Known as one of the players with the best fighting spirit and most stable performance in T1, Gumayusi is also the hope of T1 when the team faces difficult situations that even Faker cannot handle alone. However, Gumayusi himself understands that T1 cannot remain empty-handed forever, especially after many instances of “falling at the gates of heaven” recently. Excluding MSI 2023 and the LCK Summer Finals 2023, the other losses have been quite regrettable as T1 was always rated higher than their opponents.
Recently, Gumayusi hinted at the possibility of leaving T1 after the 2023 season if the team continues to come up short at Worlds. In fact, Gumayusi and Keria’s contracts are set to expire in November this year. Gumayusi also admitted: “To play for a great team like T1, you have to be a great player.” In a recent interview, Gumayusi reiterated this point. He shared: “Worlds is special every year. I know many fans won’t like me saying this, but I think this will be the last Worlds we play with this lineup. In a way, I think it will be a successful Worlds.”
However, Gumayusi still shows a certain level of confidence. Accordingly, during a recent broadcast, he assessed T1’s chances of winning the Worlds 2023. Gumayusi stated: “I feel that the LPL has become much stronger than last year (2022). But we can definitely beat them.” His statements were quickly met with strong counterarguments from LPL fans.
In response, many LPL fans pointed to Bilibili Gaming as an example of the breakthroughs of LPL teams. BLG is also the team that made T1 “suffer” at MSI 2023. In the match against BLG, it was perhaps Gumayusi who was the most composed player on the field. However, he couldn’t shine as brightly as his opponent Elk on the other side. The stellar performances of Bin and Elk were key to helping BLG defeat T1.
However, in terms of Worlds, LCK teams have always been rated higher than LPL teams in recent seasons. Currently, JD Gaming and Bilibili Gaming are very strong. Nevertheless, both Gumayusi and the T1 players will strive to do their best so that no matter what happens, they can finish the season satisfactorily, especially since this might be the last season for the players in T1 colors.