This is T1 and Bilibili Gaming’s first series since the MSI 2023 lower bracket final where Bilibili ended their run.
Tied with a 2-1 score at the Worlds 2023 Swiss Stage, the LCK and LPL representatives were drawn to face off against each other in round four.
On the back of the roaring home crowd, T1 got their revenge on the LPL representatives in a 2-0 sweep to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Ryu “Keria” Min-seok played the same support champion in both games, a pick that hasn’t received much attention this tournament.
T1 Keria’s clutch Tahm Kench mechanics made all the difference against Bilibili Gaming at the Worlds 2023 Swiss stage
BLG banned Xayah and Caitlyn on red side in an attempt to curb Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong in game one.
In response to their short-ranged bot lane comprising Kai’Sa and Rell, T1 opted for Senna — a champion that NRG Ian Victor “FBI” Huang found great success on in their victory against G2 the match before.
Despite the scaling nature of Azir and Senna, the first game kicked off with a very unexpected action-packed level one caused by a delayed invade by BLG.
Playing it cool, Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun’s Jarvan and his bot lane first disengaged. Gumayusi then poked down the opposing trio by weaving in multiple basic attacks. Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok’s Azir eventually stepped over to help secure first blood.
Caught between a rock and a hard place, there was nowhere for Peng “Xun” Li-Xun’s Nidalee to escape. Keria’s Tahm Kench licked him down, putting T1 up two kills to none in the first three minutes of the game.
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Taking control, T1 focused on objectives, grabbing the first three dragons and four towers to build their gold lead. They were so ahead that they even started a 4v5 in BLG’s jungle where a clutch Devour from Keria onto Faker’s Azir completely nullified Shockwave.
Utilizing a free Baron buff, they subsequently marched into BLG’s base to close out the 28-minute victory.
Switching up their drafts in game two, T1 continued to lean on Jarvan and Tahm Kench’s success. The front-to-back composition gives Faker’s Orianna multiple options for ball carriers.
On blue side, BLG overhauled their draft. Vi paired with Syndra and Jax allows for effective combos at mid and top lane, especially at level six.
Refreshed, BLG got to work early. Chen “Bin” Ze-Bin scored two solo kills onto Choi “Zeus” Woo-je’s Gragas at top.
Meanwhile, XUN’s Vi found opportunities in mid lane twice: during the period when Faker’s flash was down, he zoomed in for a second gank. Together, they earned four kills in the first 10 minutes of the game.
Despite being on the backfoot, T1 started to turn the tides at the second infernal dragon spawn. In the midst of the tussle, Oner managed to secure it before Zeng “Yagao” Qi’s Syndra teleported in for the fight.
Even though Luo “ON” Wen-Jun’s Alistar found the prefect combo onto Gumayusi’s Jinx, knocking him back into the team, it was all for nothing — because Keria immediately Devoured him to safety.
The moment he emerged, T1 counter-engaged, reaping three kills, two of which were on Gumayusi.
With playoffs qualification at stake, both teams tried to test each other while keeping risks at a minimal from mid to late game. Their draft’s strengths and weaknesses were clear: BLG wanted to pressure the side lane by relying on Bin’s Jax. In contrast, T1 wanted to team fight using their AOE combos.
At 26 minutes, T1 found a prime opportunity to completely shift momentum in their favor. For some reason, despite not having his AD carry around, ON’s Alistar went onto Oner’s tank Jarvan — who had both of his AP and AD carries by his side.
Melting the cow’s health bar, they chased Yagao’s Syndra for a double kill that translated to an uncontested Baron.
Stepping on the pedal, T1 with Cloud Soul grouped up as one, finding picks and downing inner turrets to finally close out the second game at 31:01.
The only other support to utilize Tahm Kench in the Swiss stage so far is NRG’s Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun. Coupled with Keria’s two wins here, the support champion now has a 100% win rate across four games in the main event.
Looking at the overall Worlds 2023 meta wise, teams have been favoring engage supports like Rakan, Alistar, Rell, and Nautilus, the current top four most-picked champions in this role.
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