[News Terms] Faker T1 vs TheShy WBG Face Off in the 'Worlds'

LoL-DCUP, commonly known as the League of Legends World Championship, is the world's largest esports event that determines the best player in the online battle strategy game "League of Legends," developed by Riot Games in the United States. The name "LoL-DCUP" is a blend of the abbreviation for League of Legends (LOL) and the World Cup.

Since its first event held in Sweden in 2011, the LoL-DCUP has been hosted annually in various countries worldwide. It features 22 top-ranking teams from regional leagues such as Korea's LCK, China's LPL, North America's LCS, and Europe's LEC. This year marks the 13th edition, hosted by Korea, with league representatives competing fiercely in Seoul and Busan since the 10th of last month. Korea previously hosted the LoL-DCUP in 2014 and 2018.

At the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games esports League of Legends (LoL) held at the esports center in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, South Korea's 'Zeus' Choi Woo-je, 'Kanavi' Seo Jin-hyeok, 'Chovy' Jeong Ji-hoon, 'Faker' Lee Sang-hyeok, 'Ruler' Park Jae-hyuk, and 'Keria' Ryu Min-seok are posing on the podium after winning the gold medal.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Notably, this year's competition includes six players who represented Korea at the Hangzhou Asian Games and won gold medals: ‘Faker’ Lee Sang-hyeok, ‘Zeus’ Choi Woo-je, ‘Keria’ Ryu Min-seok (all from T1), ‘Chovy’ Jeong Ji-hoon (Gen.G), and ‘Ruler’ Park Jae-hyuk, ‘Kanavi’ Seo Jin-hyeok (both from JDG), each competing as representatives of their Korean and Chinese teams, drawing significant attention.

The finals, held on the 19th at Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, Seoul, will feature Korea's T1 against China's WBG. T1 advanced to the finals by defeating China's top team JDG 3-1 in the semifinals. The Chinese team WBG includes ‘TheShy’ Kang Seung-rok.

The big match between T1, featuring Faker who is known as the "Messi of esports," and their biggest Korean rival, the Chinese team, has attracted unprecedented interest from fans both domestically and internationally. Approximately 18,000 tickets for the finals have already sold out, and premium resale tickets with added fees are commonly found in the secondary market. This is the first Korea-China final in the LoL-DCUP in two years since 2021.

In anticipation of the finals, Seoul City will hold Korean cultural experience events, game exhibitions, and concerts at Gwanghwamun Square starting from the 16th. On the day of the finals, a street cheering event for global game fans will also take place at Gwanghwamun Square.

Meanwhile, Korea has recorded the most championship wins with seven titles out of the 12 LoL-DCUP tournaments held up to last year. China follows with three championships won in 2018, 2019, and 2021.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.