Image: Riot Games
Defending LoL world champions T1 still have one final chance to qualify for Worlds 2024 to defend their title.
Pressure is mounting at the League of Legends Championship Korea (LCK), with the first two teams clashing for the LCK third seed at the LoL World Championship 2024. After an intense five-game series, it was DPlus KIA that outlasted T1, 3-2, to qualify for Worlds.
DPlus KIA had a solid Summer season, finishing third with a 13-5 record, which also earned them a Playoff spot. In the Playoffs, they defeated FearX 3-1 in the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals, but were then swept 3-0 by tournament favourites Gen.G, dropping them to the lower bracket. However, they were edged out by T1 3-1 at the lower bracket semifinals.
T1, on the other hand, had a difficult Summer season, struggling against several teams during the Group Stage. These challenges seemed to affect the roster, notably when Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok was seen hitting his head against a wall in frustration. Despite these struggles, the team persevered, finishing the regular season in 4th place with an 11-7 record, which secured them a spot in the Playoffs.
In the Playoffs, T1 started strong, defeating KT Rolster 3-1 in the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals. However, their momentum faltered in the Upper Bracket Semifinals, where they suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Hanwha Life Esports, dropping T1 to the Lower Bracket Semifinals. At the lower bracket semifinals, they edged out DK Plus 3-1 to make it to the Lower Bracket Finals.
However, T1 were eliminated by eventual LCK Summer Champions Hanwha Life Esports 3-1 at the Lower Bracket Final, ending their LCK Summer run in third place and allowing them to qualify for the LCK Regional Finals.
DPlus KIA deny T1 the LCK third seed
In the first game, T1 chose a dive composition with short-ranged champions, while DPlus KIA went for safe, front-to-back champions with adequate range, dive, and crowd control.
Although DK were able to take small wins in the early game, T1 kept up with their better macro in the laning phase. Both teams went for scrappy fights and had indecisive moments that turned tides against their favour every now and then—taking kills and map objectives along the way.
However, it was Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong’s Miss Fortune ults that made the difference, allowing him to steal important objectives like the Dragon. In a crucial fight for the Elder Dragon, DK tried to place pressure in the Bottom lane.
But T1 were able to flip the Elder Drake, take down members of DK, all while Choi "Zeus" Woo-je were able to defend T1’s base. After a lengthy, scrappy, bloody 42-minute encounter with a 16-15 kill lead, T1 marched down DK’s base to destroy the Nexus and win the first game.
The second game went at a much slower pace, with T1 forced into an off-meta Sivir, and then going for a lane swap.
DK found an early game lead after taking down two of T1’s top lane turrets. However, T1 found small wins, across the map and in skirmishes.
But it was the crucial fight for the dragon that turned things around for DK—with Heo “Showmaker” Su’s Tristana popping off, Ivern’s shielding sustaining the team and the Nautilus hook that caught Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok’s Corki.
With T1 failing to disengage, DK cleaned them up in a chase in the jungle — allowing them to destroy T1’s base after 33 minutes with a 14-10 kill lead.
In the third game, DK continued to rely on Ziggs, Corki and Maokai, while T1 honed in on Rumble, and Sejuani. Both teams were on equal footing in the early game. However, with Maokai in the team and the follow-up damage from Ziggs and Corki, T1 struggled in team fights and DK found a small gold lead.
But T1 found an opportunity to take down DK in the mid lane to retake the gold lead. T1 continued to make decisive plays across the map, forcing DK into team fights and taking the Baron and threatening to take the Elder Drake.
In a fight for the Elder, Zeus’s engage on Showmaker and T1 following through allowed T1 to take clean up their opponents. And after a 45-minute slugfest, T1 destroyed DK’s Nexus with a 15-8 kill lead to win the third game and take their team to matchpoint.
In the third game, T1 went for Lilia for Oner and Gwen for Zeus. Meanwhile, DK went for the most contested picks like Tristana mid, Ziggs bottom, and Maokai in the Jungle. T1 kept a sizeable gold lead with Zeus’s Gwen and Oner’s Lilia’s early to mid-game threat.
However, DK went for decisive plays to take Dragons and Barons with Tristana, zoning out T1 with Maokai’s ult. Placing pressure onto T1 by destroying the bottom lane, DK found opportunities to take down members of T1. In crucial fight at the Baron pit, DK found a way to take down T1 in a clean ace and end the game.
And after an intense 39-minute encounter with an 18-13 kill lead, DK destroyed T1’s base to win the fourth game and force the series into Silver Scrapes.
In the fifth game decider, both teams tried to mix up their team composition. T1 found an early lead but this was eventually taken by DK, who punished T1 for overextending and overcommitting in team fights and re-engages. Showmaker's LeBlanc and Kim “Aiming” Ha-ram's Ziggs quickly became a problem as they continued to scale in power. And after a 31-minute encounter and a 15-6 kill lead, DK took down T1's Nexus to win the fitth game and the series.
With their win, DPlus KIA become the LCK third seed. This is also the first time DK beat T1 in a series since 2021. Meanwhile, T1 have one final chance to make it to Worlds this year, despite being the defending World Champion.
