After winning back-to-back Worlds championships, T1 has had a rocky start to the year, finishing sixth in the LCK Cup. Sudden roster changes coupled with a lack of communication from management left many League of Legends fans frustrated and questioning the team’s direction.
Today, T1 CEO Joe Marsh broke the team’s silence on X about replacing Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong with promising young player Sin “Smash” Geum-jae during the 2025 LCK Cup by stating that it was the “decision of the coaching staff” who decided to “test Smash” in the matches, and his strong performances secured his place in the team.
In the 2025 LCK Cup, Gumayusi only played five matches compared to Smash, who played 15 matches including the playoffs against Hanwha Life Esports, where T1 was eliminated. HLE went on to win the tournament, as well as First Stand 2025, without dropping a single series in the international event.
According to Oracle’s Elixir, Smash had the second-highest KDA (7.5) just behind Kim “Aiming” Ha-ram among all the AD carries in the Korean tournament.
Even though Gumayusi will be starting as the ADC for the T1 roster for the upcoming 2025 LCK Spring Split, the star will also keep competing with Smash during practice sessions. Whichever player has the best performance will stick with the roster, and that final call will be taken by the team’s coaching stuff after evaluating both the player’s performances, according to Marsh.
Per the CEO’s statement, Marsh “requested” the coaching team make Gumayusi a starter to “prove himself and become the world’s best BOT.” While the organization has reaffirmed its faith in Gumayusi as the starting ADC, the internal competition with Smash adds an intriguing layer to the team’s dynamic.
While T1 looked to stick to their original Worlds winning roster, Choi “Zeus” Woo-je accepted an offer from HLE, leading to T1 signing Choi “Doran” Hyeon-joon to fill in the gap after Zeus’ departure. Gumayusi’s benching only moved the team further away from the roster that had just won worlds, and fans wanted answers as to why the team was playing an inexperienced rookie instead of their star ADC.
As T1 navigates this period of transition, all eyes will be on whether the roster changes pay off—or if the fan backlash grows even louder, as everyone always has high expectations from the Korean powerhouse.
Published: Mar 19, 2025 12:48 pm