In 2024, T1 is on a journey that is even a thousand times harder than last season. As of now in the LCK Summer 2024, T1 has a record of 5 wins – 5 losses, which can only be summed up in two words: “disaster”. Even in the LCK Summer 2023, T1 only lost to KT Rolster and Gen.G in the group stage before Faker got injured and took a break from competition. However, this summer, even the struggling BNK FearX was able to defeat T1. Faker and his teammates also experienced a forgettable rematch with a meek defeat against Hanwha Life Esports.
In the debates surrounding T1’s forgettable series of matches, many viewers have looked back at the Esports World Cup 2024 – the tournament where T1 recently crowned champion – to assess the impact of this tournament on the reigning champions of the 2023 World Championship. Admittedly, T1 has secured its first title of the year and a huge cash prize from this League of Legends tournament. But in the end, that seems to be all T1 received, while several consequences have already become clear.
First, there is the unreasonable scheduling conflict for T1. No one understands why the LCK organizing committee arranged an extremely harsh schedule for T1, where just returning from Saudi Arabia in the morning, they had to compete in the afternoon. The tired look on T1 players says it all, and luckily for T1, the opponent that day was only a weak OKSavingsBank BRION. But even Faker had to admit he had never experienced such a dense schedule in his career, increasing the audience’s frustration towards Riot. Notably, within just three days of leaving Saudi Arabia, T1 had to play two matches. One of those opponents was Hanwha Life Esports.
If the scheduling issue is just an indirect impact of EWC 2024 on T1, then the lack of rest time due to the relentless “show running” is a direct reason. EWC 2024 was held right during the group stage of LCK Summer 2024, forcing T1 and other participating teams to “run shows” tightly. If they had exited the tournament early, there would be about a week to rest. However, since T1 made it to the finals, instead of having time to relax and study their opponents’ playstyle, T1 had to continue competing. Not to mention, the matches of EWC 2024 were all held at late hours. This clearly affected the players’ health significantly.
Next is the pressure of “performing up to the titles”. T1 is the reigning champion of the 2023 World Championship as well as the champion of EWC 2024. Admittedly, EWC 2024 is an unofficial tournament by Riot, but the audience will still scrutinize every performance of T1’s players. For many, being a champion means they must not perform poorly against strong teams like Bilibili Gaming or Top Esports. Especially if the players wear the T1 jersey, just underperforming is already a matter of blame, not to mention suffering dismal defeats like those in recent matches.
Finally, there is the meta issue. The version used in EWC 2024 is the latest version, which is also the version being used from week 4 of LCK Summer 2024 until the end of the group stage. T1 has shown how formidable they are by defeating their opponents with the new version. However, another issue has emerged: T1 may have had early access to the new version, which means their LCK opponents also had time to study and find ways to counter them.
Tristana, Ivern, and Ezreal are all strong champions, and indeed, T1 won with this combo in game 2 against FOX. However, rather than “countering the meta” as they did last year, T1 has instead gone along with the meta, allowing their opponents to counter them. This is an important factor that has affected T1’s players’ performance since EWC 2024.
T1 may have already recognized their issues. However, whether this team can rectify them remains to be seen in the performances of the players in the remaining matches of the season. More than anyone, T1 must save themselves before hoping for their opponents to make mistakes.