One of the two toughest matches, a real challenge for T1’s journey to conquer the LCK Spring 2022 championship, was Nongshim RedForce. Not only is it the team with the most personnel changes in the recent end-of-season transfer window, but the new names joining NS are all renowned players, such as Ghost, Bdd, Dread… and notably, former player Canna.
And in all three games, NS showed why they should also be considered a contender for the domestic title in this Spring 2022, or at least a challenge that any team must “fight hard” to overcome. In game 1, both T1 and NS played with a slow and steady pace. But while T1 gradually took complete control of the game, securing all the Dragon buffs, Dragon Souls, and Elder Dragons, NS could only keep up. After NS’s puzzling “base race,” game 1 ended with a victory for Faker and his teammates. Faker even became the “Immortal Demon King” by not dying even once. Meanwhile, Oner had a phenomenal Baron steal, which contributed significantly to turning the game completely in T1’s favor.
However, it’s not by chance that NS can sit comfortably in the top 4 of LCK Spring 2022, even above the defending champion DWG KIA. Moving to game 2, the NS players performed more alertly. The brilliance of names like Bdd, Canna, Ghost… helped NS completely dominate the T1 players. NS convincingly equalized, and seeing Canna and his teammates’ overwhelming performance, many surely thought about an NS comeback.
But moving to game 3, Faker picked his signature Azir, but the standout player was actually young top laner Zeus – who replaced Canna when he transferred to NS. Holding Jayce, Zeus not only executed perfect Shock Blasts but also played a significant role in T1’s victorious team fights against NS. Canna’s Graves felt helpless while Ghost repeatedly fell without being able to do anything. T1 secured a thrilling victory against NS, and Zeus was awarded the MVP title for game 3, while the overall MVP went to young jungler Oner.
With this victory, T1 stands at 5 wins – 0 losses, tied with Gen.G Esports. Ahead, both Gen.G and T1 will have one more match before officially entering the Lunar New Year break. T1’s match is expected to be much more challenging when facing DWG KIA. But with the victory over NS, Faker and his teammates have built good momentum before facing the 2021 LCK champions in the highlight match of week 3 of LCK Spring 2022.