In the final match of their home team in the first week of the LCK SPRING 2024, T1 players secured a victory against Kwangdong Freecs. Although KDF was a weaker opponent, this win was enough for Faker and his teammates to end the first week with the best possible result, especially after their defeat against Gen.G on opening day. Additionally, matches against weaker opponents also provide T1 the opportunity to test new strategies for the long journey ahead.
However, it is clear that the new map changes and new mechanics in League of Legends, such as the Rift Herald, still leave T1 players feeling somewhat confused. Recently, in the match against KDF, Keria had a “comedic” moment as he drove the Rift Herald in a circle and ended up crashing it straight into… a wall. As we know, the new Rift Herald has a mechanic that allows the user to take control and direct this buff to crash into towers. However, players must also carefully manage the direction because the Rift Herald no longer automatically crashes into towers as it normally would.
Before Keria, Faker himself had a similar situation where he did not know how to control the new Rift Herald and let it crash into a wall, losing almost all of its health and failing to push any towers. However, fortunately for Faker, that incident occurred in ranked play, whereas Keria’s was during a time when T1 had already gained a significant advantage. Therefore, despite the slightly “failed” use of the Rift Herald, T1 still secured the final victory.
Additionally, Keria admitted that this was a situation where he intentionally wanted to “create content” with his T1 teammates. The 2002-born Support explained: “With the champion Milio, I had almost nothing to do in the match. So, I decided to use the Rift Herald. I just didn’t expect to drive it so poorly. But it was an interesting experience.”
The victory against KDF also holds significant morale for the T1 players. Especially after they just lost to Gen.G in the opening match, T1’s first game in the second week will be a “media battle” against KT Rolster. This is another strong opponent that has recently made quality additions during the late 2023 transfer window. T1 cannot underestimate them, especially given Keria’s position as KT has the “counter” to the 2002-born Support – the 2022 World Champion BeryL.