Just a few weeks after T1 faced HLE, two of the top-tier LCK teams will face off once again in the summer split: who is taking the win this time around?
Image Credit: League of Legends Champions Korea Flickr
Despite winning the Esports World Cup in Riyadh earlier this month, T1 seems to be struggling a lot lately, having lost a game to bottom team BRO and losing to FOX. While the first match took place immediately after T1 returned to South Korea after the EWC, it’s now clear that T1 is not in the best form in terms of how they performed against FOX.
Things are looking even tougher now considering T1 will go up against HLE who they already lost to in the first round robin of the LCK summer split. The enemies have also looked better and better over the past few games, especially with how Viper has been delivering lately. With this in mind, let’s break down some of the key elements of this crucial series for both teams.
Last time out, HLE was able to get the upper hand over T1 thanks to Peanut beating Oner in the jungle matchup. While the games weren’t completely on T1’s jungler, he was often pressured and didn’t have the same impact as his counterpart.
It also became clear that the meta is revolving more and more around double ADC setups. Whether it’s Corki or Tristana, those two are the clear priorities as they guarantee the team either great poke (Corki) or DPS (Tristana). Together with a safe ADC like Ezreal, it becomes difficult for the opponents to find punishing opportunities on both champions in a teamfight.
Check the schedule for Week 5 of #LCK Summer, where Round 1 ends and Round 2 rematches begin! 🙌
The theme of our LCK Crew’s match picks this week? ‘Revenge’. 🥊
💬 Do you think the results of Round 2 be different from the first? pic.twitter.com/oKzDkoCaRZ
— LCK (@LCK) July 16, 2024
In their last matchup against FOX, I was surprised by the Seraphine counterpick by Keria. While it was a good try given the opponent’s matchup of Senna-Ornn, playing her into a Corki and a Zyra definitely wasn’t ideal. I feel like T1 is trying once again to test out innovative picks to counter the meta but the experiment didn’t work out. It’s worth noting that LCK teams are still playing on Patch 14.13 which is before the various mid lane nerfs. We might see some heavy meta shifts only from Patch 14.15 onwards.
Therefore, the question now is how the team will once again adjust for the series against HLE. Unless something special comes out, I don’t think T1 is in a state to win against HLE, who is already a well-oiled machine with a clear identity. Only a few days have gone past after the series against FOX and I doubt they had enough time to find new answers. As an avid LCK fan, I would love to see a close series between these two teams but based on current form, HLE is the clear favorite to take the series.
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