On the morning of July 15th (Vietnam time), not only the LCK region but the entire League of Legends community around the world was shocked by T1’s decision to terminate the contract early with the reigning World Championship coaches Daeny and Zefa. The “blood change mid-stream” is not something too new, but for a powerful team like T1, this truly left many in shock.
The most cited reason from both fans and experts is that changing coaches just as the second phase begins will actually destabilize the team’s internal dynamics. The strategies that have been established will now have to change, and the players will have to work over 100% because at this moment, they no longer have anyone steering the ship. Especially in T1’s case, both coaches Moment and Stardust do not have much experience.
A wave of opinions from around the world and specifically the LCK under T1’s surprising announcement showed that most believe T1’s decision was somewhat hasty. While it is known that the “monumental” team of the LCK is not performing well, firing a coach mid-season will “do more harm than good”.
“The Summer Split is a very crucial phase to achieve the goals for a currently 5 wins – 5 losses T1. This is the worst time to fire a world-class coach, especially when this person has led the team for the whole year. Stardust (who has only led a tier 2 team) lacks the experience to guide a struggling T1 to the playoffs and secure a Worlds spot.
Once you are stuck with numerous roster changes, you should not fire a coach right now.
If T1 does this, they should have done it after Spring ended, not right when the Summer Split’s second phase just began.
Pentanet.GG did not miss the opportunity to “poke fun” at T1.
Politely speaking, T1 f***ed up with this decision, everyone needs to realize that terminating a contract mid-season is extremely detrimental to their careers and it is the management’s fault. Wishing them the best while bringing them such disrespect.
I don’t care if they win or lose anymore, just make sure the players don’t lose their spirit, please.
Firing a coach mid-season? What we need now is to fight as a united team, not to reverse everything and hope for luck… Have you all given up hope for the Worlds yet? We need to rebuild everything from scratch, but is this season already a waste?”
However, there are also some comments suggesting that T1’s coach firing stems from internal conflicts and the already strained relationships between the coaches and the team’s key players.
“It’s over… Faker should retire and let younger players like Clozer show their potential. Coaches can no longer tolerate Faker’s outdated playstyle; we need a fast and consistent approach.
Oh, this is due to coaching issues (that’s what we know, and of course, we don’t understand their internal matters, so we can only speculate) afterwards, there will be a new coach, and everything will turn 180 degrees in the remaining 8 matches unexpectedly…”
Regardless of the real reasons, T1 will fight for a playoffs spot and a ticket to Worlds with interim coaches. More than ever, the players’ attitude in the remainder of the season will determine the fate of this most accomplished team in the LCK region and the League of Legends world. As for the fans, no matter how worried they are, they can only wish the team to overcome these challenges, even though the future ahead is truly dark.