Why is srN hated on? I've tried translating some comments but that hasn't given me the full picture. Can someone familiar with the situation explain more? Thanks
yeah so long story short Lee Sang-hyeok, born May 7, 1996, better known as Faker, is a South Korean professional League of Legends player for T1. He gained prominence after joining SK Telecom T1 (now T1) in 2013, where he has since played as the team's mid-laner. Throughout his career, he has secured a record of 10 League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) titles, two Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) titles, and a record four World Championship titles. Faker is widely regarded as the greatest League of Legends player in history and has drawn comparison analogizing him to basketball player, Michael Jordan for his esports success.
Originally from Gangseo District, Seoul, Faker was signed by SKT in 2013, and quickly established himself as one of the league's top players. In his debut year, he achieved both an LCK title and a World Championship victory with SKT. From 2014 to 2017, Faker added five more LCK titles to his name, along with two MSI titles in 2016 and 2017, and two additional World Championships in 2015 and 2016. During this time, he also emerged victorious in the All-Star Paris 2014 and the IEM World Championship in 2016. Between 2019 and 2022, Faker secured four more LCK titles, becoming the first player to reach a total of 10. He also represented the South Korean national team at the 2018 Asian Games, earning a silver medal, and the 2022 Asian Games, earning a gold.
Faker's individual achievements include accolades such as a World Championship Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, an MSI MVP award, two LCK season MVP awards, an LCK Finals MVP award, an LCK Player of the Year award, an LCK Mid Laner of the Year award, and two LCK First All-Pro Team designations. He holds several LCK records, including being the first player to reach 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 kills, the first to have earned 5,000 assists, the first to have played 900 games, and the first to have won 600 games in the LCK. Faker also holds the record for the most kills in World Championship matches and was the first player to surpass 100 World Championship wins. His accomplishments have earned him recognition as the Best Esports Athlete at The Game Awards in 2017 and 2023, PC Player of the Year at the Esports Awards in 2023, and he was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Asia Entertainment & Sports in 2019. Additionally, he was inducted into the ESL Hall of Fame in the same year. He was also chosen as the inaugural inductee for the LoL Esports Hall of Legends, being officially announced by Riot Games in May 2024.
Faker is one of the most marketed esports figures, appearing in numerous commercials and talk shows. In 2020, he became a part-owner and executive of T1 Entertainment & Sports. His annual salary, as of 2020, was estimated by the Olympics to be nearly US$5 million.[1]
yeah so long story short Lee Sang-hyeok, born May 7, 1996, better known as Faker, is a South Korean professional League of Legends player for T1. He gained prominence after joining SK Telecom T1 (now T1) in 2013, where he has since played as the team's mid-laner. Throughout his career, he has secured a record of 10 League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) titles, two Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) titles, and a record four World Championship titles. Faker is widely regarded as the greatest League of Legends player in history and has drawn comparison analogizing him to basketball player, Michael Jordan for his esports success.
Originally from Gangseo District, Seoul, Faker was signed by SKT in 2013, and quickly established himself as one of the league's top players. In his debut year, he achieved both an LCK title and a World Championship victory with SKT. From 2014 to 2017, Faker added five more LCK titles to his name, along with two MSI titles in 2016 and 2017, and two additional World Championships in 2015 and 2016. During this time, he also emerged victorious in the All-Star Paris 2014 and the IEM World Championship in 2016. Between 2019 and 2022, Faker secured four more LCK titles, becoming the first player to reach a total of 10. He also represented the South Korean national team at the 2018 Asian Games, earning a silver medal, and the 2022 Asian Games, earning a gold.
Faker's individual achievements include accolades such as a World Championship Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, an MSI MVP award, two LCK season MVP awards, an LCK Finals MVP award, an LCK Player of the Year award, an LCK Mid Laner of the Year award, and two LCK First All-Pro Team designations. He holds several LCK records, including being the first player to reach 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 kills, the first to have earned 5,000 assists, the first to have played 900 games, and the first to have won 600 games in the LCK. Faker also holds the record for the most kills in World Championship matches and was the first player to surpass 100 World Championship wins. His accomplishments have earned him recognition as the Best Esports Athlete at The Game Awards in 2017 and 2023, PC Player of the Year at the Esports Awards in 2023, and he was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Asia Entertainment & Sports in 2019. Additionally, he was inducted into the ESL Hall of Fame in the same year. He was also chosen as the inaugural inductee for the LoL Esports Hall of Legends, being officially announced by Riot Games in May 2024.
Faker is one of the most marketed esports figures, appearing in numerous commercials and talk shows. In 2020, he became a part-owner and executive of T1 Entertainment & Sports. His annual salary, as of 2020, was estimated by the Olympics to be nearly US$5 million.[1]
I'm not as well versed on the specifics of the drama, but I'll try to give a straight answer:
on the one hand, some of the hate comes from some videos that surfaced of srn being misogynistic in game before playing in GC, but I don't exactly remember exactly what they said in those videos. This is the main one especially after it was propagated by some of team liquid players
there's also the fact that they tend to be kind toxic in game, so a lot of people take issue with the idea of someone "pretending" to be non binary to play on GC and be shitty to the women playing
ON THE OTHER HAND a lot of the hate they received comes from people who couldn't care less about GC and just want a excuse to be transphobic and say that "man pretend to be women to dominate GC", wich is also kind of misogynistic because it implies women are naturally worse at videogames and ignores the social and cultural barriers that created GC in the first place
TD;DR: it's a mess
Srn was toxic and misogynistic and there are some records of those attitudes from a long time ago https://x.com/ikylonobu88516/status/1747273718349562106 Srn was very young at the time (like 15 years old or so). A lot of the br game changers scene doesn't like Srn: https://www.vlr.gg/295826/o-cen-rio-inteiro-do-gc-contra-o-srn (For example you can see TL br players in the comments of the tweet posted in this thread)
Srn apologized on twitter: https://x.com/srnfps1/status/1748794358084591892
Still, I read some comments saying that Srn have done this a lot of times (being toxic and then apologizing)
There is also the fact that Srn won "best female athlete" and "revelation player of the year" in the Brasil esports awards, where many people thought Bizerra deserved it more.
At last, we have to mention their gender identity (idk which pronouns Srn use), Srn identified as non binary just before entering the competitive scene, and there are obviously people who would call that a fake transition and such, and Srn had a girlfriend too so many ppl said Srn was just a man pretending. I believe not all of those comments come from transphobia, because there is also Jelly on Mibr who is a very respected and popular trans figure in the scene, so the majority of people and players who hate Srn are in good terms or are friends to Jelly.
That's all I have about this topic, I'm not brazilian tho xD but I follow the scene.