In the match on the morning of October 22 (Vietnam time), T1 brilliantly defeated Royal Never Give Up with a total score of 3-0. This result surprised many fans of League of Legends, especially since RNG is the reigning MSI 2022 champion after defeating T1. This defeat also sent RNG packing, making them the second LPL team to say goodbye to the World Championship 2022.
The T1 members had an outstanding performance and their victory was entirely convincing. In all three games, even when RNG had many advantages, Faker and his teammates maintained their composure and executed macro play perfectly to gradually regain control of the match. It can be said that although it was just three short games, T1 fully demonstrated the qualities that once made SKT T1 the “kings” of the world of League of Legends.
Especially, alongside the excellent performance of young stars like Gumayusi, Zeus, etc., we cannot overlook the fantastic form of Faker – the legend of T1 and the entire League of Legends community. At the age of 26, while many of his peers and even juniors have gradually retired or lost their form, Faker remains the leader of T1 at Worlds 2022. In the match against RNG, Faker’s Akali was truly a “nightmare” for the LPL representatives. Notably, several key moments were thanks to Faker’s extraordinary plays that gave T1 the advantage over RNG.
After the match, in an interview, Faker shared his thoughts on the evaluations of the strengths of LPL and LCK: “For me, the LCK or LPL regions are not really that important. The strength of each team is what matters most. And with T1’s current condition, I am confident that we can win against any opponent.”
According to many opinions, Faker’s response was incredibly nuanced and accurate, receiving a lot of agreement. In fact, the region a team comes from is no longer as important since teams from various regions have been increasingly learning from each other. Therefore, whether a team wins or not depends on their actual strength.
In the semifinals, T1 will enter another “China-Korea showdown” when their opponent is JD Gaming – the reigning LPL Summer 2022 champions. JDG is certainly a much stronger opponent than RNG, and Faker and his teammates will need to focus even more if they want to win.