T1 defeat KT Rolster in the LCK Summer playoffs

T1 started the playoffs of LCK Summer with a victory against Dplus, which helped them to advance to the upper bracket semifinals. But here they had to face the number one team in the league, KT Rolster.

This team ended the group stage with a record of 17 W – 1 L. This is the exact same record that T1 had in the Spring Split. In the Summer Split, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok’s team had a much tougher run and finished with a record of 9 W – 9 L. Of course, this was caused by Faker’s prolonged absence after his wrist injury.

Ahead of the start of the playoffs, the most famous player in the history of League of Legends returned to T1’s main roster and was declared fit to play. At that point, we were still worried about his health and ability to help his team succeed.

Without a good result in the playoffs of LCK Summer, T1 would have missed Worlds 2023. A defeat in the first match could have ended Faker’s dreams. The second match was not a must-win because there’s a lower bracket for the top four teams. But a victory would have helped enormously.

The only problem was that their opponents looked unbeatable.

우리 탑에는 ‘신’이 산다.😏
‘Zeus’ 선수가 잭스로 오늘의 단독 POG를 가져갑니다.

A ‘GOD’ lives in our TOP.😏
‘Zeus’ as Jax is the ONLY POG three in a row!#T1WIN #T1Fighting pic.twitter.com/JYSwJ3dvn0

— T1 LoL (@T1LoL) August 10, 2023

KT Rolster vs. T1: 2-3

The match started with a quick victory for KT Rolster, who made excellent use of Gragas, Tristana, and Nautilus to punish T1’s Jax and Azir. In less than 25 minutes, the battle was over. Anyone with good knowledge of the game will agree that KT had won at the 16-minute mark, but the game took longer to conclude.

Om the next two games, T1 employed some very creative strategies and made use of champions like Rumble, Nocturne, Draven, and Lucian. In both cases, KT fought hard and didn’t let their opponents win without effort. But in the end, they were both outdrafted and outplayed.

Game 4 was a good comeback and it’s quite surprising that KT had the courage to pick Renekton again, after they lost with him in game 2. But somehow, they made it work.

The match was decided in game 5, won by T1 thanks to their Kaisa’s excellent decision-making. Faker also did well, but he certainly wasn’t the main carry. His 3 deaths were quite painful and led many to believe that T1 would lose. Eventually, after a lot of back-and-forth, Faker’s team prevailed.

Header: Riot Games