Here’s why Faker isn’t coming to First Stand

League of Legends is one of the biggest games around, so it’s only understandable that it would have a bustling esports community. With so many tournaments going on constantly, only some are able to achieve the level of greatness expected from a game like this. Fortunately, First Stand is one of those high-profile tournaments, though one of the highest-profiled people won’t be attending it.

Faker, known as one of, if not the best League of Legends players of all time, won’t be attending First Stand 2025 ^[1]. This boils down to one primary reason, which is that his team, T1, received a loss in the LCK Cub.

Without any delay, here’s why Faker won’t come to First Stand and what’s next for the player.

T1’s early exit and Fearless Draft

Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok won’t attend First Stand after T1’s loss to Hanwha Life Esports in the LCK Cup. The world champions couldn’t complete their Golden Road, and speculators are questioning the impact of the Fearless Draft format on their performance.

T1’s drafting strength at Worlds

T1 has historically thrived in international tournaments, especially at Worlds, where they perfect metas. They always optimize champion pools and drafts, consistently giving them the advantage. At Worlds 2024, their strategy revolved around pick composition, where they prioritized Vi and leveraged Zeus’ Rumble to force enemies into difficult draft decisions. Faker’s champion pool at the tournament was Neeko, Ahri, and Sylas, while Gumayusi focused on comfort picks.

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How Fearless Draft changes best-of-fives

The Fearless Draft format removes redundancy in champion selection by stopping a team from picking the same champion twice in a series. This structure alters how players approach best-of-five drafts. T1’s strength was their ability to force opponents into tough bans or first-pick scenarios, especially around Zeus’ Rumble. However, with Fearless Draft, these pressure picks lose effectiveness because a champion can play once per series.

T1’s Struggles Against HLE

With forty champions unavailable by the fifth game, creating the optimal team becomes impossible. Against HLE, T1 struggled to dominate like they usually do. With fewer good melee champions left, they ran out of top-tier front-liners essential to their play style. The advantage of having a signature champion like Faker’s LeBlanc exert influence throughout a series diminishes in Fearless Draft.

The Impact on T1’s Performance

Although no factor determines a team’s performance, the change in drafting structure seems to have affected T1’s ability to execute their strategies. The absence of Faker at First Stand is a huge moment in the League of Legends competitive scene because it highlights the impact of the evolving draft format on the game’s most dominant team.

References

1. [1] "First Stand 2025". liquipedia.net. Retrieved February 19, 2025