T1 lose against JDG at MSI 2023

T1 just did a repeat of the Worlds 2022 Grand Final. There, after leading DragonX with a score of 2-1, eventually lost 2-3. The same thing happened in the upper bracket Final of MSI 2023. The only difference was that here there lost game 1.

JD Gaming were known to be strong and they are obviously the best team in China. But in the last five years, South Korean teams always managed to beat Chinese ones in important international matches. This time, though, the LPL team proved to be stronger.

T1 vs. JDG: 2-3

T1 started with a rather unusual draft. They picked Kindred in combination with Aphelios, Nautilus, and K’Sante. And they failed quite badly. JDG played a very standard strategy, picking some very tanky champions that could easily deal with T1’s aggression. Among them were Braum, Gragas, and Wukong.

The game was almost perfectly even for the first 15 minutes but then, thanks to some excellent plays, JDG took the lead and never lost their advantage.

In games 2 and 3, T1 went back to playing their usual game and easily defeated JDG. Game 2 lasted 24 minutes and game 3 just 23. The champions were Xayah, Jinx, Maokai, Kha’Zix, and other meta picks.

JDG tried something a bit too fancy and failed both times. In game 2 they picked Cassiopeia and in game 3 they went with Xin Zhao. Both of these champions are rare picks in this meta. Their other picks were casual: Lulu, Aphelios, Jinx, and so on. But because of their unusual ones, which they didn’t play optimally, they lost.

In games 4 and 5, T1 lost primarily because of their drafts. In game 4 they picked Kindred and Tahm Kench, which was a very strange combination. First of all, they had already lost with Kindred, so why pick it a second time? And Tahm Kentch into Aphelios, Gragas, Wukong, and Annie was a bad idea.

The game ended in 32 minutes but was dominated quite heavily by JDG.

Game 5 was a good one for both sides. In the end, JDG won only because of some massive errors committed by T1. The LCK team had a 5000 gold advantage at the 29-minute mark and ended up losing just five minutes later. This was a shocking defeat for the team, who will now need to beat Gen.G again to play in the Grand Final.

Header: T1