Documentary Script: How 4 Rookies
Won Faker His 4th World Championship
I. INTRODUCTION [2018]
NARRATION (VO): “It’s Summer of 2018.” [short pause] “Worlds is right around
the corner. Yet T1, then called SK Telecom T1, had just subbed out their star player, Lee “Faker”
Sang-hyeok, for the first time in two years.”
…: “In Season 8, T1 had their worst placing as
an organization in their history of competing in the LCK, finishing 7th with a subpar 8-10 record.
It was a year marked with the lowest of the lows as Faker struggled to be the rock that SKT used
to rely on all the while veteran teammates like Bang and Wolf suffered from burnout after years
of performing at the highest level in SKT.”
NARRATION (VO): “Despite the team’s efforts, SKT’s
last flicker of hope would soon be squashed in a one-sided Game Five against Gen.G in the Regional
Qualifiers taking away all hopes the team had for redemption in Worlds 2018.”
…: “But wait a minute.”
[Short pause]
NARRATION (VO): “Didn’t Faker just do this?”
…: “With their Worlds run this season, Faker
has cemented his legacy as the greatest player in League of Legends history after being the only
player to not only win four world championships, but do it almost a decade apart from each other.”
…: ”But that year, in 2018, doubts were cast on the veteran mid laner for his inconsistent
performances all year long. Rumors were even coming along that he might finally
be leaving the team to retire in NA.”
…: “So, what changed?”
…: “Well, as much as we would have loved to say that Faker singlehandedly
carried the team to their fourth Worlds win and everybody lived happily ever after,
this story actually isn’t about Faker.”
NARRATION (VO): “Let me tell you the story
of the four rookies that would help Faker rebuild the dynasty of SKT.”
II. THE LAST OF SKT [2019]
NARRATION (VO): “T1’s climb back
to the top has been years in the making. And to rise, one must first fall.”
…: “In the aftermath of their 2018 season, T1 decided to all-in on building a team that
could once again win it all, recruiting only the best talent in each role. A superteam with
historic names in the LCK like Khan and Mata.
…: ”Khan, despite never having won an
international title, is considered to be among the best top laners in the history of the game on par
with legends like Nuguri and TheShy. Mata, on the other hand, was a part of the championship team
who many consider to be one of the strongest World Champions in League’s history, Samsung White.”
…: “And at the start, the team looked good. Across Spring and Summer, T1 proved that they were
just better than the competition convincingly taking down then-rivals Griffin for the
regular season trophy. But when it really mattered, that’s when the team fell apart.”
…: “The legendary roster wasn’t enough to stop G2 Esports with both Perkz and Caps at their prime
and innovating with their off-meta picks. Once at MSI, against a double mage bot lane and top lane
Pyke and a second time at Worlds, against Perkz and Mikyx’s iconic Yasuo-Gragas bot lane.”
…: “In those losses, Faker was outshone by his rival mid, Caps on every point and the team
was a step behind the curve when it came down to it. The way things were, despite all the changes,
SKT was still not in a position to win and redeem their name. So, for better or for worse, they
had to let go of everything they knew and go back to the drawing board.”
III. A NEW CHAPTER IN T1: THE FIRST PIECE OF THE PUZZLE [2020]
NARRATION (VO): “In 2020, SKT had traded in their old look and was now going by just T1. And with
that overhaul came a lot of changes that would completely restructure how the team was run.”
…: “For starters, long-time coach kkOma left the organization in 2019 after being
with the team for 7 long years. This would inevitably change the
team’s approach to the game with an all-new coaching staff in charge.”
…: “Of which, would allow one of our rookies to finally enter the fray later on in the season.”
…: “In 2020, or what we will now refer to as the start of the T1 era, the organization saw
a moment of success in Spring finishing first in the playoffs with a lineup made up of
veterans alongside a promising rookie in Canna.”
…: “Yet, come summer, the team started to
struggle once more with Spring playoffs MVP Cuzz subbing out for rookie jungler Ellim
and Faker even being taken out once more for a ‘more promising’ rookie mid laner in Clozer.
Add to that rumors behind the scenes on how players like Faker and Teddy were disagreeing
on how they fundamentally approached the game, signs were pointing that T1 was stumbling to
find its footing ahead of regional finals.”
[pause]
…: “So, they finally put in the first to come of the new generation of T1, Gumayusi.”
…: “Gumayusi first played for T1 in the team’s last yet most important series of the
year in the LCK Regional Finals 2020.”
…: “But who was this rookie that
just took Teddy’s spot in the most crucial time of the competitive season?”
…: “Gumayusi was a marksman even respected by pros in solo queue since he reached
Challenger at the age of 15. He started as a trainee for T1 the year after in 2018
after much encouragement from his father, partly because his brother, StarCraft legend
INnoVation, also played for SKT in his olden days and wanted Gumayusi to only play for the best.”
…: “Nevertheless, it took Guma three long years before he could step up to the plate and play for
T1 on the main stage. But when he did, he made heads turn with an impressive, lane-dominant
9/0/8 Caitlyn pick that helped secure their first victory in their gauntlet run.’
…: “And while the team would go on to lose against Gen. G 0-3 and fail to qualify
for Worlds, the tournament provided T1 a blueprint of how they could move forward
into the next season with a more proactive, early-game centric approach that Gumayusi’s laning
prowess provided them in the regional finals.”
IV. A NEW CHAPTER IN T1 PT. II [2021]
NARRATION (VO): “In the hopes of finding the perfect balance of players for this newfound style
of play, T1 decided to invest into experimenting with a 10-man roster for the 2021 season.”
…: “But, despite having a 10-man roster, T1 only had one Support for the coming season, Keria.”
…: “Keria, among his teammates Zeus, Guma, and Oner, was the earliest to debut in the
LCK in 2020 with DragonX. In his first year, the rookie had big shoes to fill being partnered
with a legend like Deft in the bottom lane.”
…: “Yet, despite all the pressure, Keria came
out swinging with a confidence that you would only see in storied veterans. He was more than
capable playing traditional supports like Thresh or Yuumi and could also throw off opponents
with off meta picks like Sett, Pantheon, and even Kayle if the situation called for it.”
…: “And that was exactly what T1 needed in the bot lane. An innovator with strong laning who
could push the team and help unlock Gumayusi’s potential. To go even further, Keria would win
Support of the Year in the LCK and be the only member of the T1 2021 roster to be part of
the spring AND summer all-LCK first team.”
…: “As the year grew on and Worlds came closer,
it became clearer and clearer that Gumayusi and Keria was a match made in heaven and together,
they became a force to be reckoned with as their synergy grew with every game they played.”
…: “In the midst of this, T1 still had yet to decide on a jungler whether to stick with
Ellim, Cuzz, or go with a newer recruit, Oner.”
…: “Even after only playing under half of the
regular season games in spring and summer, T1 had decided to put their faith into rookie
jungler Oner for the Summer Playoffs.”
…: “Oner was the newest recruit to T1 yet got to
play on the main roster almost immediately upon the recommendation of their mid laner, Clozer.”
…: “Oner was a certified Lee Sin main, cocky, arrogant, but backed it all up with his mechanics.
But what was most important was that he slotted into the already-existing roster perfectly,
matching his fellow rookies’ aggression. Heading into Week 6 of the spring season, Oner would
begin to prove that he was the real deal with a flashy engage that was a stark contrast from
the style of play that Cuzz and Teddy brought to the team up until they were benched.”
…: “Oner was the kind of jungler that T1 had so desperately wanted for years with a high
ceiling to boot, given it was just his rookie year. And even if Oner only had a short amount
of time to build synergy with his solo lanes, he was still able to carry the team in Game
5 of the Finals of Regionals to qualify T1 for Worlds 2021 as the last seed of the LCK.”
…: “In spite of it all, T1’s Band-Aid roster of Canna-Oner-Faker-Gumayusi-Keria made it all
the way to the semifinals of Worlds 2021. They demolished groups with a 5-1 record,
swept HLE, and were now one game away from making their way back to the world finals.”
…: “It was all too short-lived however as DK dashed T1’s hopes in Game 5 of the semifinals
with another tailor-made composition to counter the squad. Outranged and outlasted, T1
had to go home empty-handed once again.”
…: “But that didn’t mean that the year
was a complete waste. If anything, T1 had learned their ‘formula’ and was one step
away from figuring it all out. All they needed was one last piece of the puzzle…”
V. ZOFGK: COMPLETED [2022]
NARRATION (VO): “Shortly after, T1 announced
in November that Canna will not be re-signing with the org in the coming year, leaving
their top lane wide open for the taking.”
…: ”At that time, Oner, Faker, Gumayusi, and Keria
had already established their synergy from their time together in Worlds. With Canna gone, they
needed someone who could not only replace him, but elevate the team to the next level.”
…: “The decision would be undisputed. In the face of rumors that TheShy will be
heading to T1, the organization would confirm that Zeus will be joining the main
roster as the sole top laner heading into 2022 – finally completing the five-man of ZOFGK.”
…: “Wooje or Zeus is the youngest of the roster. But, is arguably the most mechanically
gifted of the newcomers having not one, but three Challenger accounts at the age of
15. After being scouted by T1 in the same year, he would win his first open tournament in
the LCK AS 2020 Season alongside Oner.”
…: “His mechanics spoke for themselves on the
Rift and even before he knew it, the top laner was already called on to play for the main
squad the year after in 2020. Even Showmaker, considered to be one of the best players at the
time after his Worlds 2020 win, was lauding him as a player to watch before his pro debut in 2021.”
…: “Zeus was a rookie brimming with potential, and despite the short amount of
playtime he had in Season 11, he showed promise and still had a lot
of upside left to be developed.”
[pause]
…: “With the roster now complete, all of a sudden…It finally clicked.”
…: “T1 would go on to make their most dominant run in the LCK’s history, beating their
previous winstreak record of 14 straight wins. The team looked confident, poised, unbeatable,
like a well-oiled machine that knew how to win from every point of the game.”
…: “But, the real challenges for this roster were just about to begin.”
…: “After their first win, again and again, no matter how well they seemed to be performing,
they could never close out a series. 3-2 against RNG, 3-2 against DRX, 3-2 against JDG (upper
bracket finals). The team’s losses were starting to get to them and it showed, loss after loss.”
…: “This roster, who broke records and went 18-0 in spring, had a chance of going down as
the best team to have never won anything. Even after committing to staying together
in 2023, the team was still lost on the ‘x factor’ they needed to finally win a title.
Now, for, perhaps, one last time together, they had one chance to overcome their demons and
achieve something much greater than themselves.”
VI. VICTORY
NARRATION (VO): “In what could have been their last run together, the pressure couldn’t
have been any higher in the Summer of ‘23. Faker’s wrist is injured and T1 looks absolutely
lost without their shotcaller in the mid lane. But thanks to their early wins in the season,
they still managed to qualify for playoffs, giving them enough time for Faker to recover.”
…: “It’s at this time that questions arose of how competitive T1 was going to be with Faker
coming off an injury and a team that looked so lackluster all split-long, with or without him.
..: “But as everyone’s learned over the past decade, you can never count T1 out.”
…: “Despite another grueling loss against rival Gen. G in the finals, T1 earned
themselves space to breathe before Worlds 2023, and that was all the time the team
needed to regroup and rethink just meant that they had nothing left to lose.”
…: “Despite all his years of competition, this was Faker’s first Worlds in
Korea and what many thought to be his last chance of winning his 4th title.”
…: “T1 had to climb the ranks and prove themselves stage after stage. Their struggle against TL in
the first round, alongside another loss to Gen.G in the second round, had fans worried about the
team’s form heading into the rest of Worlds.”
…: “But, a convincing win against
C9, and then BLG, gave hope for their chances in the playoffs against LNG.”
…: “Unfortunately for the rest of the competition, T1 completely switched gears in playoffs.”
…: “T1 changed the meta entirely countering the status quo of Xayah and Kai’sa in the bot lane
that teams like LNG and JDG were so adept at. They forced teams to adapt to their playstyle
or lose without contest. Bard, for example, countered Xayah so well, who without flash or
featherstorm, becomes a sitting duck. Before they even knew what hit them, it was already over.”
…: “T1 was not meant to reach this far. Especially against JDG, a team that was built for and was
well on the way to reaching a grand slam. This win meant so much to T1 and the LCK and it
was the kind of win they needed to boost their confidence coming into the finals.”
…: “It was as Faker said, all roads lead back to him. And just like that, T1 was now back in the
finals. Against all odds, against an entire region that was predicted to win it all, back in the same
position they found themselves in last year.”
…: “Heading into the finals, T1 knew they had
to approach the series differently. It was more of a battle within themselves that they had
to face. And that is exactly what they did, they came into the series with the
mentality of champions, focusing on playing their best game rather than simply ‘winning’”
…: “They were one step away from redemption. From victory that had eluded them for so, so long.”
…: “But this time, they were ready.”
VII. CLOSING
…: “Finally, they had done it. After seven, long years, Faker has done it, and
T1 are once again world champions. And this time, with a new generation of players that have
stayed by his side for the past two years, unwavering until their goal has been reached.”
…: “These rookies once watched Faker lift the trophy when they were still in grade
school. To Zeus, Oner, Guma, and Keria, Faker was their idol and they wanted to
rebuild and be a part of the legacy of T1.”
…: “By playing their own picks,
growing individually as players, and performing at the highest level of play
so consistently over the past years, they have earned their spot to stand alongside Faker with
the honor of being called a World Champion.”
[pause as fade to black]
…: “But as it is in esports, it doesn’t end there.”
…: “These ‘rookies’ still have a long way to go if they want to catch up
to the prestige that only Faker possesses and that starts in 2024, as the entire team has
decided to re-sign for the upcoming season with the added signing of kKoma as head coach.”
…: ”Now entering their third year as starters, which is a feat no team has ever accomplished
with this much success, the organization and maybe even more so, its players, hope to rebuild
the dynasty of T1 one championship at a time.”
…: “For now, they can finally
take their bow and rest easy, knowing that they finally broke the curse and have
entered the hall of fame as world champions.”
