T1 also needs to take responsibility for Gumayusi’s performance in the deciding match
Recently, T1 fell to Gen.G again, marking their second consecutive loss in three encounters with their “arch-rival” in the LCK 2025 Rounds 3-5. Of course, there’s no debate that Gen.G played better, with all five positions performing exceptionally well. Meanwhile, T1 was weak in all five positions compared to their opponents, and in reality, this is the result of a domino effect from their critical mistakes in the draft phase.
In game 3, T1 chose Yunara for Gumayusi, clearly intending to “scale late” with this champion. Compared to Jhin, Yunara is very weak in the laning phase. She needs at least two items for her damage to be significant. However, T1’s subsequent draft picks were extremely confusing with Viktor and Yorick. Thus, the only support for Yunara was Tahm Kench and Skarner.
It can be said that T1 wanted Gumayusi to scale into the late game and “carry” the damage, but at the same time, they also wanted to operate with three carries. Viktor is another late-game champion. Adding to this was the Fearless Draft mode and Gen.G’s picks, leading T1 to “self-destruct” significantly. With Viktor, Oner and Keria had another position to protect. Meanwhile, Yorick is a champion that is strong only in pushing lanes and very ineffective in continuous team fights.
Looking at Gen.G’s draft, it’s not hard to see that they were clearly stronger, both in team fights and in ambushes or laning. The Jhin – Rakan duo has long range and mobility, with good healing. Meanwhile, Annie – Wukong can burst damage immediately onto a target, and Yunara is certainly the top target. Thus, it can be seen that T1 almost lost right from the draft.
Reviewing matches where top-tier AD carries in the LCK used Yunara, they always had teammates providing excellent shielding. Like Yunara from Ruler or Viper, and even Teddy. Even in matches where Yunara lost, it was partly due to the opponent being too skilled, and to date, no LCK team has used Yunara while drafting as recklessly as T1 did.
T1 Still Has a Chance to Redeem Themselves
In reality, in the first match of the two teams in Rounds 3-5, T1 executed the “one shooter” strategy very well and won. But perhaps, it was T1 in this final match of the group stage that was flustered, thus losing the initiative to Gen.G. This is similar to what happened in their loss to KT or the recent loss to HLE, and even in the victory against NS prior to that.
Clearly, T1 remains very strong and capable of competing evenly with Gen.G. However, they need to be more proactive and maximize their performance if they don’t want to “regret” in this crucial phase, which could determine the entire upcoming season.