T1 still look incredibly strong going into the sixth week of the 2022 LCK Spring Split. DWG KIA tried to become the first League of Legends team to defeat them this year, but they lost 2-0 despite clever strategies to counter T1’s playstyle and strong early games.
With this victory, T1 improved to 11-0 on the split and became the first team to punch their ticket to the Spring Split playoffs.
While DWG KIA are still struggling to find their playstyle this year, T1 looked confident in this series. They steamrolled through the first game after a slow early phase, winning skirmishes around the jungle so they could take the neutral objectives and DWG KIA’s turrets.
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T1 showed impressive coordination and macro play today, in addition to their usual precise mechanics and flashy plays. They closed out the first game in this series by trying to take the Baron and flank DWG KIA’s players when they came to defend the objective, earning a clean ace with enough time to invade the team’s base and destroy their Nexus.
The second game was less one-sided, but T1 took the lead earlier compared to the first game due to solid skirmishes in the jungle and strong control of the objectives by Gumayusi’s Jinx and Keria’s Tahm Kench.
DWG KIA then came back in the mid game due to the clever execution of its comp focused around deokdam’s Ezreal, who dealt most of the team’s damage (42,300 in total, compared to an average of 11,000 from his teammates).
DWG KIA tried going into the late game with an advantage by killing the Baron, but T1 made the risky decision to push the team’s Nexus instead of contesting the Baron. They succeeded in smashing DWG KIA’s Nexus before their opponents could react and won the series in spectacular fashion.
Although T1 have already secured their spot in the Spring Split playoffs, they have a win streak to defend over the next four weeks of the regular season. They’ll face off against Hanwha Life on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 5am CT, while DWG KIA will look to bounce back when they go up against Kwangdong Freecs on Friday, Feb. 25 at 5am CT.
