Dispelling the Myth: Bjergsen vs. Faker

It's odd, I swear this debate was brought up again on my timeline only a few days ago. It so happens that whenever the title of the best in the west in contested, people inevitably bring up comparisons to the Unkillable Demon King himself.



Bjergsen vs. Faker finally occurred at MSI and in the eyes of much of the general public, Bjergsen held his own. What is infuriating is that I keep hearing that Bjergsen duelled Faker, successfully dueled Faker, forced him out of lane, 'almost' killed him (like anything with an 'almost' is relevant if we want to tier things directly) or even that Bjergsen held control of the laning phase.



The recent comments by Trevor "Quickshot" Henry have re-ignited this debate, but much of it has been directed (thank God) at the absurdity of the statement. But people are still identifying the wrong areas on BOTH sides that actually single Faker out from the crowd, elements that enable us to better determine the actual value of players.



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Before I get into that, I want to look back to MSI. I want to go back to the play in question, the one that has been cited by both sides in this debate and infuriates me to no end. Bjergsen never controlled this lane. Faker walked all over him. Faker outclassed him entirely.



First of all, the setup to the play in question that is so often cited by Bjergsens' apologists. TSM and SKT have just fought a grouped fight during which Santorin was killed. Faker has a kill on the scoreboard. Faker is already low on half HP. The enemy jungler is now gone.



https://gyazo.com/237172a210419bb5bcfb8f451895b6f4



What I want you to notice is the pings. Bjergsen's Ziggs has been pinged out and from this position Bengi could look to gank either lane. He chooses to gank the bottom lane. Why then, is mid being pinged? It's because of the global threat that Ziggs' ultimate can bring. With both tp's up and Faker on Cassio, Bjergsen has the potential with his global ultimate to render the man advantage bottom lane useless. Ziggs is even shoving in the wave (as well as being a soft counter to Cass) and is in a prime position to impact the fight.



https://gyazo.com/db9e3cdafa4bc2362c646947a66d4f31



Wolf starts the fight as both teleports go down. Pay attention to mid. Bjergsen's health takes the first hits. Faker has initiated trading on a COMPLETELY disadvantageous position. He has no magic resist as opposed to Ziggs' chalice, is down on health and has no summoners. Going for a fight with Ziggs is suicide - but TAKING OUT ZIGGS IS NOT THE POINT.



https://gyazo.com/f2ab9bbb573f2267ad793b1719c838a4



Imagine a Ziggs ultimate at this point. This is the global pressure Bjergsen should be able to provide over Faker, but he is pre-occupied on FAKER'S say so. The Ziggs ultimate here would completely turn this fight in TSM's favour. It's not coming.



https://gyazo.com/693d93c675f279b3c57e1ac1264184a2



What about now? Well the Ziggs ultimate has been used. On Faker. Faker has successfully denied the global pressure AND lived by the skin of his teeth. Had Santorin not been killed in the previous trade, this option would have been certain guaranteed death. It still well could have killed Faker, but the fight in the bottom lane instead constitutes a greater lead for SKT and Faker/Bjergsen would have been 1-1.



It could have been MUCH worse, in fact it could have swung the game even for TSM, had Faker not initiated this sure-to-fail 1v1 in the mid lane.



https://gyazo.com/836f045cceb9ff9e9095262b2ef44a72



Now Ziggs acquires the CS lead I have to hear so much about when people compare Bjergsen to Faker, and TSM lose.



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This is besides what the overall fact of the matter is. Faker is not the best because of his mechanical prowess, his wide champion pool or his ability to impact every game. The reason Faker should remain the undisputed best in the world is because he was the first of his kind. He was the first of his kind to see the game in such a way that allows him to have all of these attributes - and he has honed it to perfection.



Faker sees the game in simple terms that he can apply to any situation he faces. If you cheese Faker you get one shot at it because the next game he will have the counter already.

You get one shot at surprising Faker and one shot only, because this guy is a fucking natural when it comes to gaming. He learns incredibly fast. His adaptability is unparalleled. People speak like Faker was already the best in the world when he arrived to the S3 World Championship but he wasn't yet. Not on the terms people judge him on now. On the first day he struggled. He was still playing at the highest level in the tournament, but the Faker of the first day was far, far removed from the Faker on the last day.



Faker spent one day with the best players in the world and that was enough. That was enough to surpass them. When he returned home he had surpassed everybody and it was all child's play. Faker adapts quicker than anybody in the history of League of Legends. It is a rare gift. I have attributed this methodology to Febiven in the past and called him out as having the potential to match Faker (in the future, don't cream yet Fnatic fans) before he even entered LCS. I still do. Both can learn and moreover be extremely confident in utilising what they have learned in an instant.



What separates Faker from Dade. What separates Faker from Bjergsen. If you want to prepare for Faker, you can't. He is not binary. His team may be, sure, but Faker the player himself can never be abused short of throwing a strategy at him that he has never encountered in any game in his now extensive history (praise be to Aaron). Even then you only get one shot at it.



You can continually list the attributes of as many mid laners as you want. That's fine. Maybe they'll even take a game of dominance over him, however fleeting. But that's their only shot. The next game he will have already ascended to another level. He will already have analysed whatever strategy you've thrown at him and will be ready next time. He sees you so simply, and prepares for you so easily. You've had your shot. Now it's Faker's time.



People with minds like Faker should not be playing video games. But they are, and it scares me.



- Veteran



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