In just a few hours, the first match of the Group Stage of MSI 2023 will officially take place. Up until now, all teams have been practicing in preparation for the important journey ahead. On the opening day, Gen.G will face off against G2 Esports – a very strong representative from the LEC region. After that, another LCK representative will take the stage: T1 will clash with MAD Lions (MAD) in their first match at MSI 2023.
With an opponent like MAD, fans will naturally place more trust in T1. The European representative even failed to make it past the Play-In stage of last year’s World Championship. Although MAD has made some roster changes, it may still be too little compared to T1. It should be noted that even T1’s anti-fans admit that this team can only lose in the finals of the tournaments they participate in.
However, the LCK media does not place their trust in T1. According to some analyses, MAD is a team that plays aggressively and actively imposes their game plan. Meanwhile, T1 tends to play more passively at the beginning and focus on other lanes while leaving Gumayusi to “go solo” in the Bottom Lane. Therefore, this could be T1’s weakness for MAD to exploit. It should be noted that throughout the past Spring Season, the games or matches that T1 lost were due to their opponents playing proactively.
According to LCK media assessments, if T1 plays more around Gumayusi and actively imposes their game plan, the representative from South Korea will truly have many opportunities to win. T1’s skill is very good, and the current patch does not favor their “defense first, offense later” playstyle. If T1 changes their gameplay, there is every reason to believe that Faker and his teammates will achieve an absolute victory.
MAD is still considered a lower-rated opponent compared to T1, but in many recent tournaments, T1 has not performed well against teams that are rated lower. Therefore, T1 cannot afford to be complacent and must focus fully to deliver the best possible performance in their debut match.