At this point, there is probably no one who can doubt Faker’s role in T1. The Spring 2023 LCK runners-up have quickly become an extremely mediocre team in the LCK, capable of losing to any team since their great captain’s injury. Even the players now seem to play independently. It can be said that Faker’s absence is something that cannot be filled, even when many thought he had stepped back to support his younger teammates.
Not only have their performance results been poor, but T1’s accompanying stats have also immediately dropped to the bottom of the rankings. According to statistics from the Elixir site, T1’s average gold difference after the first 15 minutes has plummeted from 1065 (before the match against DRX in the first round when Faker was absent) to -529 (from the T1 – DRX match in the first round until now).
This is one of the fastest declines in LCK history and the quickest in the LCK Summer 2023. T1’s stats rank fourth worst in the tournament, only better than three teams that have always lingered at the bottom of the rankings: DRX, Kwangdong Freecs, and Nongshim RedForce. It should be noted that even OK BRION (a team that has only won 4 matches so far) has a better gold difference stat than T1 when comparing the first 15 minutes (-174).
During this time, T1 has only won one series against NS and lost to all other opponents. This is an astonishing decline that has left fans and experts alike puzzled. As previously mentioned, no one could have expected that 4 out of 5 players who had participated in 5 out of 6 finals in the tournaments they attended, including 2 MSIs and 1 World Championship, could slide down so drastically with their leader absent.
Nevertheless, T1 has secured a playoff spot, and Faker is expected to return, possibly in the final week of the LCK Summer 2023 group stage. When that happens, T1 will have their strongest lineup back, and they could very well conquer all challenges ahead as they have done in previous seasons.