After officially securing a ticket to the 2021 World Championship, the mindset of T1 players has become much more relaxed. It is easy to see that they have shed the pressure and obsession with the prospect of a failed season, as now, obtaining a ticket to Worlds is considered a significant success given that this team has just gone through a year full of crises.
Sharing his feelings after achieving the goal of participating in Worlds, Keria – the support player of T1 and also one of their most important pillars this season – expressed his excitement at the prospect of returning to the World Championship.
He stated that he is very eager to have the chance to test his skills against two teams, Royal Never Give Up and EDward Gaming, as these two teams have long been T1’s traditional rivals on the international stage.
In fact, Keria even revealed that he is particularly “researching” RNG to prepare for the scenario of facing this opponent at Worlds: “Although it is still a bit early now, I have already started preparing for the matchup between T1 and RNG at the 2021 World Championship.”
The last time RNG and T1 faced each other was at the 2019 Worlds group stage, where the Chinese representatives lost twice to Faker and his teammates, leading to their heartbreaking elimination. This was also the last season that RNG and T1 appeared at Worlds before the 2021 tournament took place.
Currently, T1 has officially secured a spot at Worlds, but RNG is still uncertain about their participation in the tournament. Being eliminated in the LPL Summer 2021 Playoffs means that Xiaohu and his teammates may even have to compete for a spot in the Regional Qualifiers, in case EDG finishes third or higher, or WE becomes the champion. Therefore, there is no guarantee that Keria’s desire to meet RNG at Worlds will become a reality, although RNG remains a top contender for one of the four spots in this tournament.