Gen.G officially entered the LCK – Korea in 2018 when they acquired KSV Esports, previously known as the Samsung Galaxy roster, the reigning world champions at that time. The bitter rivalry between SKT/T1 and Samsung Galaxy/Gen.G began in 2014 when Samsung White defeated both SKT T1 K and SKT T1 S to reach the World Championship and subsequently win the title.
Later, in the era of Ambition, Ruler, CoreJJ… they continued to face the super strong lineup of SKT T1 in two World Championship finals, losing in 2016 but taking down Faker in 2017. It can be said that these two top organizations in Korea have a long-standing history of fierce competition in the past.
In the new generation of Gen.G and SKT/T1, the balance of power seems to lean heavily towards Faker and his teammates as they continue to achieve convincing victories. The last time Gen.G defeated SKT T1 was during the 2018 Korean Regional Qualifiers for the final World Championship spot. Since then, Gen.G has suffered 9 consecutive losses and has been completely dominated by Faker.
However, everything changed yesterday when Gen.G secured a convincing 2-0 victory over a T1 team that was in good form with Canna performing well in the top lane. However, the performance of T1’s bottom lane was contrary to that of the top, as Teddy was facing issues with positioning and dealing damage in team fights. He farmed a lot but was far less effective compared to Ruler.
Another reason for T1’s defeat to Gen.G was their overly safe playstyle, allowing their opponents to dictate the game. Remember, Gen.G is a team that loves to dominate lanes and snowball early, so letting T1 yield control to their opponents was very dangerous. A prime example is in game 2 when they chose a late-game scaling composition but were stopped by Bdd’s Zoe with smart movements and devastating Starcall.
Of course, the misfortune of one is the joy of another; ending the losing streak against T1 will surely boost Gen.G’s confidence for the remainder of the season. They have pulled ahead of T1 by 2 points in the standings, equalizing their distance with Damwon Gaming and moving closer to the top spot held by DragonX. It is entirely possible for them to secure the top position after the group stage ends.
