After the group stage of LCK Summer 2023, with the goal of making the playoffs achieved despite many difficulties, T1 and Faker still have much to prepare for the more important phase ahead. Notably, there is one position that has always been regarded as T1’s weak link, and this was clearly demonstrated during the period when Faker had to rest due to injury. That is the jungle position of Oner – a player who also lost his way in gameplay when Faker was absent.
In fact, when Faker is absent, all the other positions in T1 lose their identity. However, in many matches even before Faker’s injury, Oner did not perform well, especially when using tank champions. Oner’s limited champion pool is also part of the reason why T1 struggles to deploy many strategies and is easily read by opponents. Even when playing against Grizzly – a rookie promoted from LCK CL by Hanwha Life Esports to replace Clid, Oner also lost in the laning phase.
However, according to statistics from the specialized site Gol.gg, Oner is currently the leading jungle player in LCK in several important metrics. Accordingly, he is the jungle player with the highest damage dealt per minute (333), one unit higher than Peanut (332). Additionally, Oner also has the highest percentage of damage dealt to opponents (15.6%) and is the jungle player with the most kill participation in the recently concluded LCK Summer 2023 group stage (77.1%). Notably, among those who are close to Oner, Clid and HamBak did not play enough matches.
It can be said that, while Oner still has many weaknesses, he may be T1’s best choice at the moment, and when needed, he always strives to contribute to his teammates. Of course, Oner himself must improve even more. T1 cannot continue to come up short, and Oner is an extremely important link that helps this team operate at its best on the journey to seek glory.