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| Lee Sang-hyeok |
When Korea's last e-sports league for the strategy simulation game Starcraft ended in 2012, there were no rising new stars in the professional gaming scene.
While some professional gamers changed their career to become television entertainers, many others tried to continue with different game titles. But none enjoyed the popularity their predecessors did until recently.
Lee Sang-hyeok, widely known by his game playing nickname "SKT T1 Faker," became the world's most popular professional gamer with the strategy game "League of Legends," when he won the world championship and led his team to victory in several domestic leagues since 2013.
The League of Legends was developed by U.S.-based company Riot Games. In the game, two teams of five choose a character from more than 120 different choices then fight each other until one team takes the other's base.
"I don't think I have a specific playing style or an innate sense for games; I just try to do my best. I believe practice is the most important thing because it makes me improvise certain playing techniques for unexpected circumstances," the 18-year-old professional gamer told The Korea Times.
Lee said he enjoyed playing other strategy games such as the Starcraft and Warcraft series before he started to play League of Legends right after it was launched in Korea in Dec. 2012.
He was at the top of the League of Legends amateur rankings in Korea when he joined a professional gaming team supported by SK Telecom in 2013.
Thanks to Lee's performance, the SKT T1 team won the local championships in August 2013 and another competition in January 2014. He later led his team to win the league in April 2014. In the meantime, he was named as the most valuable player and won several prizes as the best player in the league.
Lee's worldwide popularity has been proven with the high-viewership rates for the private broadcasting of his games.
When Lee aired his private playing through Internet streaming in Oct. 2013, more than 50,000 visitors connected to the streaming channel to watch him play. The streaming was also leaked to Chinese web portals and recorded over 120,000 viewers.
Lee said he hopes other passionate professional gamers rise as star players and boost the popularity of the local e-sports scene.
"Anyone can be a star player if he or she is passionate enough for the game," he said. "I hope more game fans will have interest in the Korean league and give support for us."
