While there’s still a pretty good chance that Faker stays in Korea, reports have indicated that a few big-name organizations in the LCS have put shown interest in the League of Legends GOAT himself.
When it comes to names that are good to have associated with not only your team, but your brand, Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok is at the top of the list. Especially when it comes to League of Legends and esports in general.
Not only does he have a track record of maintaining a high level of performance across a career that has spanned the vast majority of League of Legends’ history, but he also has fans the world around. Even if he didn’t win Worlds 2022 with T1, they were about as close as you can get to raising the trophy.
While it’s still likely that Faker will stick with his team and try to make yet another run at the world title in 2023, there are some big names in the LCS that have put in bids on the prolific competitor.
Faker considering offers from LCS orgs in 2023
Some rumors were floating around that the LCS would be scaling back in 2023, rumors that have, in many ways, been proven wrong according to reporting on roster shifts.
From MaRin coming out of retirement to coach a Team Liquid roster that’s shaping up to be an all Korean-speaking roster, to 100 Thieves reportedly picking up Bjergsen and Doublelift, there have been a good deal of surprises for LCS fans.
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Supposedly, Faker was entertaining offers from both Team Liquid and FlyQuest. According to a report from Blix.gg’s Alejandro Gomis, Team Liquid went as far as to make an offer on Faker that would bring him to North America.
Sources: Faker 🇰🇷 is exploring options in multiple regions.He is interested in LCS 🇺🇸, too. At least TL and FlyQuest negotiated with him. TL made an offer for him.Faker's future is not decided and it's likely that he will end up renewing with T1🇰🇷.⬇️https://t.co/knoebkfW70
— Alejandro Gomis (@anonimotum) November 20, 2022
This would match with their signing of MaRin, as well as the concept that they were going for a roster that could all speak fluent Korean.
While Faker had fantastic comprehension of English in his latest interview with Dexerto, he hasn’t yet mastered speaking the language. Knowing a language is one thing, but speaking it is another entirely. While a player like Cloud9’s Berserker has learned English in record time, this isn’t the case for all players learning English as a new language.
Team Liquid would certainly be the easiest transition for him, but they’d have to find a domestic top laner or jungler that speaks Korean to complete their projected roster due to import rules.
It’s hard to say whether or not Team Liquid would be able to nab Faker and fully realize their vision for a 2023 roster that can dominate the competition, but the offer would seem to be on the table if he chooses to take it.