On May 12, the first round of the MSI 2022 Play-In Stage officially concluded with almost no surprises. All the higher-ranked teams convincingly secured victories against the so-called “underdog” teams. For the top contender of the tournament – T1, they continued to demonstrate their dominance by defeating DFM in just about 25 minutes of gameplay.
Despite achieving many overwhelming victories, T1 faced quite a few challenges before entering the MSI 2022 tournament. In a recent interview with InvenGlobal, T1’s jungler – Oner revealed that the team did not have much time to practice for the tournament. In fact, for the T1 squad, this Play-In Stage serves as their practice phase, and the reigning LCK champions have only showcased about 60-70% of their strength.
Question: Keria mentioned that T1 is currently using this Play-In Stage for practice. How is that practice process going?
T1 Oner: As Keria said, we don’t have much time to practice for MSI 2022, so we are using this Play-In Stage for that. We are playing champions that we want to figure out the meta.
Question: It seems there is a lot of emphasis on choosing Wukong in this tournament. What do you think about Wukong?
T1 Oner: I think Wukong is a top-tier champion. This champion farms the jungle quite efficiently and is extremely strong in team fights, making it a very good choice at this moment.
Question: So how would you assess T1’s current strength?
T1 Oner: I believe the team has only shown 60-70% of our potential. We still have a lot more to demonstrate.
Question: What will you do to reach 100% strength in the next round?
T1 Oner: As long as we maintain our form, we will showcase 100% of our strength. I will prepare very well.
Indeed, looking back at T1’s picks over the last three matches, it is evident that they are experimenting with various team compositions and new choices. Particularly in the roles of Oner and Keria, the picks of Wukong, Kindred, and Pyke are very different from T1’s previous spring tournament. Even Gumayusi has slightly changed his playstyle by choosing marksmen that serve as “support” for teammates like Senna or Jhin.
With the need to participate in a rather cumbersome selection process for the Asian Games by KeSPA, T1 players do not have much time to train. Therefore, it is quite understandable that they are experimenting with different champions in the Play-In Stage against “underdog” opponents. Perhaps T1 will continue to experiment in the remaining matches of the Play-In Stage before moving on to a highly intense Group Stage with the participation of RNG and G2 Esports.