Shadowing Practice: Why ___ Is the Best Version of Faker - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Most people think 2025 Faker is one of the best versions of Faker, but he doesn't even make this list and soon you'll see why.
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I compared the statistical dominance, accomplishments, stakes in pressure, midlaying competition, and pure sentiment of every year of Faker's career to create the ultimate top five.
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The five best versions of Faker.
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But before we get to who's hiding behind first place, let's look at the most underrated world championship season in Faker's
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career t1 headed into the 2024 season with a target on their back as the reigning world champions
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and it started to have a very real effect on their
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ability to play the game danger hell the entire lck was
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at risk oh my god no t1 were unable to practice
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with these ddos attacks running rampant a huge setback for the team
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that would hurt them and crucial series later
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but this hurt faker even more faker built his career off of ruthless preparation repetition and solo queue for For instance,
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in 2019, Faker averaged close to 6 hours of solo queue practice a day.
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At the time of that recording, he had played 679 solo queue games that year.
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Just for comparison, his teammate
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Khan had only played 462.
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See, every version of Faker you'll see on this list dealt with and overcame pressure.
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But the reason 2024 Faker is so underrated is
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that he had to deal with that pressure and live up to his own expectations without the practice he normally relied on.
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The impressive thing is Faker's 2024 season numbers were very similar to his 2019 numbers despite playing with no practice,
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but 2024 was a return to form for Faker's laning as well.
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He averaged a 0 .5 plus CS differential, his highest average since 2020, and he secured 33 solo kills that year,
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ranking Faker above both Chovy and Knight, even though both Chovy and Knight are considered the better laners at that point in their career.
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Also, before anyone loses their mind, I'm not saying
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Baker is better than those guys because he's got more solo kills, okay?
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Just relax.
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If anything, he's better because of what he does at the end of the year, but I'll get to that.
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Now, despite his impressive stats, especially considering the lack of practice,
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Baker was pretty much never in contention for the best mid laner in the world for most of the year.
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That title belonged to Chovy.
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Faker had a 6 -12 head -to -head record versus Chovy at one point, including losing a crucial series in the LCK Spring Finals.
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Chovy's machine -like consistency was unlike anything Faker had ever faced before in his career.
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But Faker would have one last opportunity for redemption during the semifinals of Worlds.
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It was Gen .G, the tournament favorites, versus T1.
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The best player of today, Chovy, versus the best player in history, Faker.
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This matchup would not only determine who would go to the world finals, but a win here with cement Chovy's status above Faker in today's game.
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With thousands of eyeballs glued to this matchup, Faker chose to be bold.
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At a glance, Chovy's world stats are better than Faker's, but when you dive deeper,
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Faker is actually ahead in CS more frequently at 50 minutes than the laning god himself, Chovy, and average a higher first blood percentage.
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What this means is that while Chovy spent a lot of his time accruing CSA through farming later in the game,
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Faker decided to sacrifice his individual stats to make plays around the map in the early game.
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By the way, if you're into these deep breakdowns of your favorite professional players, make sure to subscribe.
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Anyways, ultimately Faker's superior early game playmaking helped give T1 the win.
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See, Chovy had beaten Faker all year.
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Some even said Chovy could one day become the GOAT.
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But Faker took his greatest rival down at the absolute height of their powers, settling this quote -unquote debate once and for all.
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But turns out, I've been bullshitting you this whole video so far.
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Faker's greatest challenge in 2024 wasn't Chovy after all.
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It was up ahead.
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Winning in the finals was another monster midlaner, Knight.
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Knight was the best midlaner from China, having the tournament of his life.
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Everyone wanted to see if Knight could become the first LPR mid laner to slay the unkillable
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Demon King at the biggest tournament in esports.
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After a Game 3 win and a strong start in Game 4, it looked like it was going to happen,
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until Faker gambled it all on one game winning.
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Now remember I said
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Pierce had been factored into these rankings?
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So Caria talked about the play after
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Worlds, saying he trusted Faker so much to make the game -winning play
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that he followed up without even knowing if Faker would succeed.
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That was the level of trust 2024 Faker had from his teammates.
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His aura was so great that Karius said he could actually feel it.
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But wait, Knight was Faker's toughest opponent that year for a reason.
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Despite the brutal loss in Game 4, BLG was battling T1 in Game 5.
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Knight was on his signature Ahri playing every situation just right, and again Team Win the World's chances were hanging in the balance.
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But again, Faker goes forward.
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Faker flashes in, and down goes
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Knight once again when you need someone, when you need anyone to stand up and show just what this game is like!
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Faker's re -engage on Gallier turns the game around.
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Faker won his 5th
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World Championship and took home his 2nd
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Admiral Worlds Finals MVP.
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He ended the year winning the LCK Player of the Year and Midlaner of the Year, awards voted on by many of his peers.
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The ultimate validation.
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In a year when he had less practice than any other version of himself and faced the best midlaners of his career,
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he showed he was willing and able to make the game winning plays that they could not.
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It's that fearless playmaking when the pressure was dialed up combined with the personal accolades
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and world championship win that put him in the number 5 slot on this list.
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And circling back to that 2025 comparison for a second, although he also won worlds last year,
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he did not receive the personal accolades he did in 2024.
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Nor did he beat the midliners of the caliber of Peak Knight and Peak Chovy,
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even though I think BDD is a monster in his own right.
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But all of this said, as good as 2024 Faker was, his heroics pale in comparison to the next few versions of Faker on this list.
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Faker's 2017 season ended like this, and this is exactly why this is one of the best versions of Faker ever.
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But before I skip ahead to the end, what was going on in 2017?
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SKT headed into 2017 having won back -to -back world championships.
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They reworked the roster for the second year in a row, replacing top laner
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Duke with Huni and Jungle Legend and Faker's right -hand man, Bengi, with Peanut.
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All eyes were on Faker to see
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if he could continue to dominate the league of legends world even with the roster constantly changing around him
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and faker answered the call faker's 2017 season stats were better
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than his 2024 season stats in almost every category kt pon
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one of the greatest mid laners in league of legends history said this ahead of his matchup against faker
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and skt in the playoffs since skt is centered around faker i'll have a lot on my shoulders
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and legendary korean caster cloud templar added ahead of msi sure all
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that i'm sure of is
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that he is the best player in the world the team skyrocketed to an lca trophy
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and an msi victory two trophies he failed to win in 2024 plus he did a time where china
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and europe were starting to become a threat on the international stage
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and you see just how serious of a threat they would come for Faker at Worlds.
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But following the team's MSI win, the team began to struggle with the meta and with various players hitting slumps.
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Huni was no longer the consistent top lane carry, and the team's rockstar bot lane duo
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Bang and Wolf were no longer as consistent as they once were either.
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SKT were ultimately defeated in the LCK Summer Finals by Longshu.
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And suddenly, SKT's invincible aura in Korea was shattered.
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Faker was still incredible, being ranked as the number one player in the world heading into Worlds 2017.
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But the question was, would Faker be enough to save SKT this time?
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Remember when I said
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China and Europe were starting to become a threat on the international stage?
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Well, in the quarterfinals, SKT found themselves down 2 -1 to the huge underdogs from Europe, Misfits.
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2017 Faker's teammates were genuinely struggling to match their opponents.
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That's something Worlds winning versions of Faker never had to deal with.
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So Faker took matters into his own hands.
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Faker played a masterclass of a game 4 on Ryze, somehow hitting almost 11 CS per minute while participating in almost every fight around the map.
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Korean fans reacted after the series saying honestly, if it wasn't for Faker, Misfits would've won.
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Wolf gets himself out alive as Alvari gets taken down by Bang.
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And we get to see a fight where Misfits' carries are not able to deal with...
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Now if you thought this performance was incredible, you probably forgot all about this one.
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It's Faker's greatest individual performance ever.
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Check it out.
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By this point, everyone could tell this SKT was significantly weaker than the SKT of old.
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After just escaping Misfits, Faker was now tasked with taking out Chyna and Uzi, arguably the second best player in the world,
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and the perfect meta for his playstyle.
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This was the Arden Sensor meta.
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This item at one point had a 94 % usage rate.
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It was so broken because it turned every support into a healing bot, and every AD carry like Uzi into an unkillable monster.
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And it was supposed to make mid laners more supportive too.
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But Faker said damn the odds.
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He averaged more than 9 CS per minute and over 83 % kill participation in the series,
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meaning he was generating his own massive leads while somehow being involved in almost every kill on the map.
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His performance in this series is widely considered the greatest 1v9 performance in League of Legends history.
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How did 2017
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Baker even lose the World Championship? he looks unstoppable.
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Well, how do you stop someone so great
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that they can literally 1v9 the game even when all his teammates are worse than their counterpart?
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You don't let him play.
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I'm locked in Malzhar in three straight games.
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A champion designed for its simple role, neutralize the opponent.
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See, no region, no meta, or no team could outplay 2017 Faker.
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The only way to beat 2017 Faker was to not let him play the game.
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In a way, it's actually the ultimate compliment of his greatness.
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Now, you might argue Faker won
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Worlds in 2024 with better individual accolades, so shouldn't he be higher?
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Although team success in individual accolades may favor 2024 Faker slightly, I believe his stats, his performance under pressure playing with an underperforming team,
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his ranking among top mids, and overall pure sentiment was higher for 2017 Faker.
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So that's why 2017 Faker ranked slightly higher for me on this list.
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2013 Faker came into the league as this super hyped solo queue prospect.
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Some wanted to see if he could live up to the hype, while others were rooting for his downfall.
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But no one could have expected what happened next.
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Faker's first opponent was one of the best midliners in Korea, Ambition.
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Ambition was supposed to school Faker, but Faker schooled him instead with the most unexpected solo kill.
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Faker secured four kills within the span of a minute, completely taking over the game.
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As the weeks went on, it became clear this wasn't just a hot start.
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In fact, this dominance would continue even at the biggest tournament in esports.
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Faker led the entire league and earned gold per minute across both splits.
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And after placing third in the spring split, Faker got even better in summer.
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SKT took home of their first title in OG in summer with Faker leading all mid laners in KDA.
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Within a blink of an eye,
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rookie Faker had become the best player in one of the most stacked versions of the best esports region in the world.
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But the pressure for Faker to do it at Worlds was immense.
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At the previous year's
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Worlds, Korean favorites of Zuber Frost had fallen in the finals.
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Now Korea was sending a rookie as their best hope for a first world championship.
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The expectation was that Faker would carry the weight of an entire region on his first try.
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Not only that, but his own peers have mounted the pressure on Faker as well.
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Faker just takes lanes that might not be as one -sided as people think
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and he just dominates them everybody sentiment for 2013 faker was way beyond anything 2017
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or 2024 faker had but the pressure on 2013 faker to perform was also greater
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but faker somehow exceeded those expectations anyway faker hit charm after
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charm on what would become a signature the max range charm the lockup the rookie campaign ended with his first
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and korea's burst, World's Title, and Kespa's League of Legends Midlane Award.
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I believe 2013 Faker had the best combination of 2024 and 2017, with insane individual dominance, team and individual accomplishments,
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but with superior pure sentiment.
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For those reasons, 2013 Faker is the third best version of Faker on this list.
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But although 2013 Faker was maybe the most individually dominant version of Faker,
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the last two versions of Faker on this list were even more well -rounded, which is scary to think about.
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2016 Faker gets overlooked a lot because it's not quite as good as the best version of Faker on this list.
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But 2016 Faker is actually better than you might remember.
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Now let me set the stage.
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Before the 2016 season, the team lost Maren.
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Maren was an important carry and shot caller for the team.
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Some even claimed that he was a better player than Faker during the 2015 run.
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The pressure was on Faker to prove that 1.
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The team could win without Maren and two, prove he was always the best player on SKT.
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And he sure did.
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Faker averaged a better KDA, better CS differential, and better damage numbers than he did in 2017 and 2024.
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And he's more team -oriented in his playmaking than in 2013,
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while still leading all mid -laners in the world in solo kills with a ridiculous 50 solo.
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SKT had one of their most successful stretches ever, winning the spring split, winning IAM Katowice, and winning their first ever MSI.
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A top -tier Korean midlaner crown would say this about Baker.
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He's so exceptional as a midlaner.
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Always number one, always a champion, winning every tournament he enters.
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I feel like it wouldn't be any fun.
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While Martin failed to even make it to any international events, Baker took home the MSI Finals MVP.
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Case closed on that debate, by the way.
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But the success didn't last forever.
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In the summer split, the team hit a wall.
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Players who had looked unstoppable in spring started to look human.
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But while Faker's team was on the downward spiral, another player was on the rise.
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Smeb, the top lane carry for Rocks Tigers 2016, took his game to another level.
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And it led to this.
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Coming in at number one on our list is Smeb from the Rocks Tigers.
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You have to be pretty good to be above Faker on this list.
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For the first time since his debut.
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Faker was not ranked the number one player in the world heading into a major tournament.
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So when the two faced each other in the semi -finals, this wasn't just to see who would go to the world finals,
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it was to settle who was the best player in the world.
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Faker beat out Smeb in multiple key categories in the series,
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but it was his fancy feat in Game 5 that really ended the Faker vs. Smeb debate once and for all.
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Baker would end the year winning a second world championship in a row, doing it without more on this time,
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and he took on the world finals MVP.
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2016 had the individual dominance and pierced invent of 2013
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Baker, while being more well rounded as a player, which helped him secure both MVPs at both major international events,
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which for me is enough to be ranked the second best version of Baker on this list.
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but he's still not number one though and I'm just about to get to number one but first some honorable mentions.
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First is 2019 Faker.
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Faker was considered one of the best midlanders in the world
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but at the same time he failed to win any international events or collect significant individual accolades.
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He also had some negative peer sentiment even being accused of
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choking for the first time in his career after his Keanu misplay at World.
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Another worthy shout is 2023 Faker.
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Faker actually did win the World Championship in 2023
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and took on multiple individual accolades including the LCK Player and Midlander of the Year.
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But I would argue he was lucky to win those awards as they weighed Faker's comeback from injury and eventual
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Worlds win far too heavily compared to the rest of the year.
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Whereas stats for the most part were worse than as 2024 or even 2025 seasons.
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Of course, there's a few other choices like 2025 Faker, as I just mentioned, or 2022 Faker,
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but most of these choices were lacking in one category or another compared to the names on this list.
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But with that said, we can finally get to the best version of Faker.
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The argument for the greatest team of all time usually revolves around
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Season 4 Samsung White and Season 5 SKT.
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And the reason
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Season 5 SKT belongs in that conversation is largely because of Faker and you'll see why by the end of the segment.
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Let's set the stage for the final time.
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The OCK is facing massive changes, the Korean exodus results in most of the greatest players from Korea leaving for China
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and the region is at its weakest it's been in history.
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Meanwhile, Faker and SKT had just come off their worst season ever.
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The team missed the world championship with people questioning if Faker's rookie season was just a flash in the pan.
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So all the pressure was on Faker to perform for himself, for his team, and for his country.
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And he did.
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Faker dominated OGN on standard meta champions like Viktor to unique off -meta midlaners like Ezreal.
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He even dropped a 25kDA on LeBlanc in one game.
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Yikes.
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He was the most active midlaner in the league, leading all mids in kill participation.
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But somehow, Faker found himself on the bench.
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Easyhoon was SKT's substitute, a player whose mastery of Azir, one of the most dominant champions in the meta,
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was so undeniable that SKT started him over Faker for all three games of the Spring Finals.
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So despite being incredible, the GOAT had to win his spot back.
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Enter the MSI Finals.
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SKT are down 2 -1.
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After losing two straight games with Easyhoon, the team asks Faker to rescue them.
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And he takes over on Kassadin, dropping a perfect 18kda.
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And then in Game 5, he locks in LeBlanc.
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He held a perfect 12 -0 record on the champion.
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Most teams wouldn't even think of giving him the champion, but giving Faker LeBlanc was part of EDG's plan all along.
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EDG lock in Morgana mid, a champion designed to neutralize the lane, much like the Malzahar pick we talked about earlier in the video.
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Despite being countered, Faker was having a very impressive game on LeBlanc, being a part of any real successful play SK team made.
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But ultimately, the trap worked.
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Faker suffered as his first international best -of -five loss ever, EDG walkaway champions.
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Despite the loss, Faker finished the tournament ranking first or second in almost every significant category among midliners.
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To this day, many people argue that if Faker could have plagued the whole series, SKT might have been MSI champions instead.
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But that's not what happened.
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So if the burden on Faker's shoulders wasn't great already, now it doubles.
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Now people are asking if Chyna had figured out Faker.
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And what if Faker isn't good enough to beat Chyna and win Worlds again?
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This all made Faker furious.
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And what followed was the most focused stretch of Faker's career.
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He dominated on Viktor, Ryze,
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Ahri, Ezreal, even as Azir had gotten so good that Faker reduced Easyhoon to a benchwarmer for the rest of the season.
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Faker had so much confidence in his individual skill at this time that he won two professional games on Master Yi mid,
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and won a game on Riven mid in the Summer Finals.
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Two champions that no other mid laner in the world would even think about playing, including the other versions of Faker on this list.
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In the Summer Finals against Nagne, a solid Korean mid laner, Faker was up in CS at 15 minutes 100 % of the time,
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finishing with 6 solo kills across only 3 games.
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The gulf between Faker
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and the next best mid laner in Korea was only ever this large during his rookie season
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and even that's debatable
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but now the moment the entire year had been building towards worlds can faker carry his team his region
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and his country who better to test skt
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and faker than edg the team that had beaten skt at msi the team
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that had made people believe china might be the better region the team
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that had handed faker his first international loss baker got his revenge on his signature Ryze.
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Baker's 2015 Worlds performance was stuff of legend.
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He averaged a 7 .3 KDA and plus 15 CS differential at Worlds 2015, which are better numbers than any
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Worlds performance I've mentioned on this list so far.
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Even in the World Finals, he could not be stopped.
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He died one time between the team's three wins, ending the series with a monster performance on Ryze.
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Just as a reminder, Ryze was supposed to be a midlaner that took a while to get strong, but you wouldn't think so watching Faker play.
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For the recap, 2015 Faker won both splits to the LCK, won Worlds in the most dominant fashion maybe ever,
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and was one game away from winning MSI 2.
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In other words, he was arguably one bad coaching decision from winning every single tournament in the calendar year,
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something no other version of Faker has come close to do.
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2015 Faker has it all.
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The stats?
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Check.
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The stakes in performance under immense pressure?
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Check.
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The accomplishments?
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Check.
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And in terms of pure sentiment, here's what Easy Hoon himself had to say about Faker.
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In living closely with Faker, I've observed what an amazing player he is.
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And I sincerely hope he can keep performing well
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and continue filling his role for the progress of esports and League of Legends.
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Because 2015 Faker was larger than just that year.
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He saved the Korean scene, he saved League of Legends, and he helped catapult it into the greatest game in Eastward's history,
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the true unkillable Demon King.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Why ___ Is the Best Version of Faker”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: faker, player, skt, version. This video has 305 sentences and 3892 words to shadow. The speech runs for 22:41. The speaker talks at a natural 172 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 78% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| baker noun | /ˈbeɪ.kɚ/ | A person who bakes and sells bread, cakes and similar items. |
| legend noun | /ˈlɛd͡ʒ.ənd/ | The life story of a saint (such stories are often embellished, but any kind is called a legend). |
| rank noun | /ˈɹæŋk/ | A row of people or things organized in a grid pattern, often soldiers. |
| meta adjective | /ˈmɛtə/ | Self-referential; structured analogously (structured by relationships), but at a higher level. |
| sentiment noun | /ˈsɛn.tɪ.mənt/ | A general thought, feeling, or sense. |
| rookie noun | /ˈɹʊki/ | An inexperienced recruit, especially in the police or armed forces. |
| opponent noun | /əˈpəʊ.nənt/ | One who opposes another; one who works or takes a position against someone or something; one who attempts to stop the progress of someone or something. |
| teammate noun | /ˈtiːmˌmeɪt/ | One who is on the same team. |
| dominance noun | /ˈdɑmɪnəns/ | The state of being dominant; of prime importance; supremacy. |
| queue noun | /kju/ | A line of people, vehicles or other objects, usually one to be dealt with in sequence (i.e., the one at the front end is dealt with first, the one behind is… |
| impressive adjective | /ɪmˈpɹɛsɪv/ | Making, or tending to make, a positive impression; having power to impress. |
| argue verb | /ˈɑɹ.ɡju/ | To show grounds for concluding (that); to indicate, imply. |
| versus | /ˈvɝsəs/ | Against; in opposition to. |
| signature noun | /ˈsɪɡ.nə.t͡ʃə/ | A person's name, written by that person, used as identification or to signify approval of accompanying material, such as a legal contract. |
| dominant adjective | /ˈdɑmənənt/ | Ruling; governing; prevailing |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| beat out verb | To sound a rhythm on a percussion instrument such as a drum. |
| come off verb | To become detached. |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. |
| follow up verb | To take further actions remaining after an event; to continue, revisit, or persist; especially, to maintain communication or verify. |
| hide behind verb | To use someone or something as a shield in order to avoid taking responsibility for something; to avoid attention by using someone or something as a shield. |
| play around verb | To behave in a silly, childish, or irresponsible way. |
| stand up verb | To rise from a lying or sitting position. |
| take down verb | To remove something from a wall or similar vertical surface to which it is fixed. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- You don't let him play.
- I feel like it wouldn't be any fun.
- Let's set the stage for the final time.
- Worlds performance I've mentioned on this list so far.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | are considered · had been factored · was dialed |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have mounted · it's been · I've mentioned |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 27 contractions and reduced forms, such as wasn't, I'm, I've. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/, differential [dɪfəˈɹənʃəɫ], accomplishment /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ.mənt/, participation /pɑːˌtɪs.ɪˈpeɪ.ʃən/, crucial /ˈkɹuː.ʃəl/
- Long words — get the stress right: expectation /ˌɛk.spɛkˈteɪ.ʃən/, differential [dɪfəˈɹənʃəɫ], accomplishment /əˈkɑm.plɪʃ.mənt/, superior /sʊˈpɪɹ.i.ɚ/, participation /pɑːˌtɪs.ɪˈpeɪ.ʃən/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like baker, legend, rank.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.