Esports World Cup 2024 could be a “poison” that made T1 regret

In 2024, T1 was having a more difficult journey than last season. Up to the present time of the summer LCK 2024, T1 has had a “achievement” of 5 wins – 5 losses and this can be encapsulated in the word “disaster”. Because, even in the Summer LCK 2023, T1 only lost to KT Rolster and Gen.G in the group stage before Faker was injured to play. However, until this summer, even a BNK Fearx is in crisis can beat T1. Faker and his teammates also went through the unforgettable second leg with a weak defeat against Hanwha Life Esports.

And in the controversy surrounding the unforgettable series of T1, many viewers have looked back at Esports World Cup 2024 – the tournament that T1 has crowned recently, to evaluate the impact of this tournament on the defending champion of Worlds 2023. But in the end, it seems that all T1 received, while some consequences were clearly visible.

First, it is the unreasonable conflict schedule for T1. No one understands why LCK BTC arranged an extremely harsh schedule for T1 when he returned from Saudi Arabia in the morning, the T1 afternoon must go to play immediately. The tired image of the T1 players said it all and fortunately T1 when the opponent of that day was just an Oksabingsbank Brion too weak. But Faker himself had to admit that he had never experienced such a dense schedule in his career that made the audience award the frustration of Riot. And worth mentioning, in just 3 days from leaving Saudi Arabia, T1 had to play 2 matches. One of the two rivals is Hanwha Life Esports.

If the schedule is only an indirect influence of EWC 2024 for T1, the lack of time to rest when having to “run the show” continuously is a direct reason. The EWC 2024 was held in the stage of the LCK group stage of the summer of 2024, which is still tying T1 as well as the participating teams to “run the show” strictly. If you leave the tournament early, there will be about 1 week to rest. But because T1 went to the final, so instead of the time of “discharge camp” and studying the gameplay of the opponent, T1 still had to stretch himself to play. Not to mention, the matches of EWC 2024 are all held in the late time frame. This clearly affects the health of the players a lot.

Next, it is the pressure called “Playing to deserve the titles”. T1 is the current champion of Worlds 2023 as well as the EWC 2024 champion. Because, for many people, who are champions, defeat strong teams like Bilibili Gaming or Top Esports, they are not allowed to play poorly. Especially if the players wear T1, then just playing under the strength is also blamed, not to mention the tragic failure like the recent matches.

Finally, it is the Meta issue. The version used at EWC 2024 is the latest version, which is also the version being used from week 4 of the Summer LCK 2024 to the end of the group stage. T1 has shown how dangerous they win when they win their opponents with the new version. However, another problem has been revealed: T1 can be exposed to the new version early, meaning that the opponent at LCK also has time to research and find ways to neutralize.

Both Tristana – Ivern – Ezreal are strong and realistic generals, T1 won with this combo in game 2 matches against Fox. But obviously, instead of “countering meta” as they did last year, T1 agreed to follow the meta and let the opponent countered themselves. This is an important factor contributing to the performance of the T1 players after EWC 2024.

Perhaps T1 itself has noticed his problems. However, this team can overcome it or not, perhaps to see the players' performance in the remaining matches of the season. More than anyone else, T1 is forced to save herself before waiting for the opponent to make mistakes.