In the 2024 season, alongside official tournaments and Riot’s launch of the Hall of Legends to honor the game’s legends, LCK audiences will welcome a new change: teams will now have a home ground system similar to some of the “big players” in the LPL. Notably, T1 will be the first team in the entire history of the LCK to have an official home ground. Their first opponent here will be KT Rolster – a historic rival that has created epic “telecom battles” contributing to the history of League of Legends in Korea.
However, the regulations and images of the practice sessions preparing for the first home ground debut in the history of SKT T1/T1 and LCK recently have truly left fans astonished. The regulations are extremely strict to ensure T1’s home ground debut goes as smoothly as possible while preventing any sabotage against T1, such as recent DDoS attacks. Specifically:
– All LCK commentators and analysts will remain at LoL Park and will receive the broadcast feed from T1’s home ground (Goyang Arena) to relay to the audience here.
– T1 will designate only 1 commentator to operate at the home ground.
– Commentators are strictly prohibited from showing favoritism towards the home team.
– T1 is expected to collaborate with Riot and the LCK organizing committee to hold a viewing party at LoL Park.
The regulations from T1 are completely understandable. The home ground system is a new mechanism implemented in the LCK this year, thus there may still be many issues. Moreover, this is T1’s first time as well as the entire League of Legends scene in Korea, and certainly, the team wants everything to operate as smoothly as possible. Additionally, on the evening of June 28 (Vietnam time), a leaked clip showed T1 players also practicing carefully for the home ground debut.
The match against KT on June 29 (Vietnam time) will be a new milestone in the history of both teams and for the LCK. Therefore, this match holds more significance than usual, and perhaps, at home, not only KT but T1 itself will feel the pressure: they must perform better than usual with the most convincing victory possible to welcome their new home and meet the ambition of making Goyang Arena an “impregnable sanctuary” for T1.