In the recently concluded LCK Summer 2022, T1 did not achieve the desired results. The team that once had an unbeaten record in the Spring 2022 split was completely “decoded”. Players who were highly anticipated like Gumayusi and Oner had inconsistent performances. While Keria and Faker could not shine in every match. The only player who performed as expected was Zeus – T1’s Top Laner.
However, Faker and his teammates still made it to the LCK Summer 2022 finals and are the second seed from the LCK region for the 2022 World Championship (Worlds 2022). Many fans of T1 in general, and of Faker in particular, hope that their team will perform well in this tournament. The reason is that Faker is getting older, and the final days of his career are approaching. The second reason is that T1 has been unlucky with international titles for too long.
In the past Summer, if one had to find the most disappointing name in T1’s lineup, viewers would immediately think of Gumayusi. Once the most anticipated AD Carry, Gumayusi has not been himself since MSI 2022. Even in the list of the top 20 players in the LPL and LCK regions, Gumayusi is the only T1 player who could not make the cut.
But putting aside the doubts from the League of Legends community, T1’s current coach, the legendary Bengi, has complete faith in his bot lane duo. During a recent media day event, Coach Bengi confidently shared about his bot lane duo:
“In my opinion, our bot lane duo has a strong advantage in lane and excels in gameplay execution. The AD Carry (Gumayusi) has excellent reflexes while the Support (Keria) has good leadership skills and situational awareness.” – Coach Bengi shared.
In reality, the abilities of Gumayusi and Keria are beyond question. However, Gumayusi still faces a significant psychological barrier. The high expectations for this AD Carry have prevented him from being himself at MSI 2022 and in the past Summer. If he continues to underperform at the upcoming Worlds 2022, Gumayusi could put T1 in a difficult position.
Conclusion
Coach Bengi’s confidence in his bot lane duo is not unfounded. But Gumayusi specifically, and the entire T1 team in general, need to quickly regain their peak performance. Because the 2022 Worlds will be much more challenging than the LCK or MSI. Every mistake in this tournament could cost them an entire season.