Mush
2020-04-25 05:45:06
T1 maintains their dynastic rule in LCK Spring Split Finals.
“LCK must go on.” Dududunga. League of Legends returned to LOL Park after weeks of remote play, but the cheers and smiles from the crowd were still missing. As Caster Jun turned away from the camera after finishing his intense, signature introduction, the lights revealed an audience, albeit a different one. Only cardboard cut-out fans sat in the venue, but hundreds of thousands of people were sitting at home watching the best teams in the region fight for the title. A lot has changed in the midst of these unique circumstances but, as the LCK staff maintained its traditions, so did T1. In their 10th South Korean final attendance, Faker and T1 were looking for the 9th title. The last and only time they lost in a final was Summer 2017 against BDD’s Longzhu Gaming. A duel between legendary mid laners, Cuzz facing his team’s former star jungle in Clid and the two most consistent ADCs in the region fighting for supremacy. This was a match with a lot of narratives surrounding it, but one rose above all others: T1 do not lose finals.
Game one started off promising with both teams throwing punches. Cuzz was dominating the jungle on Graves, but Canna was being punished as Rascal seemed unfazed by the rookie’s great performance against DRX. T1 was playing better around neutrals than Gen.g, but Clid was managing to win the Smite fights, allowing them to hope for a Dragon Soul. The intention was good by Gen.g, but the comp’s inability to hard engage just allowed Teddy to single-handedly poke Clid away from every late game neutral with his Lethality Varus. After getting Baron, T1 closed the game cleanly.
A slow start kicked game two off, but Rascal soon showed his superiority in this series by solo killing Canna’s Sylas as Ornn. Ruler’s itemization on Ezreal was basically nullifying Teddy’s Varus due to the insane amount of armor given by Frozen Fist. Gen.g were on the driver’s seat with a more cohesive comp that could engage onto T1, but it all crumbled as Bdd and Ruler were both caught at the same time in a flawless punishment initiated by Canna. This turned the game around and effectively sealed the series.
Gen.g entered game three broken. T1 focused on the top side of the map and Canna, this time with the Ornn on his hands, kept punishing Rascal’s Jayce with Cuzz. The game quickly spiralled out of control and Teddy just destroyed Gen.g’s entire team in the fights as Aphelios.
Cuzz received the award for Finals MVP, answering the critics that doubted T1’s decision to choose him as Clid’s replacement. Canna, the rookie top laner that started his career as a trainee for SKT, became a Royal Roader— if you aren’t familiar with the term, it means winning a competition in your first attempt— and Faker earned his 9th South Korean title.
MSI will not take place this year due to COVID-19, so we won’t have the chance to witness the LCK powerhouse facing teams like C9, G2 and whoever wins LPL, but other alternatives aren’t out of the equation. In their article regarding the MSI cancellation, Riot mentioned that some other events might happen:
“We also are working with other teams throughout the Riot organization to evaluate alternative events and activities. We are hoping to have some plans far enough along to share with you in the weeks ahead.”
A competition between LCK and LPL teams would be a great way to better judge the power of each region and should be possible due to the low ping between them.
Summer Split is the next scheduled competition, but the Unkillable Demon King already has his eyes on the biggest trophy. Faker continues to build his surreal legacy, and isn’t stopping anytime soon.
“The end of the journey is always Worlds, so I want to continue this momentum and get a good result.”