Image: Riot Games
Faker and T1 are now one step closer towards their claiming their fifth Summoner's Cup.
Reigning League of Legends (LoL) world champions 
T1 continued their title defense in the Worlds 2024 Knockout Stage by soundly sweeping China's 
Top Esports (TES), 3-0, in the tournament's third best-of-five Quarterfinals match on Saturday (October 19).
Despite being the 2023 world champions, T1 had a very difficult 2024 season and almost missed out on a chance to defend their title. They earned a spot in Worlds 2024 at the last possible moment by defeating KT Rolster in the LoL Champions Korea (LCK) Regional Finals Round 3 and becoming South Korea's fourth seed in this year's world championship tournament.
Meanwhile, TES earned their spot in Worlds 2024 as the second seed of China's LoL Pro League (LPL). With three past champions on their roster, TES were seen as one of the bigger contenders to claim the 2024 Summoner's Cup.
Both T1 and TES qualified for the Worlds 2024 Knockout Stage in the fourth round of the Swiss Stage.
T1 didn't have the most promising of starts, having lost to TES in their first encounter in round one of the Swiss Stage. However, the defending champions bounced back with victories over paiN Gaming and Bilibili Gaming in rounds two and three before sweeping G2 Esports in round four to punch their tickets to the Knockout Stage.
Following their win over T1 in round one of the Swiss Stage, TES lost to Gen.G Esports in round two. Even so, the Chinese squad also made it to the Knockout Stage by taking down Fnatic and DPlus KIA.
Many favoured TES over T1 in their Quarterfinals matchup. The Chinese squad had the more successful 2024 season while their South Korean opponents barely made it to Worlds 2024, not to mention TES defeating T1 in their previous encounter in the Swiss Stage. But LoL G.O.A.T. Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok proved he and T1 should never be counted out so easily.
vs
T1The series kicked off with both teams sizing each other up, resulting in only four kills on the board well past the 25-minute mark and with TES holding a narrow 3-1 lead. However, T1 blew the game wide open 27 minutes in when they chased TES away from Nashor and scored a teamwipe on them as they retreated.
T1 won another Baron fight soon after, which allowed them to claim the game one win in just under 32 minutes and with a 13-5 kill lead. Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong led the way as Caitlyn with a clean six kills and five assists while Choi “Zeus” Woo-je on Camille and Faker on Sylas each had three kills.
Game two was a stomp in every sense of the word, as T1 took a commanding 2-0 series lead in 33 minutes while racking up 15 kills and conceding zero deaths. Faker showed out with Ahri by notching six kills, Gumayusi on Xayah pitched in with four, Zeus on Rumble had three, while Moon “Oner” Hyeon-joon on Xin Zhao added two.
TES put up a better fight in game three, but it was clear that T1 had them figured out. Despite the Chinese team's best efforts to regroup and mount a comeback, their South Korean opponents outplayed them at every turn before eventually securing the 3-0 series sweep in 37 minutes of action.
Gumayusi notably finished the series with a perfect KDA, recording a clean seven kills and three assists on Xayah. Ryu “Keria” Min-seok on Pyke also showed out with three kills and five assists on one death.
With their victory, T1 inch closer to defending their title as they advance to the Worlds 2024 Semifinals. They have also guaranteed themselves at least a 3rd-4th place finish as well as $178,000 in winnings. T1 will next face the winner of the final Quarterfinals match between Gen.G Esports and FlyQuest for a spot in the Grand Finals.
Meanwhile, TES became the second Chinese team to be eliminated from Worlds 2024, settling for a 5th-8th place finish and $100,125 in consolation.
