After Worlds 2022 ended, the League of Legends community continued to enter an exciting and unexpected transfer period. In this transfer season, the two biggest areas of the LoL village, the LCK and the LPL, are having quite opposite developments. While the LPL region was engulfed in rumors, the LCK was quite quiet but “closed” many “blockbuster” deals.
The LPL and LCK have quite opposite approaches to the 2022 transfer season – source: Inven Global
In particular, among the completed deals in the LCK, the most notable is T1’s contract extension with Faker. According to some experts and players, this deal is no different from a “blockbuster” with an impact not only on the LCK but the entire League of Legends community.
T1 renews with Faker for a 3-year contract – source: Twitter T1
Specifically, the audience is too familiar with the image of Faker always appearing in T1’s matches. Not only that, Faker is also the name that guarantees the views of the LCK in particular and T1’s matches in the international arena in general. Some comments also said that T1 extended Faker’s contract for 3 years, which means that the lifespan of the LCK has been extended by 3 years from the present time.
Not only T1 but also the LCK and the League of Legends village benefit from Faker’s contract – Photo: LoL Esports
But if the LCK has Faker, the current LPL doesn’t have a name enough to counterbalance. Even legends of the LPL like Uzi or TheShy have lost their form. Even what the LPL audience remembers about Uzi at the moment is his family situation and his statements about his juniors every time he livestreams.
Uzi is a legend of LPL but he is hard to compare with Faker – source: Twitter
The lack of star players, especially an influential name like Faker, is the most important reason why the LPL lags behind. Names like Xiaohu, Knight… have not been able to develop further and have lost their inherent form. Not to mention, many LPL players don’t have a really professional attitude. Meanwhile, it is the professionalism and constant effort that are the factors that help Faker to be able to play persistently for a long time.
LPL players have no shortage of talent, but they can’t maintain a stable form for a long time – source: LoL Esports
Then players like Faker will also end their careers one day. And when these players leave the professional arena, not only the LCK or LPL but the whole LoL community will probably also enter the “afternoon” phase because of the shortage of qualified replacement players.
