As we know, just before the Esports World Cup 2024 kicked off with League of Legends, T1 also inaugurated their home ground. This is the first team in the Korean League of Legends scene to have an official home ground, named T1 Homeground. Simultaneously, T1’s first match at home was against their formidable rival KT Rolster – a tough opponent known for many famous “telecom battles” in the Korean and global League of Legends scene. However, T1’s first match at home marked a loss for the team, making T1 the first home team to lose a match in the history of League of Legends in Korea.
Recently, in an interview after their victory over BNK FearX, Deft made some direct statements towards T1: “We didn’t prepare for checking in at the opponent’s home ground. It was just when we got there that we came up with that idea. Winning each match creates interesting factors. I hope we can win more and take more team photos in places like that in the future.” Many opinions suggest that this is a challenging comment towards T1, as currently and at least in the near future, T1 is the only team with a home ground in the LCK.
In fact, in Esports in general or League of Legends in particular, a home ground is not necessarily an advantage and can even put pressure on the players themselves. This is because home ground in League of Legends is extremely rare, almost only the LPL applies it to major teams at the moment. Therefore, when a team plays at home, the audience often assumes that team must win. In professional League of Legends, there are no draws, and the pressure to win at all costs can lead players to underperform and not be in the best mental state, as seen in T1’s recent case.
As for KT, their victory over T1 will likely provide a psychological advantage for the team for the remainder of the LCK Summer 2024. And as always, KT in the Summer season will be a team that any name must be wary of, just as they showed last season until the unfortunate choices in the playoffs.