Thus, T1 has continued to suffer another defeat in the LCK Summer 2024 group stage after losing to Hanwha Life Esports. Peanut and his teammates are the first team this season to defeat T1 both home and away, solidifying their top 2 position in the standings. As for T1, while HLE is undoubtedly a tough opponent, it is clear that the T1 players performed well below expectations in the recent clash. Even with many advantages in Game 1, they struggled to perform as they usually do to convert it into a victory. Game 2 can only be summed up with the word “disaster” for T1’s performance.
Of course, League of Legends is a five-player game, so the responsibility must be shared among all five players. However, if one link in the chain is out of sync or performs poorly compared to the others, it can be enough to bring down a team, especially when facing a top team. And in the recent matchup against HLE, the player considered to have the worst performance in both games, failing to secure a single kill while dying 11 times and contributing only 5 assists, was Zeus.
The reality is that Zeus had a disappointing performance compared to Doran on the opposite side. Granted, he was heavily targeted, but instead of finding alternative solutions to address the issue, or even accepting to play in a losing position, Zeus repeatedly found himself ganked by the opponent, even when he was using two champions he is very comfortable with: Gnar and Renekton. Being exploited too much, combined with Zeus’s own poor performance on that day, led to T1 losing control of the Top Lane. Facing HLE under such circumstances was truly a daunting challenge for T1.
According to LPL fans, Zeus has even been compared to a “mini version” of TheShy. During the period when the former Top Laner of Weibo Gaming was underperforming, there were many games where he continuously “fed” and became a weak point for the entire team. When he first joined WBG, TheShy was exploited so much that WBG could only win if he played champions that were somewhat forgiving even if they fed a bit, like Sion as an example.
T1 is facing many problems, and nearly every match sees players performing worse than they have previously. The return journey of the group stage has just begun, and T1 still has the opportunity to rectify their mistakes. However, the top teams are still very strong and are certainly ready to defeat T1 if this team continues to perform poorly or make mistakes as they have in the past.