After many days of waiting, the LCK Spring 2022 has officially kicked off. On the very first day of the season, fans, especially T1 supporters, had the chance to witness the LCK Summer 2021 runners-up showcasing their strength after a series of changes during the recent offseason transfer period. And not disappointing their fans, Faker and his teammates had a spectacular and smooth debut.
Facing a Kwangdong Freecs team filled with former T1 names like Ellim, Teddy, and Hoit, T1 encountered some difficulties at the start of the match. The KDF players clearly utilized their knowledge of the trio’s dynamics within T1 effectively, and both teams seemed to be ‘reading’ each other. Notably, the focal point was in the bot lane, where Teddy faced off against the younger player who had pushed him to the bench after Game 2 of the LCK Summer 2021 finals, preventing him from seeing any action at the recent Worlds in Iceland.
However, everything ended swiftly for KDF as T1 proved to be overwhelmingly superior. In fact, the match could be considered a ‘walk in the park’ for T1, as KDF had almost no chances to fight back in both games. While in Game 1, KDF managed to last until nearly the 40-minute mark, in Game 2, they fell after just about 25 minutes. T1 had a perfect debut day while Teddy faced the ‘bitter fruit’ of reuniting with his old team.
However, the highlight of the match that caught the fans’ attention was not any decisive team fight or standout play, but rather Oner’s… stolen pentakill. The one whose pentakill was taken away here was none other than ‘Chairman’ Faker. Immediately after that, Faker even ‘skipped over’ the target Hoit and instead targeted the enemy right where Oner was standing, even placing the Lightning Storm right above Oner’s head.
But even though he couldn’t ‘open his pentakill account’ after this match, Faker and his team still managed to assert their strength. While KDF might not have been the right test, T1 played as solidly as they could. Faker and the team need to maintain their current form in upcoming matches, both to please their fans and to affirm their position as contenders for titles in the 2022 season.