With their victory in the recent lower bracket finals, T1 has officially secured a spot at the 2023 World Championship. Conversely, KT Rolster (KT) must accept third place in the qualifiers and seek their World Championship ticket through the regional qualifiers. However, this has left many of KT’s long-time fans feeling anxious.
The reason stems from KT’s apparent “curse”, as they have faced more defeats than success in the regional qualifiers. Specifically, in their previous six appearances in the regional qualifiers, KT has lost five times and had to watch the World Championship from home. The last time this team managed to overcome this tough round was back in 2015 when KT defeated JinAir Greenwings.
Just last season, KT suffered a heartbreaking loss to DRX with a score of 3-2, watching that team advance to the World Championship. The fairy tale of DRX was then written as they played spectacularly and deservedly claimed the championship.
Returning to the present, KT in 2023 has all the foundation to break that “curse” in the regional qualifiers. In terms of strength and performance, KT has shown superiority over names like Hanwha Life Esports (HLE), DRX, or Dplus KIA (DK). In fact, in the recent qualifiers, KT easily defeated HLE with a score of 3-0.
Therefore, KT at this point can be considered the team with the highest chance of qualifying for the World Championship in the upcoming regional qualifiers. The 2023 season is not over for them (theoretically), so KT needs to strive even harder in the time ahead. This is an opportunity that cannot be missed for the KT team to “break the curse” at the regional qualifiers.