Updated on May 17, 11:28 p.m. (GMT+8): Fixed incorrect mention of dragon to Baron.
The Bracket Stage draw destined a T1 and G2 Esports matchup in the quarterfinals.
It’s been five years since G2 won a best-of-five series against the LCK powerhouse, and that number is only increasing.
Even though the LEC first seed came very close the first time round, bringing it all the way to five games, it’s T1 who widened the gap in their second matchup in lower bracket round three in a sweep.
Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok was a key reason why T1 won game two and game three. This is how the team did it.
T1 vs G2 Esports: innovative drafts, but the LCK second seed showed up better today
Counterpick at draft? Zeus isn’t fazed at all
In game one, T1 on blue side prioritized Orianna and put together a team composition of ball carriers with Sejuani leading the front line.
G2, on the other hand, drafted high single-target burst damage champions in Draven, Le Blanc, and Kha’Zix. On red side, they also locked in the best top lane counter pick to Camille — Jax.
Predictably, due to the drafts, lane swaps were in effect at level one. By the end of the laning stage, the gold and kill scores were even but T1 had control of the dragon.
The first big battle broke out in the mid game with Choi “Zeus” Woo-je’s Camille leading the charge. As each member got picked off, he stood as the last man laughing, downing both enemy carries.
A last second Adaptive Defenses passive shield excitingly determined the outcome of the 1v1 against Steven “Hans Sama” Liv’s Draven.
Zeus’ Camille continued to be T1’s key to winning in the rest of the fights that ensued, jumping into the backline, keeping a bull’s eye on the enemy AD carry.
It became apparent that G2 could not play out team fights the way they wanted to, especially not with this draft. They eventually lost their Nexus in 26 minutes.
Faker, the target of game two, is also its unsung hero
Reworking their draft, G2 packed three champions with executes and resets in game two: Draven, Viego, and Urgot. Mihael “Mikyx” Mehle on Nautilus also gives them more reliable engage.
They quickly put Mikyx to work, intentionally camping mid at level one to burn Faker’s flash — an important Summoner Spell for the immobile mage during the laning phase.
As a result, despite receiving help from Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun’s Poppy, Faker miscalculated his damage and gave over the kill to Rasmus “Caps” Borregaard Winther under his turret.
Knowing that his Flash was still down, G2 congregated a second time, sending four to mid lane and killing two to put themselves up four kills to two with dragon control.
Without giving too many kills away, T1 kept their poise, putting Faker in the side lane to help him catch up and scale, maintaining an even gold and kill score.
Past 20 minutes, they pulled the trigger and went for their classic late-game macro play by sneaking Baron right under G2’s noses. Winning the fight, they went on to capture the fourth dragon and never looked back.
At the second Baron spawn, T1 once again patiently played around terrain and beat G2 in the 5v5 team fight. They were about to end, but couldn’t get the last auto attack off.
That is when Faker’s other Summoner Spell finally proved its worth — he teleported in to finish the job in epic fashion. It’s almost as if the more you intentionally shut him down in the early game, the more this man is determined to win.
Patience is a virtue, and all that’s needed
Again on blue side, G2 fell back to their series-winning mid lane Tristana pick. They adapted even more in the support role, picking Braum, signalling that their plan is to kite back and reengage with the help of Martin “Yike” Sundelin’s Ivern to protect the two AD carries.
T1 picked a strong mid lane and jungle duo in Taliyah and Vi. Tying it off with Rumble, they added more AOE control which would be useful in team fights.
Unfortunately, a single mistake from Zeus in the top lane cost the team first blood. As a result, all three lanes had to be on the defensive in the early game because of the nature of the matchups.
The first real trade between both teams was when G2 took down the first turret at bot into the second dragon, which T1 traded for a shutdown at top into Void Grubs.
A tense game three in the lower bracket where everything is on the line, T1 finally found their moment 27 minutes in. Recognizing that Caps was alone in mid lane, they threw out multiple ultimates to shut him down instantly. Free-hitting over the wall, Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong and the squad cleaned up remaining members into Baron.
With Chemtech Soul, G2 Esports started the Baron at the 34th minute mark — but it’s Faker again who saw an angle that no one else did, lining up Weaver’s Wall to set up for The Equalizer.
On top of that, Oner successfully stole Baron which sealed the deal and the series.
T1 advances to the lower bracket final to face Bilibili Gaming a second time this tournament. G2 Esports is eliminated. Read Faker’s post-match thoughts here.
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