T1 LoL dominate Esports World Cup in yet another massive international win

T1, the reigning Worlds 2023 champions, broke their LCK cold streak at the Esports World Cup with a dominant performance throughout the tournament and the first EWC LoL title.

They didn’t have an easy bracket run, either. After beating BLG, Team Liquid, and Top Esports to take the title, Team Liquid looked like T1’s most challenging opponent.

Faker ahead of Worlds 2024

Though he’s a relatively new mid laner,APAmanaged to hold his own against Faker in all three matches. This certainly brought hope to Western fans despite TL getting knocked out.

Ultimately, T1 would win their last series against Top Esports, with Faker picking Yasuo for the first time since 2022. The surprise pick let him run TES over, ensuring fans that Faker still has it all these years later despiteongoing problems with his wrist.

Esports World Cup 2025 poster

The man.The myth.The legend.pic.twitter.com/fN92J3mY0r

T1 are currently tied for fourth in the LCK standings when it comes to their domestic league. Meanwhile,Gen.G is dominatingthe region with a 12-0 score domestically.

Faker wins worlds 2023

However, things couldn’t have been more different at the Esports World Cup. Gen.G got knocked out 0-2 by Top Esports in the very first round, with the community split on whether or not this loss should invalidate Gen.G’s path to the Golden Road, a highly sought-after achievement in League of Legends.

Even if Gen.G does dominate LCK for the rest of Summer and wins Worlds 2024, it’ll be hard to forget their misstep at this tournament.

MSI trophy

With this win, T1 will walk away $400k richer with the first prize in their hands, as well as the first EWC title. Though this is yet another huge international win for T1, an organization with a long history of excellence in LoL, many fans of the team chose not to watch the tournament.

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Humanitarian concerns have been raised about the Esports World Cup’sparticipationin Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, to the point that it wasn’t immediately clear whetherRiot would allow LoLto be played at the tournament in the first place.

In 2020, the LEC was forced tocancel their partnership with NEOMafter near-universal backlash from fans, something that wasn’t mirrored in 2024 when the Esports World Cup came around.