12 years ago, T1 set an “unforgettable” historical milestone for the League of Legends community
Currently, many Asian countries, including Vietnam, are celebrating the Lunar New Year of the Horse 2026. Of course, there are many people who are not only welcoming the new year but also reminiscing about the past year. For the League of Legends community, the Year of the Horse 2026 has not yet brought many remarkable impressions as only a few months have passed, but in the past, the Year of the Horse 2014 marked a historical milestone for the League of Legends scene associated with SKT T1.
Accordingly, in 2014, SKT T1 became the first team in League of Legends history to win the Worlds and then immediately stay home in the following season. The 2014 season still marked a format of competitions that was not fully developed, and SKT T1 contributed two teams to the domestic league. However, both SKT T1 S and SKT T1 K had very disappointing rankings in the Summer Split. Notably, SKT T1 K did not change any players in their lineup.
The failure of SKT T1 K at that time surprised many and was difficult to understand, but it also led to many changes. In the next season, SKT T1 parted ways with legends like Impact, PoohManDu, and Piglet, and superstars like MaRin, Bang, and Wolf joined. These new factors combined with EasyHoon, Bengi, and especially Faker created two historic years for SKT T1 with two consecutive Worlds championships.
SKT T1 Creates and Breaks Its Own “Precedent”
It can be said that SKT T1 is the team that created the “drought” where the previous year’s Worlds champion is likely to be absent the following season (which Samsung Galaxy Blue experienced right in 2014 afterwards), but it was also SKT T1 that “broke the drought”. This is a unique collective that has never been seen in history, and it is also a factor that contributes to their greatness.