It’s been five years since G2 Esports won an international best-of-five series against T1 — Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok surly still remembers.
The last time was at MSI 2019, where the kings of EU made history by defeating SK Telecom T1 (now rebranded) 3-2 in the single bracket semifinal, and went on to sweep Team Liquid for the title.
Even though they came close today, up 2-1 early in the quarterfinal series, they eventually fell in game five to a strong mid-jungle combo in Ahri and Lee Sin, played by Faker and Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun. Read our full recap of the game here.
During the post-game broadcast interview, Faker took to the stage to explain how they overcame challenges to secure victory and remain in the upper bracket.
No clap: in Faker’s own words, this is what caused T1’s troubles against G2 Esports at MSI 2024
“I could immediately tell G2 prepared so much for this series. Early in the series, we got punished so hard because of this,” Faker reflected. “But later on, everything worked out fine so we were able to get the win in the end.”
When asked by Laure “Bulii” Valée on what specifically the team could’ve done better this series, the mid laner outlined three factors.
Firstly, he believes that their reaction to G2’s early game strategy was “a little poor.” Secondly, he feels that their read on G2’s playstyle wasn’t on point and they could’ve done better with thorough research.
Lastly, T1 made a lot of mistakes in general, Faker said.
Since G2 versus T1 has become an international classic that League of Legends esports fans look forward to, Laure asked Faker what he thought before coming into the matchup.
“Because it’s been so long since we last faced G2 in an international tournament, I was expecting them to be a little different in terms of playstyle — but I was surprised to see a lot of similarities to the past, so it was also amazing. I think we were able to showcase a very entertaining and great series together,” Faker answered.
He highlighted the role long-time head coach Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun played today as well. “He had a lot of faith in the players so we were able to work it out together,” said Faker.
Wrapping up the interview, Laure asked if there’s anything he’d like to improve on after this series. “Everything, starting from the laning phase to team fights. Everything in general,” he replied.
T1 advances to the upper bracket semifinal against Bilibili Gaming, the LPL team that knocked them out of MSI 2023 contention last year in the lower bracket final. G2 Esports will face PSG Talon in lower bracket round one.
Fans can watch MSI 2024 matches live on Riot Games’ official Twitch and YouTube channels.
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