During the match against OKSavingsBank BRION in the second round of the LCK Spring 2024 group stage, T1 faced some personnel issues concerning player Oner. It was reported that T1’s jungler T1 had some health issues. As a result, T1 had to promote Guwon from the Challengers team to fill in. This marks the second consecutive season that T1 has encountered personnel issues during the group stage. However, this time, T1 had already secured a spot in the playoffs, and the position that needed to be replaced was not Faker.
Therefore, a victory for the T1 lineup was entirely predictable. Not to mention, the player Guwon himself had a valuable experience with his seniors during his LCK debut in T1’s colors. Guwon received significant support from his seniors, especially Faker, to the point where it could be said he was “carried”. For the young players of T1 CL, this is an experience that is hard to come by.
However, watching Guwon being “carried” by the T1 stars, another young star who once had the chance to “breathe” the LCK atmosphere last year, Poby, might feel a bit “resentful”. Because, unlike Guwon, Poby’s experience with T1’s main roster was truly forgettable. He had to replace Faker, which was a monumental pressure. And T1 with Poby lost nearly all their matches, only managing to win against Nongshim RedForce.
As a result, many fans mentioned Poby on the day Guwon had a successful T1 debut at LCK. Many netizens from China speculated that Guwon would boast to his young teammates in Challengers about how strong T1 is. Subsequently, online users continued to interpret and “insert” Poby’s name: “Clearly, there is a difference between having 0 World Championship titles and having 7 World Championship titles in the lineup.”
In reality, this can be seen as a playful joke among internet users. But at the time Poby stepped in for Faker, there was clearly a significant difference in T1’s skill, mentality, and experience compared to now. Therefore, it can be said that Poby was also quite unfortunate, having to bear such a heavy responsibility during his LCK debut.
The majority of T1 fans’ opinions also sympathize with this young player. And of course, everyone hopes that the T1 CL stars can continue to hone their skills and composure, especially Poby. Because who knows, one day he might truly have to replace Faker, and at that point, the pressure could perhaps be even greater than during the temporary stint last summer.