Esports
After a great second half of the Summer Split, T1 bounce back and set themselves up for a big shot at the play-offs and possibly a spot at Worlds.
After parting ways with Yang ‘Daeny’ Dae-in and Lee ‘Zefa’ Jae-min in the middle of the LCK Summer Split, T1’s famed League of Legends team saw an upsurge in the standings. Lee ‘Gumayusi’ Min-hyeong and Moon ‘Oner’ Hyeon-joon were subbed in, showing great spirit and skill to give T1 the extra push they needed to secure their play-offs spot. With legend Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok at the helm, they are aiming for a coveted spot at World’s in the autumn as well as the LCK Summer Split trophy.
With the first step now complete, it’s time to look forward to their play-off run, their opponents and their chances of grabbing that Worlds 2021 ticket to China.
This year’s Summer Split might be more competitive than ever. Every team in the play-offs have earned their spot and there isn’t a team that doesn’t belong there. This also means that a lot of the games don’t have clear favourites. Even teams like DWG KIA, which showed incredible strength in the Summer Season, have struggled to earn their number one spot. The fact that a single win is all that sets the bottom play-off teams apart from the top one should make it clear that these play-offs will be incredibly close.
Quarter-finals
T1’s first test will be a difficult one to overcome. In the regular season, Livv SANDBOX proved too strong for the team to beat. In their second bout of the season, T1 were still struggling from switching their management around, so it will be great to see how much they have improved.
With Gumayusi finding his groove, we’ll finally see this mechanical beast in his prime. During last year’s play-offs, the young player was subbed in as a last stand to make it to Worlds. While we loved Gumayusi’s performance, it wasn’t enough to win the ticket. Now with more experience under his belt, we’ll finally be able to see this young player shine.
Semi-finals
If T1 win their match against Livv SANDBOX, Gen.G will be waiting for them in the semi-finals. Luckily for Faker’s team, T1 have been destroying Gen.G in the regular season. In fact, in the latter part of the split, Gen.G seemingly fell into a slump. However, they do always turn it on during the play-offs and beyond. Only last year they managed to make it to Worlds.
In terms of gameplay, both mid and bot will be the places to watch. Gwak ‘Bdd’ Bo-seong versus Faker is an all-star match. Ryze is in the meta right now and also one of Faker’s favourite champions (he's even got his own skin!). Park ‘Ruler’ Jae-hyuk and Kim ‘Life’ Jeong-min are still both part of one of the best bot lanes in the LCK, so they definitely should not be overlooked.
Finals
At this point, it’s difficult to say who will make it into the finals from the top half of the bracket. While Nongshim RedForce were dominating for a good part of the Summer Split, there is still a very high chance that they won’t make it past DWG KIA, so it’s likely that if T1 make their way to the finals, DWG KIA will be there to meet them.
However, this time around the Spring Split Champions aren’t looking so hot. In the middle of the season their ADC was swapped out of the team. They shuffled the roster around and in classic G2 style, Heo ‘ShowMaker’ Su – one of the best mids in the LCK – switched to ADC. In contrast to G2’s move, this didn’t work out in DWG’s favour at all and they lost several matches in quick succession. Near the end of the split, the team decided to put Jang ‘Ghost’ Yong-jun back into the roster. What's more, Damwon don’t look like the unstoppable force they once were, which is of course great if you’re a T1 fan.
The LC Summer play-offs start on August 18 and T1 will play their first match the following day. Make sure to tune in, because it’s definitely going to be one to watch.
