T1 will face Top Esports in the Grand Finals on Sunday (7 July).
The League of Legends Esports World Cup semifinals was full of action with Worlds 2023 champions, T1 going against LCS first seed Team Liquid on Saturday (6 July).
T1 first faced Bilibili Gaming in the Quarterfinals, in an unpredictable 2-1 matchup that went in favour of T1.
Meanwhile, North American first seed Team Liquid clashed with the European second seed Fnatic which ended in a 2-0 sweep in Team Liquid’s favour.
Now in the semifinals, both teams clashed in another all-or-nothing best-of-three. Here’s how the games went.
Team Liquid took complete control in the first game with a deadly Ziggs mid and Zeri bottom lane combination.
The North American team placed pressure in the bottom lane, prioritizing Zeri’s growth. From there, the team took the opportunity to disrupt almost anything the South Korean juggernauts tried against them.
As the gold and kill gap widened, Team Liquid's dominance across the map grew. After a 39-minute encounter and a 23-5 kill lead, Team Liquid destroyed T1’s Nexus to win the first game.
In the second game, T1 opted mostly for meta picks and brought out their curveball Zeri pick for the top lane again.
T1 seemed like a different team from the first game, flipping the script and giving the North American team no room to breathe.
And although Team Liquid fought back despite having a nearly 10,000 gold deficit, T1 maintained control of the map.
Distracting Team Liquid at the Baron pit, Zeus sneaked into Team Liquid’s base with a huge wave of minions and destroyed the Nexus after a 28-minute clash with an 18-5 kill lead to win the second game.
In the third game, both teams went for a double AD Carry composition, with Team Liquid prioritizing Tristana mid and Zeri in the bottom lane, while T1 went for Sivir in the bot lane and Ashe for support.
Like the first game, Team Liquid went aggressive in the early game, banking on Zeri’s early game power in the bot lane.
T1 struggled against the early firepower of the double-ADCs, however, they kept the gold deficit to a minimum with a few kills on their North American opponents.
T1 continued to find small wins in the side lanes until their champions had scaled enough to take on team fights, and even steal the first Baron from Team Liquid.
With Lee “Faker” Sanghyeok on Taaliyah on a killing spree, T1 continued to find ways to overtake Team Liquid’s gold lead.
In a team fight that erupted in the mid lane, T1 focused on taking down Tristana and Zeri and quickly wiped out most of Team Liquid, allowing the South Korean powerhouse to make a beeline for the mid lane to win the third game in 30 minutes with a 13-7 kill lead, and secure their grand finals spot.
T1 will face Top Esports at the grand finals on Sunday (7 July).
Meanwhile, Team Liquid bow out of the competition in 3rd-4th place and take home $100,000 in consolation.
