team for the national esports squad. South Korea won gold by defeating Saudi Arabia, China, and Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals, respectively. However, Faker did not play in the matches because he was sick with the flu. Winning gold allowed Faker to avoid mandatory military service.

During an interview with The Korea Herald, Faker said he hopes to compete for South Korea at the 2026 Asian Games. He stated, “If I get to compete, it would be very meaningful. I’ve always wanted to take part.”

Legacy

On May 22, 2024, Riot Games announced that Faker was chosen as their first entry into the Hall of Legends. He was officially inducted during a private ceremony at The Shilla Seoul in South Korea on June 6, 2024. A documentary on his career was released on June 14, 2024, in partnership with Mercedes-Benz.

Media figure

Faker has become an important person in advertising campaigns for many brands. Companies like Nike, Razer, Red Bull, and Creative Artists Agency have used Faker's image to promote their products and services. In 2017, Faker was an advertising model for Bacchus energy drink in the Philippines. In 2020, Lotte Confectionery created an ice cream brand named after him. Faker has also appeared in commercials with famous people, such as footballer Son Heung-min, to promote SK Telecom products. In 2023, Razer released a special "Faker Edition" of their DeathAdder V3 Pro mouse.

Faker appeared on the KBS2 talk show Hello Counselor in November 2018 and was on the esports talk show The Dreamer in July 2020. In August 2025, he made a short appearance in the music video for Stray Kids' "Ceremony," showing himself playing video games and doing his signature pose.

In December 2025, Faker participated in an interview with Kim Min-seok, who is the Prime Minister of South Korea. They talked about the influence of esports and the video game industry in South Korea.

After leaving the 2018 World Championship, Faker decided to give all the money he earned from streaming in October 2018 to the UN Foundation.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea, Faker helped with relief efforts, though not always publicly. In March 2020, he announced a donation of ₩30 million (US$25,000) to the Community Chest of Korea. In January 2022, he donated ₩50 million (US$41,700) to the Seoul Social Welfare Fund. Because of these contributions, his name was added to a wall of fame in Seoul's Gangseo District to honor his help with pandemic relief. In August of that year, he also donated ₩30 million to the Hope Bridge National Disaster Relief Association to aid people affected by floods in South Korea in 2022.

On February 6, 2017, Faker started his first livestream on Twitch, reaching 245,100 viewers at once. This was the highest number of viewers for a single streamer on the platform at that time. However, in early 2018, another popular League of Legends streamer named Tyler1 beat this record. Tyler1 reached 300,000 viewers within 20 minutes, causing a temporary problem for Twitch's servers.

Through a special streaming agreement between T1 and AfreecaTV, Faker began streaming on AfreecaTV in June 2022.

Litigation

On July 19, 2022, Faker and T1, with help from Apex Law, LLC, filed a lawsuit against a group of people who made harmful online comments about Faker. The lawsuit used Korea's law about public insults, which says that making public insults can lead to up to one year in prison or a fine of up to ₩2 million (US$1,520). Details about the lawsuit were not fully shared, but it was reported that the people named as "John Does" made false and harmful comments about Faker's mother and posted drawings that were not appropriate. T1's legal team said these actions were very offensive. T1's CEO, Joe Marsh, explained that the lawsuit was not meant to stop normal criticism that public figures sometimes receive, but to address repeated comments that included threats and harassment.