MSI 2023 playoffs day 2: T1 easily 3-0 MAD Lions

The second day of the bracket stage of MSI 2023 ended with a very unsurprising result: T1, arguably one of the best three teams in the world, defeated MAD Lions without losing a single game.

In many people’s eyes, the battle was over before it even started. And it’s not hard to see why. The skill difference between these two teams is enormous. T1 are competing in LCK, a league that’s far better than LCS, where Lions play.

On top of that, T1 had a near-perfect run in LCK Spring 2023, losing just one match out of 18 in the group stage and the Grand Final in the playoffs. Against a team of this level, MAD Lions weren’t even able to breathe.

The three games of the upper bracket quarterfinals lasted 33 minutes, 24 minutes, and 17 minutes respectively. From one game to the next, T1 were visibly gaining in confidence and efficiency, while MAD looked worse and worse.

What’s strange is that MAD did not change their strategy after game one. Instead, they continued to use Lee Sin, and even kept the Kennen plus Xayah combo for game two. T1 took advantage of this and kept their composition from game one as well, changing just two champions. Their stable trio was composed of K’Sante, Lulu, and Aphelios.

How the battle went down

In game one, MAD Lions had an excellent start and looked like they would win. At the 17-minute mark, their gold advantage was substantial: nearly 7000. But after that, little by little, T1 managed to make a comeback and won in 33 minutes despite Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok’s poor KDA (5-7-17).

This comeback visibly demoralized Lions, who started game two convinced that they had no hope. And this time, despite their best efforts, T1 dominated from the first five minutes. Their advantage grew gradually until, at minute 24, everything ended for Lions.

In game three, the Europeans were a shadow of the team they were at the start of the match. At minute five, T1 were already more than 1300 gold ahead. At minute 10, the difference was 2500. And from there, a series of skirmishes put an end to Lions’ dreams.

T1’s Jinx finished with a record of 10 K – 0 D – 3 A. This was a superb game played by the team’s carry, who will need to repeat this performance if he wants to win against Gen.G Esports in the semifinals.

Header: Riot Games