T1 Preview – LoL Worlds 2023

T1 Preview gives some insight into the team that has 3 World Champion titles but is looking to get a 4^th one under their belt.

The 2023 League of Legends World Championship is approaching its Main Event! The Play-Ins have concluded on Sunday with GAM Esports beating their countrymen Team Whales, and Team BDS knocking out PSG Talon after the most intense match of the history of Worlds Play-Ins. However, the best is still ahead of us, as the biggest teams haven’t even played yet! Among them is the most decorated team in the history of League of Legends: T1, who won 3 Worlds’ so far – and Faker is still hungry.

T1 Preview

T1 Team History

T1, formerly known as SKT Telecom T1 is the most legendary team of League of Legends. The only organization with multiple World Championship titles, they are the favourite team of many fans worldwide.

The team came to be back in 2012, and instantly found success by winning the Season 3 Worlds with the roster of Impact, bengi, Faker, Piglet and PoohManDu. They dominated the South Korean scene as well as doing extremely well in the international tournaments, finishing 2^nd in the 2015 MSI before winning their second Worlds title the same year – this time MaRin, Bang, Wolf and Easyhoon joined Faker and Bengi. They won the IEM Season 10 World Championship, the last of the non-Riot World Cups, and got their first Mid-Season Invitational victory in 2016. They topped it all off by winning Worlds again, the second time in a row with the roster of Duke, Bengi, Blank, Faker, Bang and Wolf.

Even though T1 haven’t won Worlds since then, they got close on multiple occasions, as they made it to the finals in 2017, as well as 2022, and made top 4 on 2 different occasions. They were also always a top contender in the Mid-Season Invitational as well, winning it in 2017, then making it to at least the semifinals when they qualified for the event.

While the team had multiple rosters, there was always a constant for T1: the Unkillable Demon King, Faker, who played for the team since its inception (with some exceptions, such as this summer, where he had to take some time off due to a hand injury). The legendary player really wants his 4^th title – especially after getting so close to it a year ago.

T1 Roster

• Choi “Zeus” Woo-je
• Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun
• Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok
• Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong
• Ryu “Keria” Min-seok

T1 Playstyle

This roster of T1 had an incredible run, as they made it to every LCK final since getting together at the start of 2022 (bar from MSI 2023). All 5 players are standouts in their roles, and they can peak very high, but as they proved this Summer, they need Faker to hold them together.

While they have a fine early game where they prioritize Heralds, they are a typical LCK team, meaning they don’t necessarily get huge leads early one. The Summer stats are a bit misleading, as the absence of Faker left their mark on the team. Even so, Zeus and Gumayusi had great numbers, not really getting behind even when the team lost. Even though they are an LCK team, they can be very active if Faker is leading them.

They are an incredibly Herald focus team, as they have a strong toplaner and can get early leads thanks to the objective. With Faker, they are number 1 in first Heralds among Worlds teams, and they get 65% of second Heralds as well.

Even though Faker is the biggest name in the team, he fills in the role of mentor for the young guns, Gumayusi and Zeus. Oner and Keria also try and make it easier for the toplaner and ADC to carry games, so they also don’t do that well on the stats department. Thanks to the sacrifice of these 3 players, Zeus has the best XP difference, second best Kill Participation and CSD@14. Gumayusi is one of they best players in the world in terms of early leads when the team is winning – if T1 is having a strong game, its usually due to Guma spearheading the charge against their opponents.

T1 had a fairly lacklustre Summer Split due to the absence of Faker, while also missing this year’s Mid-Season Invitational. They have a lot to prove and a Summoner’s Cup to get – can anyone top the Unkillable Demon King and his disciples?