Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, hailing from South Korea, has earned yet another grand accolade for his stunning professional career in League of Legends.
The three-time world champion, also regarded as the best player in history, received the honors of “Best Esports Player” at The Game Awards 2017 this week. While he was unable to attend in person because of the League of Legends All-Star tournament, he did convey his appreciation live from the North American League Championship Series (NA LCS) studio in Los Angeles.
The four other nominees that fell short of receiving the prestigious award include Nikola “NiKo” Kovac and Marcelo “Coldzera” David from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Ryu “Ryujehong” Je-hong from Overwatch, and Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi from Dota 2.
Faker, with his beloved SK Telecom T1, failed to secure the League of Legends World Championship (Worlds 2017) this year. There has been a bit of debate over whether he was the rightful choice for the esports award, considering that the other nominees achieved far more during the same period. Coldzera, for example, was chosen as the most valuable player in four of the seven tournaments won this year by SK Gaming.
A very similar debate also birthed for Overwatch picking up the “Best Esports Game” award, beating others in the category that have been the forerunners of esports this year.
The Game Awards 2017 is overseen by a jury comprised of international publications and media outlets, as well as fan-votes. The esports categories in particular may need an additional oversight.
