T1’s early game dominance plummets to LCK’s 4th-worst in Faker’s absence

Over the last decade, there have only been a few League of Legends teams that strike fear into the hearts of their opponents on a global scale, one of which being Korea’s perpetual supersquad, T1. This year had been relatively smooth as well, but ever since the team was forced to play without Faker, the rest of the roster has looked like one of the worst teams in the LCK.

Over the last month, for example, T1 has stumbled from one of the most-dominant early game teams in Korea to the fourth-worst in the league. The former kings dropped from a whopping 1056 average gold difference at 15 minutes to an abysmal -529 average gold difference over the last eight series, according to League stats aggregate Oracle’s Elixir.

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In that timeframe, T1 has only won a single series against the ninth-placed Nongshim RedForce, and lost against every other team they’ve played. It is a fall from grace that has baffled fans and analysts alike, because most people would have never expected four World Championship finalists to struggle so horribly. Without their iconic leader in the mid lane, this supercharged roster is now on the precipice of missing the playoffs entirely.

Faker was sidelined by the team after suffering pain in his right arm and hand that did not show improvement over the last weeks of play. The 27-year-old veteran has undergone physical therapy and worked through various rehabilitation programs to help speed up his healing, but in the meantime, his team has seemingly lost its ability to work as a unit.

Former Cloud9 head coach and FlyQuest content creator Nick “LS” De Cesare lamented T1’s current form during their recent match vs. OK BRION, and brought criticism against the team’s poor drafting, questionable itemization and rune choices, and their tendency to brute force teamfights by attempting to outplay their opponents with superior individual mechanical skill.

When T1 was winning, most fans easily ignored these shortcomings, but now that they don’t have Faker, it seems like the rest of the team can’t figure out their gameplan without his guidance. Team management believes that the GOAT will be healthy enough to compete in the 2023 LCK Summer Playoffs, but if the team fails to make the postseason, we might not even get to see his triumphant return until 2024.