Faker

Lee Sang-hyeok was born on May 7, 1996, in Seoul, South Korea. He grew up in the city's Gangseo District, where he was raised by his father, Lee Kyung-joon, and his grandparents. As a child, he showed a strong aptitude for self-directed learning, teaching himself foreign languages and solving Rubik's Cubes. His early interest in gaming started with arcade fighting games such as Tekken and The King of Fighters before he transitioned to PC titles like MapleStory and Warcraft III.

He began playing League of Legends shortly after the Korean server launched in late 2011 under the online alias GoJeonPa. While attending Mapo High School, the same school attended by fellow professional player Kim "Deft" Hyuk-kyu, he approached his father for permission to leave formal schooling to pursue professional esports full-time. His father approved the request a month later. He is also a 39th-generation descendant of the Gyeongju Lee clan, making him a distant relative of his longtime T1 teammate Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyeong.

Faker entered professional play in early 2013 when he was signed by the SK Telecom T1 organization to anchor their newly created second roster, SK Telecom T1 2. He made his televised debut on April 6, 2013, securing an immediate solo kill against Kang "Ambition" Chan-yong. Later that summer, during the OGN Champions Summer 2013 finals against KT Rolster Bullets, he executed a famous Zed-versus-Zed outplay against Yoo "Ryu" Sang-wook to complete a reverse sweep. He concluded his debut year by winning the Season 3 World Championship in Los Angeles against Royal Club.

Following a domestic reorganization that consolidated SK Telecom's squads into a single team, Faker led the organization to consecutive World Championship victories in 2015 and 2016. In 2015, he shared mid-lane duties with Lee "Easyhoon" Ji-hoon during domestic play before dominating the 2015 World Championship, dropping only one game throughout the entire tournament. In 2016, SK Telecom T1 won the Mid-Season Invitational and defeated Samsung Galaxy 3-2 in the World Championship finals, earning Faker tournament MVP honors. Although the team secured another Mid-Season Invitational title in 2017, their streak of international titles ended with a 3-0 loss to Samsung Galaxy in the 2017 World Championship final.

Between 2018 and 2021, SK Telecom T1 navigated significant roster overhauls and strategic resets. During the 2018 season, the team missed international qualification, and Faker spent periods of the summer split on the bench. In 2019, he led a revamped roster to both Spring and Summer LCK championships and secured victory at Rift Rivals, making him the first player to win every major Riot Games-organized international tournament.

In February 2020, following the organization's rebranding as T1, Faker signed a multi-year contract extension that included an ownership stake and executive responsibilities within T1 Entertainment & Sports. In the 2022 LCK Spring Split, he captained a young roster featuring Moon "Oner" Hyeon-jun, Ryu "Keria" Min-seok, and Choi "Zeus" Woo-je to an unprecedented 18-0 regular-season record, culminating in his tenth domestic championship. That autumn, T1 reached the 2022 World Championship finals, where they finished as runners-up to DRX in a five-game series.

Faker returned to the top of international competition with a historic championship run starting in 2023. After missing four weeks of the 2023 LCK Summer Split due to a right-arm injury, he returned to steer T1 through the playoffs and into the 2023 World Championship, where they swept Weibo Gaming 3-0 in the finals to secure his fourth world title. In 2024, he won his fifth World Championship at London's O2 Arena, earning the Finals MVP award and becoming the first player to surpass 500 career kills at Worlds.

In 2025, Faker signed a contract extension keeping him with T1 through 2029. That same year, T1 defeated KT Rolster 3-2 in the finals to secure their third consecutive World Championship, granting Faker his sixth career world title. In May 2024, Riot Games selected him as the inaugural inductee into the LoL Esports Hall of Legends, celebrating his career with an official induction ceremony in Seoul.

Faker has represented the South Korean national esports team in multiple international multisport events. He first competed at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, where League of Legends was featured as a demonstration title, earning a silver medal after South Korea finished behind China.

At the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, held in 2023, he was selected as part of the six-player national roster. South Korea captured the gold medal after sweeping Chinese Taipei in the final. By earning gold at the Asian Games, Faker and his teammates were granted an official exemption from South Korea's mandatory military service requirement. In January 2026, he was awarded the Cheongnyong Medal of the Order of Sport Merit by South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.