Gumayusi Goes All Out in T1’s Major Victory Over BLG
Facing a strong opponent like Bilibili Gaming at this moment is truly a significant challenge for T1. In fact, it can be said that BLG has been a “nemesis” for T1, as throughout MSI 2023 until now, T1 has only defeated BLG in the decisive match of the Swiss round at last year’s tournament. However, the reigning LPL Summer 2024 champions seem to still be reeling from their shocking loss to LNG Esports. Recently, they suffered another defeat against T1 in a match where the LCK representatives demonstrated their superiority right from the draft phase.
Notably, after defeating the number one seed from the LPL region, AD Carry Gumayusi – one of the players who performed exceptionally well with the champion Kalista – confidently declared: “We are ready to become number one in the world again.” With this victory over BLG, T1 has regained their former confidence. Currently, Faker and his teammates are fired up for the upcoming matches.
T1 Shows a Completely Different Face
Besides confidence, skill, and focus, T1 also demonstrated one more factor: they have discarded the usual rigidity. Right from the draft phase, T1 did not hesitate to ban some of the strongest champions in the current meta, such as Yone or Aurora, instead of letting them go to find a way to counter as they usually do. Of course, throughout the match, there were moments when T1 was slightly at a disadvantage. However, they did not lose spirit but quickly rallied to secure victory.
The issue for T1 in many matches against evenly matched opponents was that instead of banning the champions that the opponents are comfortable with to force them to draft according to their preferences, T1 would often let them go to find a way to counter. This somewhat stubborn mindset has caused T1 difficulties in many matches. But against BLG, this issue has completely vanished.
Of course, T1 still has a long journey ahead. In this context, the regained confidence will be a powerful weapon, especially as T1 may advance to the quarter-finals early if they face a “breathable” opponent and have a good game plan in the upcoming 2-1 bracket matches.