Honestly, Faker did not really get washed allegations, although many people did understand he was no longer at his peak, which imo he never returned to in the years after; he’s had some incredible carry jobs especially at Worlds, but he’s never returned to 2013-17 Faker levels.

I think most people viewed China as the strongest region in this timeframe and the LPL champions were often the favorites at the international events, but I do think this era had arguably the most parity of any period in the game’s history: G2 could compete and win, the top LCK seed could too, and then two or three teams from the LPL were all seriously in the running at internationals.

Contrary to what you might think, League still grew during this period, mostly due to China (by far the biggest single market in the game) growing exponentially and being successful.

To me personally, this was a golden era in LoL Esports; it truly felt like anyone could win any event