South Korean League of Legends team T1 have finally lost their first domestic match of 2022. Prior to the June 29 loss, the iconic team had been 24-0 in League of Legends Champions Korea matches played this year.
T1’s first defeat of the year was a 2-1 loss to Freecs, also known as Kwangdong Freecs, on June 29.
[2022 #LCK Summer R1 M5 vs. KDF]
오늘의 경기를 1:2로 마칩니다.
보내주신 응원에 감사드리며 금요일 경기로 다시 돌아오겠습니다.It wasn't our night tonight.
We will look back on today's game and come back stronger on Friday!#T1WIN #T1Fighting pic.twitter.com/pTEFkqPKMp— T1 LoL (@T1LoL) June 29, 2022
T1 winstreak ends
T1, the four-time Worlds champions, were in the midst of perhaps their best season of all time. In the Spring split, they had completed a feat many thought impossible — a perfect 18-0 regular season in the LCK. They followed that with two convincing wins in the playoffs to claim their eighth LCK title, and first in two years.
The subsequent trip to MSI was a little tougher for the Korean titans, who struggled against the likes of RNG, G2, and even North America’s Evil Geniuses. T1 would eventually finish runners-up to RNG at the tournament.
T1 traveled to MSI after a perfect LCK split — Image credit: Colin Young-Wolff for Riot Games
But back home, it was right back to winning for T1. Entering week three of the LCK Summer split, T1 were 4-0 and locked in a tight race at the top of the standings with fellow undefeated teams Gen.G and DRX. The first match on June 29 must have buoyed T1’s spirits, with DRX earning their first loss of the split against SANDOX Gaming.
T1 would play in the only other match of the day, taking on the 1-3 Freecs. And at first, it looked business as usual with T1 taking the first game in the best-of-three match. But T1 struggled to replicate the result in the next two games, especially with Freecs banning out the Lucian-Nami bot lane that had helped T1 in game one.
Freecs would take game two in just over 30 minutes and sealed the reverse sweep in a 38-minute game three. A pivotal part of Freecs’ victory was ADC Park “Teddy” Jin-seong, who Freecs acquired from T1 ahead of the 2022 season.
T1’s season continues
One loss is not the end of the world for T1 — much like death and taxes, losing is inevitable. However, the loss puts them at something of a disadvantage given that long-time rivals Gen.G were also 4-0 heading to week three. Gen.G are on the hunt for their first-ever LCK title and have dropped just one game through their first four matches. Providing that T1 doesn’t fall to anyone else, the matches that may decide the LCK’s regular-season champion could be the T1-Gen.G showdowns on July 8 and July 30.
But for now, T1 will lick their wounds and prepare to bounce back against fellow contenders DRX on July 1.
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