Did T1’s draft mistake against Gumayusi reflect a lack of alternatives?
In the HLE vs T1 match, during the deciding game, HLE managed to maintain a strong position versus T1 thanks to many factors, one key element being Gumayusi’s exceptional form. He avoided any direct teamfights throughout the laning phase, yet managed to lead Peyz by over 1.5k gold at times. Gumayusi’s brilliance, alongside his peak performance, was also a result of T1’s choice to pick Kai’Sa for Peyz.
It’s well known that in the laning phase, if Xayah pairs with Rakan against an opponent Kai’Sa, the Xayah player only needs to play to the champion’s strengths to easily win the lane. In this case, it was Gumayusi — renowned for his “magical” Xayah playstyle acknowledged by other pro players. Clearly, Peyz had little chance from the draft phase onwards.
Notably, Kai’Sa was picked later, and with T1 lacking engage champions apart from Pantheon, the draft essentially gave Peyz a comfort pick sufficient for lane stability. However, Gumayusi’s outstanding skill and explosive performance, especially in aggressive trades, were variables that T1 did not anticipate.
Gumayusi May Have Regained Confidence Facing T1
Having been very familiar with each other’s playstyles, in previous encounters T1 consistently “read” and exploited every move Gumayusi made. Even when Gumayusi played his signature champions, laning was never easy as Keria understood his former teammate extremely well.
However, in the recent matchup, not only did HLE and Gumayusi counter T1’s strategies, but the 2025 World Championship Finals MVP forced the opponents into a total laning phase defeat, setting the stage for other HLE lanes to dismantle T1 as they had done to previous rivals.