T1 Begins to Crumble Midway into LCK Summer 2023 Season

The Legendary LCK team – T1 – has stumbled upon one bump after another as the LCK Summer 2023 season continues, leaving behind their dominance in the dust. The team has now undergone a huge slump, losing games to lower-placed teams and showing an extremely poor performance. What might be the cause of such an uncharacteristic performance by the very team that got a perfect split in 2022?

The LCK Summer 2023 Season For T1

T1 just came off fresh as the 3rd place team in the Mid-Season Invitationals after losing to Bilibili Gaming in the lower bracket finals. This sparked the first international tournament in history where we had an all-LPL finals match between BLG and JDG, where JDG emerged as the champions. In terms of T1’s performance, it would be pure copium to say they did well considering they only got ONE win against LPL’s 2nd seed.

However, the team was determined to bounce back in the Summer Split, where the LCK truly shines as they work towards the World Championships. Unfortunately for T1, they couldn’t overcome their demons in the Spring 2023 season and ended up losing to Gen.G as well in the LCK Summer 2023 season’s first match. They regained composure after that as the legendary team won game after game.

Surprisingly for the LCK powerhouse, they also dropped a game against KT Rolster, giving the Telecom War more spice for the fans. As KT fans begin to be engulfed in hope, T1 fans are starting to doubt the performance of their favorite team since the quality of games has begun to drop significantly. It was later announced that Faker was experiencing health problems regarding an arm injury and would be taking a break from competitive play.

At first, fans weren’t too worried that Faker would take a break since he wasn’t necessarily in the top 3 best players on his team. However, T1 losing their veteran leader and shotcaller would prove to be devastating as the team lost against DRX, which was 2-6 before their win against T1, despite the substitute mid laner doing fairly well. T1 would once again lose to Gen.G in the 2nd start of the round robin dropping their standing to 4th place.

Bengi Departs From T1

The former legendary jungler – Bengi – who won 3 world championships alongside Faker began working as a coach for T1 after completing his mandatory military service. In 2022, Bengi was appointed head coach and the team found success under his leadership, almost reclaiming their throne as the top team when they managed to reach the Grand Finals of the 2022 World Championships.

Unfortunately, T1 announced that Bengi had resigned from his position and would no longer be coaching for T1. This alarmed the fans as in less than a week, T1 managed to lose two of their members with the most experience playing the game and contributed so much to the success of the organization. It’s hard to tell how much Bengi influenced the success of the team but it paints a bad image for the organization that their head coach decided to resign midway into an important season. This gives fans a lot to worry about.

Is Faker Gone For Good?

People are always afraid that Faker will retire soon since his tenure as a League of Legends player has already dragged on unusually long for an esports player. He is also due for mandatory military service soon which will affect his career significantly. Fortunately for him, he managed to secure a chance to extend his career by participating in the 2023 Asian Games which will guarantee him exemption if they manage to win a gold medal.

The root of the problem is that Faker is suffering from an arm injury, which is the worst type of condition an esports player can have because it significantly influences the player’s performance. Most arm injuries end up being the end of a professional player’s career but Faker is undergoing therapy and medical assistance to make sure that it doesn’t end up becoming something serious. There’s no guarantee that he’ll return in the LCK Summer 2023 season but fans are hopeful he’ll at least play at the Asian Games.

Is T1 Done for the LCK Summer 2023 Season?

It’s hard to count out T1 for the tournament since it is still true that they still have the best Support and Top Laners in the LCK with an extremely talented ADC and Jungler as well. The only issue that T1 is experiencing right now is that they don’t have an experienced leader who can glue the team together and act as the central piece that each and every member will listen to and respect when playing important matches.

The substitute mid laner – Poby – isn’t a terrible replacement and is doing well in his games. To say that T1 is done is definitely an exaggeration but there is a possible chance it may come true. There’s also a chance that Faker will come back before the playoffs in perfect condition and the team suddenly regains their stride. It’s also important to note that regardless of T1’s performance this split, they are still qualified for a chance to participate in the 2023 World Championships with their high number of championship points.

The Future of the T1 Franchise

T1 is always under fire because they are constantly under the microscope so all their actions and failures are always magnified to a ridiculous amount. As one of the most popular organizations in the world, it is an understatement to say that they have the most passionate fans. That’s because its most radical members always have something to criticize the organization for regardless of their past achievements.

In the LCK Summer 2023 season, things are becoming more heated among the community. Faker’s absence from the team and Bengi’s retirement are definitely stirring a violent reaction from the fans. The players who are currently active are definitely bearing the burden of these issues. The best thing we can do is to support the team during this massive and sudden transition to make sure that they don’t spiral further down.