Faker delivered his worst performance yet, with a dismal record; T1’s power source exploded, leaving Doran as the victim.

Hello to all LPL viewers and League of Legends summoners, this is Tianxia Game Report.

Yesterday’s LCK pro league match produced a surprise result, as T1 was swept 0-2 by their long-term opponent KT, which also affected T1’s standing.

Regarding the match itself, it wasn’t that KT played exceptionally well, but rather that T1’s performance was outrageously poor, leading to their loss.

T1 was overturned in the first game, with Faker delivering his worst match ever.

In the early to mid stages of the first game, as expected, T1 leveraged their superior strength to gain an advantage. KT secured some early kills, but during a crucial 17-minute mid-lane team fight, T1 executed top-tier kiting to trade one for four and reverse the situation. Afterwards, T1 continued to pick off opponents, extending their lead beyond 5,000 gold.

Editor’s note

In this context, KT’s mid laner BDD stepped up, and later, a key rockslide caught two enemies, enabling KT to quickly focus fire, secure kills, win the team fight, and claim the Elder Drake soul.

With the advantage secured, KT smoothly took Baron and then, with an unstoppable bottom lane team fight, sealed the match victory.

In this game, Gumayusi performed extremely poorly on his signature Jhin, falling behind by 6,000 gold in lane and dying repeatedly in team fights. Faker’s Orianna was also solo killed by BDD during the match.

Editor’s note

In the following second game, Faker and T1 delivered their worst performance of the season. The overall storyline resembled the LPL’s AL versus JDG match, where JDG lost a first-game lead and was crushed in the second. The trajectories were very similar, though the competition levels differed.

T1’s power source exploded, resulting in a dreadful performance.

In the second game, T1’s entire team performed miserably. Early on, both sides contested the Rift Scuttler, but KT’s fiery monkey comp immediately secured kills on Oner and Keria with combo initiation. Following this, T1’s three players attempted a tower dive on top lane but were pulled apart by the enemy’s Nunu, with multiple KT members quickly arriving to counterattack and achieve a flawless 3-for-0 exchange, collapsing T1’s early game.

Editor’s note

At 14 minutes, Gumayusi made a critical mistake mid lane, getting solo killed by Annie’s combo. Refusing to use Cleanse, he might need to be wary of fans bringing wreaths and trucks after the match.

Soon after, Keria was caught warding mid by a Titan engage and forced to burn Flash after a heavy beating from KT. Gumayusi turned into a JKL, diving in to auto-attack Titan and follow with Q, only to die again. T1’s disadvantage grew as they played more recklessly; their jungler died diving top lane against Doran, and Faker’s Galio became a death machine, dying repeatedly.

KT dominated at will, aggressively engaging whenever they saw an opportunity. Oner ended the match dying six times without any contribution, Faker died five times with just two assists, and KT amassed a 28-3 kill score. On the LPL side, the botched AI match AL had a similarly shocking 26-2 scoreline. Afterward, fans widely declared that T1’s power source had exploded.

Late-arriving summer T1, with Doran as the casualty.

There has always been talk of KT being T1’s power source; when T1 was underperforming before, playing KT would revive their form. But this time, the power source completely exploded, and KT crushed T1—perhaps because T1 had been too strong previously. KT gave T1 a harsh wake-up call.

People are saying that summer T1, though late, has finally arrived and shown their “terrifying strength” in the late game. Doran, however, became the victim and seemed somewhat out of place. Another summer T1 player, Zeus, has also been in poor form. All five players have recently delivered disappointing results.

In my opinion, T1’s sudden decline may partly stem from individual player issues, including form and mentality, and partly from their approach to matches, sometimes prioritizing tactical practice over playing their strongest compositions. Overall, most fans are not worried about this dip in T1’s performance.

Many fans are more concerned that T1 peaked too early and that after being studied by other teams, they might struggle to achieve good results. The key remains the playoffs and Worlds, where T1 needs to be in top form to accomplish their ambitious goals.