At MSI 2024, T1 is the team that leaves audiences both perplexed and emotionally charged. This team faces numerous challenges in their journey at Chengdu. However, they also demonstrate adaptability as they try to adjust to the roaming meta that heavily targets the team’s weaknesses, with victories against G2 Esports and Team Liquid being prime examples. In fact, if Bilibili Gaming hadn’t intentionally focused on shutting down Faker’s champions and ON hadn’t successfully hunted down Zeus, the grand final of MSI 2024 could have been another “LCK derby” between T1 and Gen.G.
Aside from performance and mental issues, it’s undeniable that the meta has a huge impact on T1‘s display. However, there is one player who has left viewers perplexed, possessing a wide champion pool and having used many different options at this MSI, but not performing as effectively as expected. That player is Keria – who is seen as having a forgettable performance in the lower bracket final against Bilibili Gaming, where he was nearly ineffective in the deciding game. Previously, in matches using Renata or Nautilus, Keria was also very inconsistent despite these not being unfamiliar champions for him.
Specifically, according to a recent statistic, Keria has used up to 12 different champions at MSI 2024. For those who may not know, this number is significantly higher than the 3 players in the grand final, Knight (10 champions) and Canyon – Lehends (9 champions each). Logically, with such a wide champion pool, T1 could consider various strategies to effectively operate their lineup. Yet, there is a clear truth: Keria’s usage of too many champions indicates that T1 is struggling to find the best solutions for themselves.
Moreover, in some metas of League of Legends, only a few champions are suitable. Using many champions means Keria sometimes has to play champions that he is not comfortable with or that are not suitable simply because there are no better options. A similar situation occurred with Faker, who has also used 10 champions at this MSI. In some matches, Faker had to play Veigar or Tristana, and the performance was not very effective.
Holding a statistic that seems paradoxical, but Keria’s statistics inadvertently highlight the core issues of T1 as they struggle with the meta of this MSI. In the upcoming Summer Split, Riot may make some adjustments. However, T1’s players also need to adapt as quickly as possible if they want to avoid giving fans mixed emotions like those experienced in the recent tournament in Chengdu.