Speaking after T1’s 2-1 series win over Nongshim RedForce on July 2, Faker revealed that he was being treated for an arm injury. “I haven’t been feeling well recently. I believe my performance since the BRION match may have been impacted because of this […] I am under treatment and in talks with the team,” Faker told the media. The news hit an international audience thanks to a translation from veteran reporter Ashley Kang. While Faker assured fans that he was doing okay, there were fears that Faker would have to step away from the rift to recover. This was especially the case, given the hectic LCK schedule that the fact that T1 were scheduled to play on July 5.
Subsequently, that's exactly what happened. On July 5, T1 announced that they would bench Faker to allow him to "take a break and focus on his treatment and recovery." It would be the first time that Faker would miss LCK matches since 2021. Toward the end of the 2021 Spring split, Faker benched himself because he did not believe that he was playing well enough. Ahead of their July 5 series against DRX, T1 announced that academy mid laner Poby would be taking over from Faker.
T1 Swept
In theory, it should have been the perfect debut for Poby. Despite being the reigning world champions, DRX have struggled mightily in 2023. They were just 2-6 entering the match against T1. However, they looked like a completely different team in this rematch of the 2022 Worlds Grand Final. In Game 1, they outkilled T1 19-2. While things were a little less lopsided in Game 2, DRX still outkilled the perennial champions 18-6. DRX improved to 3-6 while T1 fell to 6-3.
17-year-old Poby had a debut that he will likely prefer to forget. Playing Jayce and Annie, he went 2/8/2 across the two-game sweep. T1 is next in action on July 8 against league leaders Gen.G. It's unknown how long Faker will remain sidelined. However, T1's announcement of his benching makes it sound like they are hoping he will return before the end of the split. This is a developing story and we'll have any updates here at HotNewHipHop.
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