Perhaps those who followed T1 at Worlds 2023 understand well that they played without choosing champions according to the meta. T1 can reuse a champion that has somewhat become “outdated” like Varus, or names that have never been part of the meta like Jhin, Draven, or Bard, and still achieve effectiveness. There was a saying, “T1 only succeeds when it is a team that creates its own meta.” A wide champion pool, good adherence to strategy, Faker’s macro ability, and the top-notch skills of the star lineup of T1 are the factors that contribute to their success.
However, according to Keria, T1 was very hesitant to implement this playstyle at Worlds 2023 due to the importance of the tournament. However, the coaching staff and players were also aware that the season they dominated (LCK Spring 2022) was when T1 created their own path and did not always adhere to the meta. They were the ones who applied the Support Marksman playstyle extremely successfully, forcing other teams to learn from them. But most have failed because no one has the full skill set like Keria. After a series of Marksman champions were nerfed, this playstyle of T1 came to an end.
Keria stated on his stream: “We practiced with Renata, Bard but everyone played Kai’Sa, Xayah, and tanky Supports. We also decided to play according to the meta in the match against Gen.G to test whether we could succeed or not. If not, we would go our own way. Because I also don’t think that with our form at that time, we could win Worlds this time.”
Additionally, Keria mentioned that he thought about Support Ashe quite by chance. Keria shared: “That day, the gaming room in Busan lost connection and they had to come to fix it. I walked around Haeundae and had an idea about Support Ashe. Like, ‘if I use Ashe, the opponent will go crazy.’” After that, Keria actually practiced the Varus – Ashe duo quite a lot with Gumayusi and realized that it was a very strong pair.
It can be said that the coincidence of external reasons somewhat “helped” T1. But the T1 players themselves have always had many creative ideas and were not afraid to experiment, leading to the championship as a well-deserved reward for their boldness.