A few hours ago, KeSPA officially announced the preliminary list of 10 names for the final selection round to form the South Korean national team for the 2022 Asian Games. Recently, a Twitter account named “midnoflash” posted information about this on social media. This account is considered quite credible within the Korean League of Legends community due to the high accuracy of the information it provides. And according to the latest list from KeSPA, there is only one change: Deft, not Ruler, has been selected to compete with Gumayusi for the AD Carry position.
In this list, it is not surprising for the League of Legends community, especially T1 fans, as all 5 members of the team are included. However, as per the criteria released by the Korean media some time ago, it will be difficult for all 5 members to be selected for the Korean team. This is because young players like Zeus, Oner, or even Gumayusi may be “cut” based on criteria such as “international competition experience,” “contribution to Korean Esports,” and so on.
According to rumors from the “midnoflash” account released some time ago, Ruler’s position may be challenged by many T1 fans arguing that the AD Carry from Gen.G Esports may struggle to synergize with Keria (if this Support is chosen). Now, Deft is putting “Faker’s little cousin”’s position in jeopardy. After all, Deft is the most trusted senior and teammate of Keria during his time at DRX. With a reasonable solution for a partner alongside Keria, it’s possible that T1 will only have 2 players, Faker (and possibly Keria), at the 2022 Asian Games.
However, according to the announcement from LCK, these 10 names will undergo another selection round, including individual skills, teamwork ability, training attitude, and more. The results of these training sessions will be made public, and KeSPA will reassess before finalizing the 6 names for the South Korean team at the upcoming 2022 Asian Games. Therefore, T1 players still have a chance, although for the younger players, that hope remains quite slim.