On January 14th, during the LCK Spring 2022 competition, the highlight match was between T1 and Fredit BRION. While T1 fans were confident that their team would win easily, especially since BRO was one of the teams with the most changes during the recent offseason, the match unfolded in ways that surprised League of Legends viewers.
One of the most notable details in T1’s second consecutive victory in the LCK Spring 2022 was the legendary Faker reaching 2400 kills – a new LCK record. Following him is the veteran ADC Deft, who currently plays for DRX with 1906 kills. The current gap of nearly 500 kills seems nearly impossible to bridge, especially since Deft has also entered the decline phase of his career. Even more notably, Faker is the only mid-laner in the top 5 players with the most kills in LCK to date. Additionally, Faker has amassed 3550 assist points, ranking second behind Support player GorillA (4137 points).
Returning to the match, T1 had a truly challenging victory. They fell behind after the first game and lost 2 consecutive Barons in the second game. However, thanks to their superior individual talent and tight game control, T1 equalized in the second game and crushed BRO in the third game. Completing the comeback, T1’s victory was not as flawless as many fans had hoped.
There were many praises for Gumayusi, who had a solid performance, especially in games 2 and 3 – two crucial games for T1. Using his signature champion Aphelios, Gumayusi made no mistakes in team fights. Unless surprised by a sudden ambush, he consistently dealt massive damage targeting BRO’s lineup.
However, some argued that it was indeed Riot’s “600 years of experience,” with three champions: Aphelios, Gwen, and Vex, that helped T1 completely dominate BRO, especially in game 3. Vex has become Faker’s new favorite champion while Aphelios’s strength was showcased in game 2. As for Gwen, there’s no need to elaborate as this champion also played a crucial role in saving Weibo Gaming during their debut day when used by TheShy. Some expressed confusion as to why BRO did not ban Aphelios in game 3, despite Gumayusi’s effective use of this champion in game 2.
Nonetheless, T1 emerged victorious, although there are still many rough edges. Oner specifically and T1 as a whole did not instill confidence in the audience regarding objective control. T1 players in game 1 also played rather disconnected, especially when they couldn’t dominate the opponent in the laning phase. Upcoming opponents will include strong names like Gen.G Esports, DWG KIA… and T1 needs to tighten up if Faker and his teammates do not want to face another bitter season.