As we know, T1 won against Weibo Gaming in the finals to become the champion of Worlds 2023. Notably, this victory also showcased T1’s complete dominance over the fourth seed from the LPL. However, despite the one-sided nature of the match, the game between T1 and WBG still held significant excitement and importance in the history of League of Legends. Remarkably, the match garnered an astonishing view count of over 6 million, breaking all peak view records for esports events in general and League of Legends in particular.
However, the reality is that for many fans who eagerly awaited the match, especially those hoping for an exciting and dramatic BO5, T1’s easy 3-0 victory felt a bit… bland. In fact, in all 3 games, WBG, regardless of whether they had an advantage or not, couldn’t win a single fight against T1. WBG employed a systematic playstyle, with much easier combo picks than T1. But ultimately, they couldn’t save each other and allowed T1 to completely annihilate them.
Faker himself, in a recently revealed mic-check after the WBG match, also seemed not entirely satisfied when witnessing such a lackluster performance from the opponent. Specifically, during the turret push in game 2, after each WBG player fell, Faker had to bluntly admit: “This feels a bit bland, huh.”
Interestingly, the other T1 players seemed to be quite… “spiritual”. Right after their senior expressed disappointment about the match, the young stars of T1 immediately reminded Faker, “There’s one more game to go.” In reality, T1 was still only in game 2 and had to finish the decisive game 3 to breathe a sigh of relief.
The caution of T1’s players was entirely justified. However, the one-sided game was imposed too early, which ultimately made the matches lack many thrilling and exciting moments. WBG itself did not demonstrate that they could be a counterweight to T1, further causing the finals to fall short of many fans’ expectations.