LoL: Who is Poby, the new Fnatic's midlaner coming from T1 Esports Academy?

As reported by Sheep Esports on June 28, Yoon "Poby" Sung-won is joining Fnatic in the LEC from T1 Esports Academy. The 19-year-old South Korean midlaner has been part of T1 since August 2021, when he joined the organization at just 15 years old. Over the past few years, he’s competed across all levels of the South Korean League of Legends, including the LCK Academy Series (LCK AS) and the Challenger League (LCK CL).

Poby also made his LCK debut during Summer 2023, stepping in for Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, who was sidelined with a wrist injury. He played eight best-of-threes during that period, managing only one win and suffering seven losses. It was a tough assignment for a young player, thrown into a struggling team deprived of its captain, and his performance drew heavy criticism from both fans and the wider community.

Poby’s very first competitive split dates back to August 2021 in the LCK Academy Series, where he played alongside a player recently seen in the LCK with T1, Shin "Smash" Geum-jae. In 2022, their team reached the finals of the LCK AS 2022 1st Championship but lost to Nongshim RedForce Academy. The rest of the year didn’t go very well for Poby and his teammates. The first half of 2023 wasn’t much better, but Poby still earned a spot in Korea’s second division, the LCK CL, after Park "Bay" Jun-byeong left the roster.

At the same time, Faker had to take a break and step away from the LCK while recovering from an arm injury. Poby was called in as a substitute—tasked with playing in the strongest league in the world, replacing the greatest player in the history of the game. It was an enormous weight on the shoulders of a 17-year-old. Facing legends like Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon, Kim "Zeka" Geon-woo, Heo "ShowMaker" Su, and Gwak "Bdd" Bo-seong was far from easy, though he did manage to win a best-of-three against Nongshim.

The year 2024 didn’t go too well for T1 Academy, with a Spring Split that saw them finish second-to-last in the LCK CL. However, the Summer Split showed more promise, as the team secured a fourth-place finish and took part in the 2024 Asia Star Challengers Invitational, where they also placed fourth. The year was also marked by the arrival of a familiar face to European fans—Martin "Rekkles" Larsson—who played his first competitive games as a support following his role swap.

Things have already started looking better in 2025. T1 Academy kicked off the year with a strong showing, finishing second in the LCK CL 2025 Kickoff. They followed it up with a good performance at the Asia Masters 2025, taking first place in the Swiss 1 stage alongside KT Rolster Challengers, which marked a significant step forward for the roster. The team is currently competing in the Swiss 2 stage of the tournament. Meanwhile, in the domestic league, they secured a fourth-place finish across Rounds 1-2 of the LCK CL.

According to Leaguepedia, Poby’s most-played champion throughout his career is, by far, Azir—just like many South Korean midlaners. He’s played the Emperor of Shurima 39 times, with a 41% win rate. Orianna and LeBlanc come next, with 26 and 24 games respectively, both sitting at a 42% win rate. Among his most-picked champions, Tristana and Syndra are by far his most successful. He has a 55% win rate over 22 games on the Yordle Gunner and an impressive 68% win rate across 19 games on Syndra. Overall, Poby has shown a fairly wide champion pool, having played 34 different champions over the course of his career.

In the most recent LCK split, Poby’s most-played champion was Viktor, with four wins and six losses, followed by Azir, on whom he had a 25% win rate across eight games. Notably, he maintained a perfect 100% win rate on Ryze over five games. Throughout LCK Rounds 1-2, Poby played eleven different champions in total. Among his key stats, his farming stands out with an impressive average of 9.5 CS per minute, while his kill participation was relatively low compared to other midlaners in both the LCK and LEC, at just 62% of his team’s kills.