After suffering a serious hand injury, the GOAT Faker returned to T1’s starting roster, right before the end of the LCK regular split.
Image Credits | Riot Games
Faker’s return to starting lineup ahead of the last week of the LCK
After interim head coach Im “Tom” Jae-hyeon teased his potential return last week, and his substitute mid laner Poby played in LCK Challengers this week, Faker made his comeback to the T1 roster in their match against Kwangdong Freecs on August 2.
“After a thorough discussion with the coaching staff and Faker based on medical prognosis, he made the decision to return starting with today’s match against KDF,” T1 announced on social media.
After exactly one month, the mid lane GOAT is back to save T1, especially after the disastrous performances the team has had since his break. The team only managed to win a few games but was on a long loss streak, and if it weren’t for the bottom teams having shaky performances, T1 would have had to fight harder to even get into playoffs. Luckily, their first part of the split was good enough to lock their spot, but they might be heading into the LCK Playoffs only as the fifth seed.
While Faker was able to help out the team behind the scenes, it was clear that the players struggled to have the same level of performance without him leading the members in-game. Unfortunately, rookie Poby failed to meet the expectations, and all the other players were affected as well. T1 ended up only winning one game against BRO during Faker’s absence, showing how vital he was to the team.
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Faker’s value within the team and what this means for the playoffs hopes
Now that Faker made his return to the LCK, T1 fans are hoping they can make a major bounce back. But with playoffs coming up soon, we probably have to lower our expectations, especially considering how dominant Gen.G and KT Rolster have been this split.
T1 should be expected to fight with Dplus KIA and Hanwha Life Esports for the last two spots at Worlds, but even those matches are going to be extremely tricky for the most-decorated organization in the world. Aside from Faker’s worrying physical conditions, T1 is plagued with draft problems and players occasionally underperforming in key moments.
The thing I’m worried about the most, though, is how much did Faker actually recover. Based on what it revealed last time out, Faker is facing serious wrist pain, and his entire right hand and arm are affected. And considering the high intensity he goes through every single day by playing scrims and solo queue, the arm might have a relapse at any moment. It won’t likely stop him from playing, but it will still affect me, similar to the situation he was in prior to taking the break.
Image Credits | Riot Games
That being said, having him on the field will definitely help boost the team’s morale and provide strong shot-calling within the team, as well as give more stability to the mid lane.
Given the current situation, T1 fans should probably hope to see the team get to Worlds as a third or fourth seed: anything above that would probably be a miracle unless all the other players have an incredible step up in the upcoming weeks.
With Gen.G and KT already locking a top-two finish, T1 will end up facing one team between DK and HLE, depending on who finishes third and fourth. The LCK #3 seed in playoffs will be able to choose between #5 and #6, and both of them would probably want to dodge T1, meaning that Faker and co. are likely going to end up against the #4 seed.
The LCK Summer Playoffs will kick off in less than one week’s time, on August 8, starting from 10:00 CET.
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