The Top 5 Most Iconic of Faker’s Rivals in LoL Esports

The Legendary Mid Laner has recently won the League of Legends 2023 World Championship and both fans and analysts have dubbed him as the true GOAT of League of Legends. While there is no one left to challenge his legacy in the game, there were some people who came close to taking down the Unkillable Demon King during his time playing the game. Let’s take a look at the most iconic of Faker’s rivalries against other players in the esports.

The Top 5 of Faker’s Rivals in LoL Esports

Faker’s rivals have all had successful careers in the international esports scene. As the person who has won the most titles internationally and domestically, Faker doesn’t seem like he has anyone who can be considered as his equal. Regardless, there are people who have proven to be huge obstacles in the career of Faker that he had to overcome to prove that he is the best. Of course, he eventually overcame these people in other tournaments.

Faker has had a lot of competition throughout his extremely long career as a League of Legends player. There were times when he was unable to participate in international tournaments and there were those years where his team completely flopped. Whether he was in failed superteams or rising young rosters, he has always been compared with other mid laners in the world. Let’s take a look at some of Faker’s rivalries that will come down as iconic.

5. Chovy

Chovy is the most recent addition to Faker’s rivalries because the new generation of fans have dubbed him as the most mechanically gifted mid laner to ever touch the game. Chovy was called the legendary right hand because of his inhuman plays that would astound even the least knowledgeable esports fans. He was also known as the god of laning phase because he would always secure the most economy out of any player during the laning phase.

Unfortunately, despite being the most talented mid laner to ever touch the game, this rivalry doesn’t seem to hold a lot of weight. Aside from the fact that Chovy has beaten Faker in a handful of domestic playoff games, Chovy doesn’t have any international success to be considered a true rival to Faker’s legacy. Although, the argument about whether prime Faker or prime Chovy would win in a 1v1 is a debate that we’re sure doesn’t have a conclusive winner.

4. Ambition

Ambition is probably the most famous rival to Faker. Their rivalry was so iconic that it is highlighted in the Rise cinematic which showcases Ambition’s failure to defeat Faker until his eventual victory over him in Worlds 2017. The rivalry became more iconic when Ambition role-swapper from being a mid laner to a jungler, where he eventually won the World Championships. This would question the authenticity of the rivalry between the two.

Many people claim that Ambition could not beat Faker in the mid lane which is why he left the role. However, there are many who believe that Ambition found a way to take advantage of Faker’s weaknesses as a laner which he could only punish if he had a role that wasn’t restricted to laning. Faker would never get revenge against Ambition after his defeat since Ambition would proceed to do his military service.

3. Crown

Crown is another iconic rival to Faker whom he overcame in the League of Legends world championships. Unlike Ambition, Crown decided to take on Faker face to face in the mid lane. While he was generally unsuccessful during their bouts in the LCK, he managed to get a clean 3-0 victory over Faker’s SKT T1 back in 2017. They are the only two mid laners to face each other twice in a row in two consecutive World Championships. Prior to that Crown and SSG lost to SKT T1 in a 2-3 finals record.

Out of all the mid laners in League of Legends history, Crown is the one that absolutely crushed Faker in an international tournament. We would put Crown as at the top spot but the fact that his professional career went down the toilet after he went to the LCS and was soon unrecognizable. In fact, his performance dropped so badly that he was considered one of the worst players in the LCS which hurt his overall reputation. Regardless, he was still a true rival to Faker during his prime.

2. Xiaohu

Xiaohu is probably Faker’s counterpart in the LPL. He is a legendary mid laner in his home country who keeps getting compared with other superstars in the league. Regardless, both of them have the some of the most successful international and domestic careers in their home regions. Both have a true rivalry in the sense that Xiaohu has defeated Faker in every Mid-Season Invitational while Faker has dominated Xiaohu at Worlds every single time.

These two have faced each other in international tournaments so many times that it’s impossible not to see their hardcore rivalry. Out of all of Faker’s rivals Xiaohu is the one that has kept it the most even in terms of win rate. Sadly, the World Championships is definitely more impactful in a player’s image and career than MSI. We doubt that Worlds 2023 is the last time these two will face off in an international tournament so we get to see how this rivalry will go.

1. PawN

PawN is Faker’s biggest competitor and his biggest regret. In the earlier years of Faker’s career, he wasn’t as dominant as we know him now. Back then, there were a lot of “better” mid laners in the league and Faker was definitely one of them since his debut in 2013. However, PawN would always stand in his way and dominate him whenever they would face off in a domestic matchup.

PawN didn’t manage to face off against Faker at Worlds but he did face off against him at the very first MSI tournament where he played for Edward Gaming. PawN and the rest of EDG would had the LCK their first international defeat since 2023 and put a permanent stain in the record of Faker. Sadly, Faker couldn’t get his revenge against PawN since an injury would force him to retire.