Ahead of the finals of LCK Spring 2023, even the most optimistic fans of Gen.G probably did not dare to think that their team would win by a significant margin. T1 is simply too strong right now while some players of Gen.G are not in good form. Moreover, they no longer have the experienced bot lane duo Ruler – Lehends, so the risks are even greater. Additionally, in LCK Spring 2023, Gen.G’s head-to-head record against T1 was 0% wins, prior to the finals.
However, T1 lost with a score of 1-3 – a score that even Gen.G fans were surprised by. In fact, Gen.G did not even have to come from behind as they were the ones who took the lead after the first two games. If T1 had not made better choices and if Gumayusi had not shone in game 3, the score might have been even more shocking.
With this defeat, T1 has now reached the finals for the fourth consecutive time and lost. Broadly speaking, from LCK Spring 2022 to now, T1 has participated in the finals of every tournament they entered. But instead of a new collection of trophies, what T1 has achieved is just the championship cup of LCK Spring 2023 (by defeating Gen.G). They have also finished second four times, and Royal Never Give Up is the only LPL team to defeat T1 (in the MSI 2022 finals).
This is clearly a very disappointing achievement for T1 and for Faker himself. Although for him, after 10 years in his career, failure is something he has become quite accustomed to, but four consecutive times “falling at the gates of paradise” always leaves behind much regret. Especially, in this year’s LCK Spring, T1 had a very creative playstyle throughout the group stage and playoffs. The only problem is that they could not continue this in the grand finals against Gen.G.
Every defeat is a lesson learned. However, if you fail too many times in finals, T1 may only have themselves to blame for not performing well enough.