Another domestic championship tussle, another T1 versus Gen.G matchup in the LCK Spring 2024 final.
Going the distance, Gen.G narrowly edged out T1 3-2 to win their fourth LCK championship in a row.
LCK Spring 2024 regular season saw Gen.G take first place and T1 second. During the playoffs, Gen.G breezed through their side of the bracket with wins over Damwon KIA and Hanwha Life Esports to reach the final.
T1 lost their first match to Hanwha Life Esports in round two, dropping to the lower bracket. There, they overcame Damwon KIA and got revenge on Hanwha to set up a predestined final with their longtime rivals for the fourth consecutive time since Summer 2022.
The occasion marks Faker’s 16th final appearance in the LCK. It’s also the first final since head coach Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun’s return at the start of the season, leading the same T1 roster that won Worlds 2023.
What went down during the LCK Spring 2024 final between Gen.G and T1
Kiin proves just how much Rumble’s Equalizer is worth in game one
Gen.G opened game one by first-picking Kalista on blue side and completing their bot lane with Nautilus. Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong responded with an even stronger lane pick — his signature Draven.
T1 made use of flex picks Maokai and Poppy, who can be played in support or jungle. Ultimately it was Ryu “Keria” Min-seok who played the yordle. The last time Poppy support resulted in victory was back in LCK Summer 2021, used by Yoo “Delight” Hwan-joong.
The pressure was on for Kim “Peyz” Su-hwan, who had to play a perfect game — or risk getting punished heavily by his opponent.
In the early game, Gen.G pulled off a full lane swap, sending their bot lane to top, mid laner to bot, and top laner to mid. Due to this surprise move, Peyz scored first blood onto Choi “Zeus” Woo-je’s Aatrox.
Map control and lane priority was the name of Gen.G’s game. Along with Kim “Kiin” Gi-in’s Equalizers, these tools helped them secure three dragons. During the fourth dragon spawn, a big fight broke out, which saw them out maneuvering their opponents, slippery at every turn.
T1 reset immediately and started a sneaky Baron. Even though they managed to secure it and keep their heads in the game, Gen.G punished them, extending the kill score to 12-5 at the 30-minute mark while maintaining a 2,000 gold lead.
During the second Baron spawn, T1 repeated the same move and secured the objective a second time, which prevented Gen.G from ending the game.
Securing late game objectives was key to Gen.G’s last stretch to victory. Still, T1 put up resistance for the third time in a row, this time thanks to Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok’s shocking three-man kill on Azir at Elder Dragon which left four dead on both sides.
After both teams reset, Gen.G played out one last final team fight that went their way to take the lead in the series in 42 minutes.
Faker finally gets to assert his emperor status in game two
Switching sides, it’s T1 who first-picked Kalista while Faker continued on Azir. Game two also saw Keria bringing out his signature Neeko support.
Son “Lehends” Si-woo responded with Annie support while Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon went with Aurelion Sol over Corki. They then last-picked Rek’Sai top (it’s patch 14.6 after all) as a reply to K’Sante.
Holding power in his hands, Gumayusi and Keria pressured bot lane hard, reaping two early kills. He went up 30 CS over his opponent and were overall two dragons ahead.
In the mid game, the breath of Aurelion Sol grew stronger. Even though both teams were on par in kills and gold, Chovy was 4/1/0 with more than 250 stacks of Stardust, and definitely started to hurt.
T1 managed to shut him down with a creative wrap around the top side of the map after the first Baron spawn and secured the objective for themselves. But at the fourth dragon spawn, Gen.G regrouped and waited for their chance to strike.
Once again, Chovy found himself up 9/2/1 with a 350 gold bounty. As long as he was still alive, T1 could not win — which is why Faker’s heroics was their key to victory.
At the 30-minute mark after T1 secured Baron, Gen.G was completely split up. Three members thought they were safe enough in their top side jungle sticking together, but Faker had other ideas.
Slipping through the fog of war, he finished off Chovy’s Aurelian Sol — the most prized target in the game and Gen.G’s only wave clear. Done and dusted, T1 marched into base with Baron empowered minions to even the series.
T1 step on the pedal in game three with Lucian-Nami bot lane
Back on blue side, Gen.G finally denies Faker by first-picking Azir. It’s also the first time this series we pivot to a full enchanter bot lane, with Lulu and Aphelios going up against Nami and Lucian.
Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun started off on the right foot, solo killing Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu in the jungle for first blood. Xin Zhao’s early game pressure was felt, as T1 put themselves up three kills to one.
At the second dragon, Gen.G fought back in a big way. Chovy just reached his first item power spike, Liandry’s Torment, and together with his team, synchronised for three kills which put them back into the game.
Unfortunately, one mistake by Gen.G lead to their downfall in this crucial game three. Lehends walked up to top side’s fog of war, and got instantly punished by Gumayusi’s Lucian.
One by one, T1 chased down each member to their death, all the way down mid lane, acing the squad to open up Baron.
Practically running away with the game, they were up 18 kills to nine at the 34th minute, with Chemtech Soul as Gumayusi maintained a 700 gold bounty and six kills.
By the 37th minute, they extended that number to 23 kills with a 16,000 gold lead, silencing Gen.G, disallowing them from playing League of Legends.
Kha’Zix makes a leap during the drafting phase in game four
For the first half of the draft, it seemed like both teams were trading champions from game three, then Gen.G surprised with a last-pick Kha’Zix for Canyon, a champion that hasn’t been picked at all this LCK Spring 2024 season.
In fact, across all major regions, he was only picked once in the LPL, which resulted in a loss.
This champion pick hints at what Gen.G thought they were lacking the last two games — backline access. They couldn’t play front to back because they had fighters who wanted to jump in, which leaves their vulnerable carries exposed.
The second thing they changed up was their macro. Learning from previous games where T1 snuck in so many Baron power plays, they were much more deliberate in getting and maintaining vision around the pit, so much so that T1 could not pull off the same shenanigans.
Even until late game, most deaths originated in small skirmishes or isolated Kha’Zix kills, which resulted in an overall low kill score.
At the 26th minute, Gen.G repaid T1 for all the devious Baron takes before. An instant pick off on Oner’s Xin Zhao quickly snowballed into an ace as the tigers hunted down the entire pack, evening out the series in just under 30 minutes.
Silver Scrapes sees Kiin change his IGN to Kiin’Sante
It’s Gen.G again shaking up the draft while T1 returns to what they’re comfortable on. Zeri gets picked up for the first time this series in game five, while Canyon shifts gear on Poppy who is valuable against Zac, Xin Zhao, and Lucian in particular.
Besides lane swapping to keep the pace and pressure on, Kiin leveled up further, solo killing Zeus’ Zac twice over in lane in the tank versus tank matchup. The first three dragons also went the way of Gen.G.
At Soul Point, the first big battle broke as T1 grabbed their first dragon, but it was still a win for Gen.G as they cleaned up and took a free Baron.
Minutes later, a well-timed ultimate from Keeper’s Verdict from Canyon sent Oner away, guaranteeing Infernal Soul, which made Chovy’s Missile Barrage poke even more painful.
After a pick on Kiin’s K’Sante, T1 took the second Baron and took down mid lane towers, giving themselves a fighting chance.
The moment Guardian Angels and Corki’s package was available, Gen.G was the one to initiate on first encounter. While four members dealt with threats to their backline, Kiin — whom casters call Kiin’Sante — absorbed damage from three members of T1 and barely made it out alive.
Making conservative calls, they methodically secured the third Baron, and chipped away at T1’s base for the final push after 40-minutes of gameplay.
This is the first time any LCK team has won four championships in a row. Peyz, who debuted in LCK Spring 2023, has also never lost in an LCK final so far. The rookie picked up championship wins twice in 2023, and a third time today, holding a 100% win rate in the final.
For Kiin, it is his first-ever LCK championship. From Ever8 Winners, to Afreeca Freecs, who rebranded to
Kwangdong Freecs, and KT Rolster, he gradually improved his standing over the years.
After seven years since his debut, he finally lifts the trophy with Gen.G this LCK Spring 2024 and wins the final MVP award, which earns him an extra US$3,600.
As champions of LCK Spring 2024, Gen.G take home US$145,000. They represent the region as first seed at MSI 2024 while T1 enter as second seed.
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