‘I will do my best until I die, and I will stop only when I die’ (鞠躬盡瘁, 死而後已).
At the point when China was divided into three kingdoms after the later Han Dynasty, Zhuge Gongmyeong, the monk of Shu Han, held his cause to the unification of the three kingdoms and showed his will not to give up his will until his breath stopped. This is the event Gongmyeong Zhuge Liang’s Northern Expedition that occupies the second half of the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Wouldn’t his gaze toward MSI be similar to this? Although he missed the first championship held in Tallahassee, USA in 2015, he proved his value to global LOL esports fans around the world by winning the second and third consecutively.
Six years have passed since then, but he has yet to lift his third trophy. Leaving behind the disappointment of the semifinals in 2019 and the runner-up in 2022, Sang-hyeok “Faker” Lee will once again challenge for a third championship in his career through the conquest of MSI. Despite not being able to participate in the 2020 tournament due to the Corona 19 pandemic, his MSI participation record has already increased to 6 times, continuing the title of the most MSI player.
This MSI participation was given an opportunity thanks to the changed regulations that allowed two teams to compete in major regions. According to the changed rules, he goes on the MSI stage once again, but his mindset is the same as before.
Lee Sang-hyeok is a living legend in LOL esports. Lee Sang-hyeok, who debuted at SK Telecom, the predecessor of T1 in 2013, has played in the LCK as a one-club man for 10 years until this season, and is a symbol of global LOL esports. He won the 2013, 2015, and 2016 LoL World Championship (LoL World Championship) as well as the 2016 and 2017 MSI championships. Here, he set up a golden tower of 10 LCK championships.
Even at MSI, his fighting spirit was great. T1 (SK Telecom t1 at the time), who competed as the winner of the 2015 LCK Spring, the first time MSI was held, advanced to the finals, but lost 2-3 to EDG and took second place. The following year, in 2016, T1, who reached the top again in the LCK Spring, came to MSI with a heart of Kwonto Jungrae and lifted the championship trophy. Driven by the momentum and achieving consecutive championships in MSI until 2017, T1 was the first to win consecutive MSI titles.
T1, who challenged to win the MSI three times while winning the LCK Spring 2019, ended their journey by losing to G2 eSports in the semifinals. T1, which failed, gained an opportunity to win and participate in the 2022 LCK Spring by setting an unprecedented record of winning all games. T1, who participated in MSI for the first time in Korea (Busan), lost to Royal Never Give Up in the final, and was on the verge of winning three times.
Lee Sang-hyeok, who has been on this journey together while working for T1, increased his participation record to 6 times by participating in the MSI held in London, England. Lee Sang-hyeok is the only LOL player in the world who has a record of 6 participations.
Through this tournament, 4 players will participate in the fourth MSI: G2 ‘Cap’s Rasmus Wünter, Moviestar Rainbow 7 ‘Odi’ Sebastian Niño, Detonation Focus Me’s ‘Steel’ Geon-young Moon, and ‘Utaphone’ Yuta Sugiura. .
As Lee Sang-hyeok is a one-club player, T1, which has been with him on his LOL esports journey, also ranked first in the world in the number of MSI participations. T1 competed 6 times, including the 8th MSI held from 2015 to 2023, including SK Telecom T1, except for 2020, which was not held due to Corona 19. T1, which won five times in the spring alone because the previous spring winning team participated, received a sixth opportunity to participate as Riot Games changed its policy to participate up to the second place in the major region ahead of 2023 크크크벳.
In this MSI, the team with the number of participations comparable to T1 is G2 eSports, the second seed in the LEC. G2 eSports has participated in a total of 5 times this year following 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2022, and is a strong player who won the runner-up in 2017 and the championship in 2019. G2 eSports participated as the winners of the 2023 LEC Winter and received the No. 2 seed in the LEC region.
The next team that participated the most was Detonation Focus Me, the LJL team. Detonation Focus Smith, who won the LJL 15 times, has continued to record four consecutive appearances from 2019 to this year.
Lee Sang-hyeok said, “It’s been a long time since I didn’t win MSI. After finishing runner-up in last year’s competition, the thought of winning became more desperate. I will prepare harder and get on the plane to London. Here are some things I learned from last year’s competition. In this competition, I think there is a lot of room to use what I learned and learned from the previous experience. I’m looking forward to it more because I think it will give fans a lot of fun and joy if I can show them how to win at MSI.”