SKT T1’s “Unprecedented” Achievement at Worlds
The Worlds tournament has never been an easy playground, no matter how dominant teams may have performed in their domestic seasons prior. This is the largest international tournament of the year for the League of Legends scene and the final opportunity for teams to claim the most prestigious title, thus the determination of each participant is unquestionable. For this reason, throughout the 10 years since Riot finalized the format and BO1 matches were applied in the group stage, only SKT T1 in 2015 has been the champion to remain undefeated in the BO1 series of this tournament.
Specifically, after SKT T1 in 2015, they themselves in 2016 and teams like Samsung Galaxy, Invictus Gaming, FunPlus Phoenix… no matter how strong they were, also stumbled at least once in the BO1 matches. In fact, some names including FunPlus Phoenix, EDward Gaming, and DRX even lost two games in these high-risk BO1 matches.
Fans Probably Don’t Need to Worry Too Much About T1 and Gen.G
Of course, facing each other early in a BO1 brings significant risks for both teams, but it also presents an opportunity. In a BO1, no one can predict what will happen until one of the teams’ Nexus explodes. Furthermore, the winning team will have a tremendous psychological advantage, as well as being closer to the playoffs.
Nevertheless, due to the risky nature of this format, both teams must give their all. The losing team will only have one more chance to redeem themselves before reaching three losses. With such a changing format, Riot has created tense matchups, but also, unexpected upsets and incredible results have occurred more frequently. T1 and Gen.G are no exception in this BO1 series.