On November 19, T1 impressively claimed the championship title at the 2023 World Championship after defeating Weibo Gaming (WBG) with a convincing score of 3-0. This achievement is well-deserved for the tireless efforts of the T1 team in recent times. Although WBG made notable efforts, Faker and his teammates were simply stronger and secured a deserved victory.
This victory is very meaningful for the T1 team and for Keria personally. Fans may still remember the emotional moment at the 2022 World Championship when Keria collapsed and cried on stage after his team’s loss. By the time they won the 2023 World Championship, Keria seemed too happy to sleep. He even went live to share with the audience at T1 headquarters right after the Finals.
During this special live stream, Keria did not forget to thank the Kwangdong Freecs (KDF) team for helping him and his teammates practice. “I want to express my sincerest thanks to the KDF team for scrimming and meeting all our requests. They will be quite a ‘tough opponent’ next season because KDF’s bot lane is very strong,” Keria shared.
Interestingly, before the 2023 World Championship Finals took place, KDF players revealed that T1 had dozens of ‘unique’ picks in the Support role. This indicates that T1 and KDF scrimmed a lot during the World Championship. It’s highly likely they even accommodated requests regarding champion selections from Faker and his teammates to prepare better for tough opponents like JD Gaming (JDG) or LNG Esports (LNG).
Finding a good scrim partner like this is incredibly valuable for T1. To say the least, KDF contributed significantly to T1’s recent world championship success. Furthermore, the opportunity to compete against a strong team like T1 also greatly helps KDF’s young players in their development.
It should be noted that KDF’s head coach is also a well-known figure – cvMax. Combined with valuable experience from scrimming with T1, it is entirely possible for KDF to rise to become a notable team in the upcoming LCK season.