Doran has a completely different face after winning the 2025 World Championship
It can be said that after a tumultuous transfer period, T1 kicked off the new season with a warm-up at the KeSPA Cup followed by their opening match at the LCK Cup 2026. In just under a month, T1 has faced HLE three times and achieved two victories. Notably, one of these victories helped Faker complete his collection of titles. In both wins against HLE, it is no exaggeration to say that Doran’s surprising picks significantly contributed to T1’s success.
Specifically, according to Doran’s teammates, the unexpected picks he used in the crucial matches against HLE (game 5 at the KeSPA Cup and game 3 at the recent LCK Cup) were Shen and Akali, which had almost never been prepared by the T1 members and were chosen solely due to Doran’s confidence. Of course, both champions had been used in the past by former HLE stars, but that was a long time ago.
With these unexpected picks, which are almost outside of the meta, Doran not only “outplayed” both his opponents and the audience but also created a drafting phase that was very difficult to counter. Both Shen and Akali are versatile champions that can play from multiple positions, and in fact, HLE was “out” in the draft phase in both matches and had no way to stop T1’s top lane.
Doran’s Confidence and Breakthroughs are Essential for T1
In the 2025 season, when he first joined T1, Doran showed hesitation, even a lack of confidence was still apparent. But over time, it is clear that the former HLE star has improved on this issue. At a time when teams are making quality additions or maintaining extremely strong lineups, coupled with Fearless Draft, Doran’s confident willingness to experiment with groundbreaking picks could be the trump card that helps T1 achieve overall victory.