Faker discusses his unlikely friendship with Tyler1

Matt Porter
Faker hugging Tyler1 at League of Legends All-Stars 2019

League of Legends’ All-Star Weekend is now over, and while the battle between North America and Europe took place, the biggest story coming out of Las Vegas is the unlikely friendship between Tyler ‘Tyler1’ Steinkamp and Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok.

Faker is widely regarded as an icon of League of Legends, with many considering the Korean to be the greatest professional player of all time. Tyler1, on the other hand, is known as a brash and cocky streamer, who was banned for almost two years for being too toxic.

Despite being viewed so differently, Tyler1 and Faker have kindled a friendship, with the SKT player discussing their bond in an interview with Korizon’s Ashley Kang following the finale of All-Star Weekend.

Riot Games
Faker and Tyler1 have met at a number of All-Star Weekends.

Tyler1 admitted that the pair sat at the same table during the weekend, and got into a conversation about their friendship, although it didn’t go exactly as the streamer had hoped.

“We were at a table, and I said: ‘Faker, are we best friends?’” the 24-year-old revealed. “He said ‘What?’ So I repeated the question. He said, ‘You, me, best friends… no.’ But still, he thought about it, it was in his head that we are best friends!”

While Faker may not believe Tyler is his best friend, he was certainly happy to see him, telling Kang: “He is full of energy. Whenever I see him, he always greets me with the brightest smile. I have a very positive impression of him.”

Clip starts at 1:00 for mobile users.

While their friendship may have blossomed at All-Star Weekend, their League of Legends gameplay didn’t quite match up, with Faker falling out of the 1v1 competition, admitting that he felt like he could have won it.

Things didn’t go too well for Tyler1 either, as his North American squad fell at the hands of Europe, with the streamer claiming he “couldn’t carry” pro players Bae -Bang’ Jun-sik and Zachary ‘Sneaky’ Scudei to victory.

Still, at least they have their friendship to hold as a fond memory from the weekend, even if Faker doesn’t think they are best friends just yet.