Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok is preparing for his third consecutive Asian Games appearance, and at a send-off ceremony in Seoul the League of Legends icon said the weight of public expectation works in his favor rather than against him.
It is an honor and I am grateful to compete in the Asian Games for the third consecutive time. I feel a heavy sense of responsibility accordingly, and that feels more like great inspiration than pressure. I will approach this Asian Games with a sense of purpose, knowing that I am doing something meaningful.
Faker carried the South Korean flag at the Jakarta-Palembang Games in 2018, when esports appeared as a demonstration sport, and left with silver. Four years later in Hangzhou, with esports promoted to an official medal event, he won gold. He was appointed a Youth Cyber Gambling Awareness ambassador in July and named to TIME's 100 most influential people in sport for 2026.
He also reportedly spent time in the athletes' village at the last Games taking photos and signing autographs for around 1,000 competitors from other sports, something he played down at the ceremony.
I did take a lot of photos during the last tournament, but to be honest, it wasn't quite that many. Still, it was a deeply gratifying experience.
The staff South Korea built around him
Head coach Kang Dong-hoon appeared alongside Faker and fielded questions about the support structure. Kim Hyuk-kyu ("Deft"), Kim Kwang-hee ("Rascal"), Yeon Hyeong-mo ("Sin") and Kim Dong-ha ("Khan") have all been named to strategic analyst roles, with Kim Geun-hyeong ("Ikryong") and Park Jeong-woon ("PS") rounding out the staff as training support. Kang said the picks came out of extended discussions with the subcommittee and Performance Improvement Committee.
We put together a team of thoroughly proven individuals who can offer practical help for each role, foster overall communication, and generate team synergy.
China is out, and Taiwan is the threat
China, widely regarded as South Korea's most dangerous League of Legends rival internationally, is not participating at Aichi-Nagoya. Kang said the staff had prepared for either outcome.
From the moment I took the national team head coach position until recently, I prepared with the mindset that China's participation status could change at any time. Now that their absence is confirmed, regardless of who our competitors are, the players and I are focused on a single goal: winning the gold medal with undeniably strong performance.
That leaves Taiwan as the biggest remaining obstacle. The Taiwanese national roster recently confirmed it includes LPL-active players "JunJia" and "HongQ". Kang said the team had anticipated the selection to some extent before the roster was announced, calling Taiwan's mid-jungle synergy strong and adding that the competitiveness of its top and bottom lanes could not be overlooked either. South Korea is set to compete at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, with the League of Legends event schedule to be confirmed as the tournament approaches.