On July 5th (Vietnam time), T1 was without the services of mid-laner Faker. Therefore, they had to promote a young player from the team’s academy, Poby, born in 2006, to take his place. Naturally, when facing an experienced player like FATE, Poby had no chance whatsoever. Even a DRX team sitting at the bottom of the standings could defeat the mighty T1 on the day the Spring 2023 LCK runner-up was missing their legendary captain.
In the post-match statement, Becker – the General Manager of T1 shared insights about Faker’s injury situation as well as the decision to use Poby. Becker stated that the choice of the replacement player was also consulted with Faker, and ultimately, the team agreed that Poby would fit the current situation. In fact, T1 even considered signing a free agent or breaking LCK rules to facilitate mid-season transfers, but upon reconsideration, these options were deemed ineffective.
However, Becker also admitted that the quality of the team’s youth training has noticeably declined recently. He took responsibility before the fans and committed to improving the youth training system soon. Nonetheless, many opinions suggest that Poby is just one example indicating that the quality of young players at T1 in particular and LCK in general is at an alarming level.
Before Poby, several teams had also used young players as replacements when their key players faced unavoidable issues preventing them from competing. Almost no one left a significant impression, whether they replaced a single position or an entire lineup. Since LCK Summer 2022 up to now, the only standout young talent promoted from the Challengers team has been Peyz, who was chosen to replace Ruler at Gen.G. Further back, there’s Zeus from T1, but he is currently considered to be facing significant psychological challenges as he enters a critical stage of the tournament.
Historically, LCK in general and T1 in particular have always been viewed as the source of high-quality young players. Even talented players like Scout, Viper, Kanavi, Tarzan… could not remain in LCK and had to move to LPL to find opportunities. But currently, fans no longer get to see names like these. The only ones left are the 2002 class from T1 or Peyz from Gen.G, but these few names are far too few compared to what fans have been accustomed to regarding LCK in the past.