One of the most special things of 2023, certainly the revival and crowned T1 at Worlds in the same year. Before the tournament, T1 is still somewhat appreciated, but no one dares to think that T1 will beat all 4 LPL representatives to win the championship. Even T1 is not on the list of the top 3 candidates for the 2023 World Cup when there is still Bilibili Gaming, Gen.G and especially JD Gaming – the team dominated in 3/4 of the annual tournament of the professional League of Legends village.
T1 had a “magical journey”
And if it must be said, this journey starts from the choice of rival KT Rolster – the familiar opponent of T1 in the “great telecommunications war”. At that time, KT as the top 1 group in the group stage did not hesitate to choose T1 – the opponent that in the summer 2023 lost to them in both matches – in the group stage. But perhaps, it was the audience who did not expect that that choice became a disaster for KT to extend to Worlds 2023 and opened T1 a “magical journey”.
And it was BDD and KT started the journey with the choice of T1 in the playoffs
It was BDD, in a speech before the recent Spring LCK 2024, also frankly about the T1 choice of the home team last year: “Going back to that time, I would never choose them (T1). At that time I was very confident before both T1 and Hanwha Life Esports, but I thought I was a bit arrogant.
BDD has acknowledged the mistake when choosing T1
But in fact, the KT selection T1 then is completely understandable. Not only is the confidence of BDD or the players, but a victory before T1 will help KT prepare the best mental and results for the journey to reach the Summer LCK Championship 2023. However, no one expected that a T1 to lose KT in the group stage has such a performance. And not only KT, but from that time, only Gen.G can win against Faker and his teammates.
Since then KT has always been difficult and failed in the tournaments they attend
In the 2024 season, BDD's KT also had many changes in the squad. It is unclear whether this new collective will be able to make achievements like they used to be in 2023, but if there is a chance, perhaps BDD must consider carefully before choosing any opponent, not just T1.