In the first round of the Group Stage of the World Championship (Worlds) 2022, T1 impressively won all 3 matches and took the top position in the group. This result was quite surprising, especially considering T1 had a less than stellar first round. Notably, T1 achieved a complete victory in both rounds against EDward Gaming (EDG) – the reigning World Champion of 2021.
In both matches, T1 allowed Zeus to use champions that played the role of the team’s main damage dealer, with Fiora in the first round and Gangplank in the second. In both games, EDG also had Flandre use two tanky champions to face off against Zeus, namely Ornn and Maokai. However, in both instances, Flandre was completely overwhelmed by the young player from the opposing team.
According to LPL media, in fact, the EDG players did not make a mistake when deploying a tank champion in the Top Lane to face Zeus. Additionally, the Aphelios – Thresh duo in the Bot Lane is also quite familiar with the current meta. Moreover, Lissandra is a champion with strong crowd control skills to initiate fights. However, this entire lineup was completely read by T1 with their picks of Gangplank and Soraka.
With the champion Gangplank, Zeus simply played to the strengths of the champion and completely dominated Flandre right from the early game. Not to mention, Gangplank also has very strong attack power and can support the team from a distance. As for the champion Soraka, this was T1’s most effective pick in this match. Especially, during the moment Lissandra was about to use her R – Glacial Tomb, it was Soraka in Keria’s hands that turned the play from the reigning champion Scout into a “self-destruct” move.
At Worlds 2022, the pick of Soraka was not very common but was extremely effective. The choice of Gangplank and Soraka by T1’s coaching staff was highly praised by LPL media. It is believed that their willingness to experiment with these champions caught their opponents off guard. In fact, including the Play-In Stage, both Gangplank and Soraka were only picked 4 times each.
Ahead of Worlds 2022, T1’s appointment of Bengi as the head coach left many hopeful yet skeptical. However, it can be said that up to this point, the decision to hire Bengi is proving effective. With the dynamic duo of Faker competing under Bengi‘s guidance, many T1 fans are eagerly anticipating a successful Worlds 2022.