T1’s stars receive significant criticism despite winning against HLE
With their victory over Hanwha Life Esports recently, T1 has excellently secured the last spot representing LCK to participate in MSI 2025, which will be held in Vancouver, Canada, this July. Thus, T1 has maintained its streak of participating in the second-largest international tournament of the League of Legends community since 2022. However, despite their flawless performance, the T1 roster, especially player Doran, has faced a lot of criticism. The reason is quite puzzling: the celebration poses of the T1 members.
Accordingly, many HLE fans feel “irritated” and did not hold back in criticizing Doran for his “shoulder shrug” move after defeating HLE. Notably, this gesture was performed by Doran in the match against KT, but the negative reactions only truly erupted after T1’s victory over HLE.
Additionally, the other four members of T1 also received their fair share of criticism. HLE fans even cited the fact that Zeus did not celebrate at all when beating T1 three times in the past to attack his former teammates. However, these excessive negative reactions were immediately met with backlash from the majority of the League of Legends community and the broader Esports and sports scenes.
The “idol culture” is causing difficulties for T1 and its players
In reality, it is entirely understandable for HLE fans to feel saddened by their team’s defeat. However, reacting negatively to the celebration of opposing players is a different matter as the two are unrelated. Moreover, Doran was only with HLE for one year and is one of the players with the least time spent on the team. Meanwhile, T1 recruited Zeus when he was just an unknown teenager, trained him, and brought him to the spotlight. In terms of significance, T1 – Zeus far exceeds HLE – Doran.
The “idol culture” applied to sports has, is, and will continue to cause controversial debates. Ultimately, only the players and their fans become the “victims” when emotions can no longer be expressed freely and naturally.