T1 in crisis, should I show you my unique seal breaking again this time?
Sep 16, 2025
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T1, the world's most popular e-sports club, is on the verge of being unable to compete in the LoL World Championship for the first time in five years.
T1 has been particularly strong on big stages such as playoffs and international competitions. This time again, the best viewing point of the LCK Playoff is whether it will be able to show its power again by playing a unique 'breaking the seal'.
T1 was completely defeated by Hanwha Life e-Sports 0-3 in the second round of the '2025 LCK' playoffs at LCK Arena on the 14th. In addition, Gen.G, which was expected to win completely in the second round held the previous day, lost to KT 2-3 again, but T1 was at a disadvantage of having to play the playoffs from the second round of the loser group as Gen.G was given a top seed according to the regular season's performance and went to the third round of the loser group.
T1 will meet the winner of the first round of the loser group D-plus Kia and BNK Pierx on the 18th to determine their advance to the third round of the loser group. If they lose this match, they will not be able to stand on the LOL World Cup stage for the first time in five years since 2020. For the defending champion, who won the LOL World Cup for two consecutive years in 2023 and 2024, it can be said that it is a matter of pride.
T1 is the world's best team that has won the LOL World Cup five times, including two consecutive wins. Starting in 2013, he has played in the LOL World Cup nine times until last year, and is one of the teams with the most fandom at home and abroad with outstanding performances reaching the semifinals or higher. Of course, T1 is the team that the organizers of various international competitions, including Riot Games, which is an event company, want to be the most 'courtesy'.
However, at the moment, it is impossible to guarantee that he will advance to the 10th LOL World Cup in history. T1's overall performance is so poor that it suffered a complete defeat against Hanwha Life Insurance, which won all three games in the third to fifth rounds of the regular league, without even threatening it in the 14th game. Prior to this, he had already shown a sense of crisis by winning only 3-2 after struggling in the first round of the playoffs against D+ on the 10th.
Even if they won the second round of the loser group, Gen.G, which is a bigger mountain, is holding out in the third round. Gen.G had 29 wins and 1 loss in the LCK regular league and an overwhelming 97% winning rate, but fell to the loser group after being hit by KT. Gen.G won the MSI (Mid Season Invitational) and was the first in the world to win a LOL World Cup ticket as he also made the playoffs, but if he loses in the third round of the loser group, he will be the lowest fourth seed in LCK. Therefore, it is not a situation to be relaxed, so for T1, it is 'the slope is'. In this year's LOL World Cup, the LCK 4th seed and the LPL 4th seed will go through the best-of-five play-in stage and the winning team will reach the Swiss stage (the round of 16), which is another difficulty as the tournament is held in China and of course, the home fans have to fight with one-sided support.
However, T1 has been a big force in the playoffs regardless of the regular league ranking. In the summer season of 2023, he ranked fifth in the regular league, but reached the final by beating all the top-ranked teams in the first to third rounds of the playoffs. Although he missed the LCK championship, he won the LOL World Cup that year. In last year's summer season, he also ranked fourth in the regular league and third in the playoffs, but he won the fourth seed in the gear through the regional national team selection and won again, earning praise as `T1 as well.'
Anyway, in order to achieve this for three consecutive years, we must first overcome the second round of the loser group. As always, tension has been rising since the second round of the loser group on the 18th, whether T1's tremendous background will be able to be exercised again this time or whether he will not be able to play in the LOL World Cup for the first time in five years since 2020.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
