LCK: War as always. T1 survived KT pressure and will play the final again

Before the LCK finals we had one more series on the agenda. This was to determine who would challenge GenG for the title. Plus, the winner was assured of Worlds.

Telecom War, the legendary esport derby that always attracts fans with its drama, played another act. The battle for the LCK final, which included the certainty of attending Worlds and avoiding regional qualification, added to the already high momentum.

The days when KT were not among the best in the LCK seemed to be there. KT have been playing well this year and at times have given a flashback to the golden year of 2018 when the organization ruled the LCK. Yet, when the first clash in the current playoffs against T1 occurred, the favorite surprisingly fell (2-3). The regular season winner became a laughing stock and the unexpected crash was something the team had to deal with in the corrected portion of the bracket.

T1 fell into it as well, unable to defeat the second unit of the regular season – GenG – after their shock victory over KT. GenG once again showed that T1 is almost always kryptonite in key series and secured their participation in the home Worlds.

Regardless of the outcome, the drama will always be

T1 entered the series with their old rival better and quickly proved that their opponent would need more time to warm up. The opening act of the series also surprised with eight bans on the support position and, as it turned out later, greatly rocked the plans of KT and their support – Lehends. He did take the legendary Singed into his management but in the current meta and composition in which KT played, he had no chance of success.

After the opening notch of T1 we expected a more active approach of KT. But KT could not produce a better adaptation and T1 again showed great mastery in planning compositions. The key pick of the second game was Azir, who both in the hands of BDD or Faker, is a lethal weapon. T1 usurped this pick for themselves and still knocked out two counterpicky opponents. T1 struck for the second time and were already up 2-0.

KT’s dismal performance was heading towards an unexpectedly unequivocal series. But you never know with this rivalry and even a happy T1 can show weaker moments. KT woke up at the critical moment, showed their qualities and the initial 2-0 for T1 was suddenly 2-2.

The decisive match was not suitable for the Cardiacs. T1 held a slight lead for a long time and looked like they were going to tire their opponent on the better push. But that wouldn’t allow their rival to steal Baron and later Elder Dragon.

KT knew they couldn’t make a mistake and still manage to out-scale their opponent. This plan worked for a long time, only for a mistake by Cuzza to turn a potential reverse sweep into a T1 win.

T1 pushed their way to the finals where they will challenge GenG, and at Worlds successfully. For the first time ever, both T1 and Faker will be playing home Worlds. All that’s left for the devastated KT is tears and regional qualifiers, but quite frankly they should be a huge favorite.

Source: LCK Global, Leaguepedia