As of now, MSI 2023 has completed 2/3 of its journey, with only 4 of the strongest teams remaining in the competition for the championship title. Not surprisingly, all four teams are from the two strongest regions in the League of Legends scene, LCK and LPL. In particular, the upcoming match between T1 and JD Gaming is regarded as almost decisive for which team will take the crown at MSI 2023.
The T1 players, especially those under the most pressure, have appeared in 4 finals since the MSI 2022 finals but have lost all four. Over the past year, T1 has only managed to win the LCK Spring 2022. Following that, they faced a drought of victories that even the team’s fans felt bewildered.
However, T1 is still rated the highest ahead of the final 4 matches of MSI 2023. Recently, after losing to Gen.G, Fudge – the Top Laner of Cloud9 made an interesting remark: “I might be a T1 fan, but among the 3 teams that I think are equal (T1, JDG, Gen.G), I still see T1 as stronger. I don’t know why, but every time I watch a T1 match, I always feel ‘very different’. BLG is the weakest, T1 is the strongest while JDG and Gen.G are on par with each other”.
Chovy also rated T1 highly when asked about the upcoming matches. The Mid Laner of Gen.G candidly stated: “I think T1 will win. I haven’t thought about who I would prefer to face more (between JDG and T1), but I believe T1 will win”.
The opinions of Fudge and Chovy are grounded as T1 is currently in very high form. The players are also competing more cautiously, rarely making subjective mistakes. The rare misplay when they had the advantage was likely during the attempt to push the base in game 3 against Gen.G. This impatience caused T1 to face more difficulties in closing out the match. However, they still achieved their ultimate goal and next, T1 will be ready to face their opponents whom they defeated 3-1 in the World Championship finals last year.