T1 remove coach Polt ahead of Worlds

The upcoming League of Legends World Championship 2022 has prompted Korean outfit T1 to make roster adjustments. The organization has promoted Bae “Bengi” Seong-woong to the position of interim head coach and moved Choi “Polt” Seong-hun to the general manager role.

Before leaving competitive gaming, Bengi—also known as “The Right Hand of God”—won three global championships with Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. He began his coaching career in 2017 with T1, though he soon left the group to serve in the military. However, he returned to the T1 Challengers team in 2020 after finishing his military service, and he helped the team win the LCK Challengers League 2021 Spring title. Furthermore, Kim ‘Sky’ Ha-neul, who has been the coach of the T1 Academy since 2021, has also been added to the coaching staff of the primary lineup.

Sky will work alongside Bengi and existing primary team coach Kim ‘Moment’ Ji-hwan for the upcoming Worlds. Since the organization’s public statement makes no direct reference to any of the fan’s complaints or the team’s performance at the Mid-Season Invitational 2022, it is unclear how much the decision to switch coaching staff was affected by this concerns. However, T1 CEO Joe Marsh revealed in a recent Twitter post that he was determined to make the changes regardless of the outcome of the LCK Summer Playoffs championship game.

“The decision for the change is by no means a reflection of anything that he did or did not do but more of a gut decision after extensive conversations within the organization. It was not an easy decision but the right one for the team” – Joe Marsh

A planned move or aftermath of MSI and Summer Split?

According to reports, T1 fans sent a truck around LoL Park in Seoul during the T1 vs Hanwha Life series on August 4 to draw the attention of the team’s management. The truck reportedly displayed different statements, calling for the dismissal of Choi “Polt” Seong-hun and Kim “moment” Ji-hwan, coaches of T1’s primary League of Legends team. According to the original poster, the statements described the coaches as unfit to lead the teams to victory. Fans also brought attention to Moment’s demotion from his previous team, Jin Air Green Wings, which had a record of 0-18 and didn’t manage a single victory in Summer Split 2019 under his leadership.

A possible reason for the frustration among fans has to do with the fact that T1 lost the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) 2022 on its home turf. Fans lambasted T1’s draughts during the MSI, and head coach Polt received the full brunt of the criticism.T1 CEO Joe Marsh responded with a Tweet defending the coaching staff in the wake of the fan’s outburst. However, the organization has removed Polt from his position as head coach and assigned his role to the old veteran Beng to increase their stakes in Worlds 2022.

Header: Turtle Entertainment