Thus, T1 – the representative of League of Legends (LoL) from South Korea has officially entered the quarter-finals of the World Championship (Worlds) 2022 as the top seed of Group A. After winning all their matches today, the LCK’s second seed reached 5 wins and only lost 1 game, surpassing Edward Gaming. Therefore, T1 fans worldwide are very proud of their idols after such an impressive performance.
Among them, Zeus is the most special member of T1. Despite being born in 2004, which means he has very limited international competition experience, this young player has delivered an incredible performance at this year’s tournament. At Worlds 2022, the strategic trend did not focus on the top lane, but T1 decided to break the mold, forming its own identity as a team. Thus, the South Korean representative placed a heavy burden on Zeus, building the gameplay around the player born in 2004.
In the 6 matches played so far, Zeus has only used champions with offensive tendencies and carried the team in the later stages, being supported and given resources by his teammates. In LoL, when prioritized, any player must utilize resources effectively. To repay the trust placed in him by his seniors, Zeus has excelled in his tasks during this group stage. Besides Zeus, players like Breath, Nuguri, and Ssumday have also only used carry-oriented champions. However, these three players have only played 3 matches so the likelihood is high that they will use tank champions in the future.
In fact, the young talent of T1 has used 6 different champions in 6 matches with a Kill/Death/Assist (KDA) ratio quite high compared to the average for top lane players. The champions Zeus has used include: Fiora, Jax, Aatrox, Yone, Jayce, and Gangplank. To play these champions effectively, players need a high level of personal skill, confidence, and an understanding of champion matchups. Additionally, T1 has sent a message to all their opponents: “We have an excellent top laner, you won’t be able to ban all the champions!”
After 6 matches, Zeus boasts a KDA of 3.44, slightly above the average for top lane players. Among them, the champion that T1’s top laner impressed the most with is Gangplank, where he dominated Flandre in the return match of the group stage. Zeus ended the match with a KDA of 10/2/3, with a gold difference of about 6000 – 7000 compared to his counterpart on the other side.
Not stopping there, Zeus also possesses excellent resource optimization skills. In the group stage, T1’s top laner had the highest Gold/Minute rate, always maintaining a higher Gold share percentage than his opponents. Although he doesn’t have the highest creep score over time, from all the above statistics, we can see Zeus’s ability to create pressure, apply stress in the lane, and secure turret shields and first turrets.
2022 is the first year that Zeus has officially competed under the T1 banner, but what this young player has achieved is absolutely astonishing. High personal skill, an understanding of champions, a pressure playstyle, and the ability to carry the team… all these qualities are present in this young talent. If T1 can advance to the finals, Zeus’s contributions will undoubtedly be significant at Worlds 2022.