Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, widely regarded as the greatest esports legend in history, has faced a new challenger in recent years: Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon, the midlane prodigy who many now consider the best player in the world. Sheep Esports has delved into their rivalry, bringing you key statistics from this already legendary rivalry. Let’s dive deep into their statistics to compare these two titans of League of Legends.

A Duel of Playstyles

Both players compete in the LCK, widely regarded as the toughest league in the world, home to the best players the game has ever produced. Throughout the year, they regularly face each other in intense matchups.

The statistics are often heavily in Chovy's favor. He is known for being a dominant force in the laning phase, almost like a war machine. He thrives on resources, constantly feeding during the early game, which often puts him in a hyper-carry position for his team. He is a pure playmaker, capable of dominating all aspects of the game by himself.

On the other hand, Faker was once of the same caliber in the early years of his career, considered the best laner in every competition he entered. However, his playstyle has evolved; he is now less dominant in the laning phase and plays more in service of his team. Despite these changes, both players are extremely clutch, with the ability to single-handedly turn the tide of a game with one move. This shared ability to reverse a game is their greatest common strength.

These subtle differences are reflected in their champion pools during their direct matchups:

A battle through time

Unlike Faker, the star player of T1 since the start of his career in 2013, Chovy had to fight his way through four different teams before becoming the new king of Korea. He played for Griffin, DRX, HLE, and finally, Gen.G, with whom he has won almost everything since 2022.

It is interesting to note that in terms of victories, Faker dominated Chovy for most of their encounters between 2018 and the end of 2022. However, over the past two years, the balance of power has shifted significantly, with Chovy overwhelming Faker. In 2023 and 2024 alone, Chovy has beaten Faker 27 times, while Faker has only managed 17 victories. The head-to-head results over the years reflect this shift: in 2018, Faker won 2-0; in 2019, Faker led 9-7; in 2020, 8-5; and in 2021, 10-4. However, by 2022, the gap began to narrow with a 9-7 score in favor of Faker. The true shift happened in 2023 with Chovy winning 16-14, and in 2024, he has dominated Faker 12-6 so far.

Yearly head-to-head (Faker-Chovy):

2018: 0-2

2019: 9-7

2020: 8-5

2021: 10-4

2022: 9-7

2023: 14-16

2024: 6-12

Beyond their direct confrontations, the two players have very different track records. Faker is the only five-time world champion (2013, 2015, 2016, 2023, 2024) and a two-time MSI winner (2016, 2017). In contrast, Chovy, after many years of struggles on the international stage, only recently secured his first MSI title in 2024. Despite Faker being the player with the most LCK titles (10), Chovy has been catching up rapidly, winning four consecutive LCK titles in the last two years, setting a new record for the region.