Facing KT Rolster for the second time in the playoffs, T1 still faced a lot of skepticism. For the experts at LCK, this time it was not a 100% consensus that T1 would lose, but most still believed KT would win. Moreover, in their match against Gen.G, T1 had revealed many mistakes while KT had just decimated Hanwha Life Esports. Nonetheless, T1 fans still placed their faith in the team to achieve another grand victory.
And indeed, the T1 players did not disappoint their fans. Although it was quite tough despite leading 2 games, T1 still secured a well-deserved overall victory. The win against KT also helped T1 completely repay the debt that this team had accumulated in the group stage when they lost to KT in both matches. Notably, in this extremely important match, Faker, Gumayusi, and Oner were the three players who performed the best throughout the 5 games.
The victory means a ticket to the 2023 World Championship for Faker and his teammates. This also marks a historic milestone for Faker. Specifically, throughout his over 10-year career, this is the first time Faker has the chance to participate in the World Championship when the tournament is held in his home country, South Korea. In the previous two occasions (2014 and 2018), Faker and SKT T1 had to stay home when the World Championship was held in the land of the morning calm. It can be said that the two younger teammates, Oner and especially Gumayusi, helped Faker fulfill his wish. Without Gumayusi’s stellar performance in game 5, T1 might have had to continue to suffer disappointment.
Additionally, many fans are looking forward to T1 repeating their historic “tower climb” journey. This summer, T1 has played all their matches in the playoffs, moving from the first round, defeating KT in the second round, losing to Gen.G in the winners’ final, and beating KT in the losers’ final to reach the grand finals. If they win the LCK Summer 2023, T1 will repeat their own achievement from Summer 2019. The only notable difference is that in Summer 2019, T1 reached the grand finals from the winners’ bracket.
The upcoming finals will also mark the fourth time this summer that T1 faces Gen.G. Now, both teams are rated as even. And certainly, witnessing the performance of T1 players, Gen.G will need to be on high alert as T1 will punish any mistakes, no matter how small, made by their opponents.