One of many oldest clichés in sports activities is “with the intention to be the perfect, it’s important to beat the perfect,” and T1 left no questions as to which area is unequivocally the perfect at League of Legends proper now.
On the best way to the 2023 League world title, T1 took down all 4 groups from China’s LPL, signaling dominance in an inter-regional rivalry that’s virtually as outdated as professional League itself. No group has ever overwhelmed 4 groups from a single area throughout a single Worlds run, however T1 pulled off that accomplishment today with wins over Bilibili Gaming, LNG Esports, JD Gaming, and Weibo Gaming throughout 4 totally different levels of the event.
Whereas groups prior to now have clear swept sure areas out of the event, no group has performed it fairly like T1. The 2023 champions beat all 4 groups from China, beginning with Bilibili within the Swiss stage, then beating all the three different Chinese language groups to shut out their run: LNG within the quarterfinals, JDG within the semis, then lastly Weibo within the grand finals. After all, there’s a little bit of luck that goes together with this feat, because the bracket draw may’ve simply as simply positioned T1 (and their eventual opponents) towards another mixture of groups from throughout the globe.
What undoubtedly wasn’t luck-based, although, was that T1’s run was nearly spotless, as they solely dropped one recreation within the knockout spherical and completed the event with an total recreation document of 13-2. Beating 4 groups from the LPL in near-perfect trend makes 2023 T1’s run stand out as probably the most spectacular of all time.
The final group to beat each group from one area throughout a single League World Championship was FunPlus Phoenix in 2019, who beat all three LEC representatives—Splyce, Fnatic, and G2 Esports—that yr en path to a Worlds title. No group has ever overwhelmed 4 groups from a single area till right this moment, nevertheless. Edward Gaming got here shut in 2021, beating three out of the 4 Korean groups at Worlds that yr however didn’t play Hanwha Life within the bracket.
Transferring into the 2024 offseason, it’s laborious not to take a look at Korea as probably the most constant area on the planet. The LCK has received three of the primary 4 World Championships up for grabs within the 2020s, and it’s performed it with three totally different groups. Regardless of the notion that the LPL might need extra depth in its lineup of groups annually—particularly contemplating three LPL groups reached the semifinals this yr—T1’s utter dominance of their rival area on the worldwide stage is sufficient to tip the scales in Korea’s favor by itself.
