T1 make it six consecutive Knockout Stage appearances at Worlds in the organisation's history.
T1 came out on top to a sold-out crowd that witnessed the three-time champions defeat Bilibili Gaming in two straight games to secure a Knockout Stage spot at Worlds 2023. And in all six of T1's appearances at Worlds, they have never failed to qualify for the Knockout Stage while also winning three in the process alongside two second-place finishes and a semifinal exit. As for BLG, their run isn't over yet as they will have one more best-of-three series to play tomorrow against G2 Esports, who lost to NRG earlier today.
With both teams being the second-seeds in their respective regions, this match-up was billed with much hype. This was due to the fact that both teams are easily part of the top five best in the world. And while BLG are no slouches this season either, T1 proved to be too much for them to handle in both games. The first match was a clean and easy win for T1 who dominated proceedings from the get-go.
- Check the results:
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Bilibili GamingBLG was left with just three kills in game one as T1 was a handful to deal with, let alone catch off-guard. It was all T1 from start to finish as they left BLG with nothing, which also includes turrets, rift heralds, and drakes. Sang-hyeok “Faker” Lee showed just why he still has what it takes to be the best in the world with a vintage Azir performance that left him with a KDA of 3/0/5. Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong also had a stellar performance with Senna as he recorded four kills and four assists alongside zero deaths.
Even Ryu “Keria” Min-seok could not be denied of a great game one as him Tamh Kench had two kills, a single death, and eight assists, the most from anyone in the first match. In the second game, both teams would increase their kill tallies by three each and this time, BLG had put up a much stronger front. They managed to get the first blood alongside their first and only drake of the series as well as being the first to break T1's turret.
Unfortunately, all that was for nought as T1 still managed to put on a great performance once more. And this time, it was Gumayusi who was in the thick of it all as his Jinx went ballistic with 11 kills, zero deaths, and three assists. While Faker only had two kills to go with his two deaths and 12 assists, the only other player to chip in with the kills was Moon “Oner” Hyeon-joon, who had three kills to go with a single death and a team-high 13 assists alongside Keria.
BLG will be in action tomorrow once more in another best-of-three series, this time against G2 Esports as both teams will battle it out to determine who goes to the Knockout Stage. As for T1, they will get to have the next few days off until the start of the Knockout Stage, which falls on Thursday, November 2.
