T1 has been left with one final chance of making it to the 2024 League of Legends World Championship after losing to DPlus KIA in a nailbiting Silver Scrapes match—if they can win the last best of five LCK Regional Qualifying match.
Considering reigning champions T1 boast such a celebrated League team that includes Faker, it’s almost unfathomable that they haven’t made it through Korea’s qualification rounds and into the Worlds 2024 stable yet. That’s exactly the situation they’ve been left in now after losing to DK on Sept. 12 though, with the hugely-popular LCK squad facing a do-or-die last battle to earn that final spot and represent the Korean league in Europe.
Heading into the best of five clash with DK, many T1 fans had considered it nearly impossible the team would lose. While it ended up being a very close game—it came down a tight game five—the Silver Scrapes-led decider ultimately went DK’s way.
During game five, there were many questionable moments and teamfights by T1, such as Keria (as Poppy) trying to solo Lillia in the jungle and running away, poor dive setups in the bot lane, handing over objectives like grubs multiple times, Keria and Zeus walking into a four-man DK group and getting killed, and the team not following through after engaging in teamfights. On top of all that, T1’s decision to put Oner on Zyra jungle really swayed their chances of winning the game. There were other champions like Lee Sin, Sejuani, and Xin Zhao left on the board he could have chosen that would have provided more opportunities for CC, engage, and teamfights; Zyra was just a poor pick against a League team with considerable damage, CC, and engage.
The team T1 will now face has yet to be decided; it ultimately comes down to the winner of the qualifying game between KT Rolster and BNK FearX (FOX) on Sept. 13. T1 has beaten both in the 2024 League season already, but that won’t mean much when it comes to such a tense matchup.
No matter what happens in that match though, T1 only has one goal: Win or miss their chances at defending their Worlds title. Failing to qualify would mark the first time since 2020 that the premier LCK team was missing at the glamorous year-end event. Before that, when they were known as SK Telecom T1, they’d lost out on going to Worlds to Gen.G in 2018 and failed to make the 2014 Worlds. Failing again in 2024 would be the fourth time the storied org has missed the prestigious event, a wounding blow for the modern iteration.
If KT makes it through, this will the org’s fourth Worlds appearance, with their latest being in 2023. On the other hand, if FOX beats KT and T1, this would be their first-ever Worlds run, including before their rebrand from Liiv Sandbox in 2023. Making it to Worlds would be a monumental event for them, which is why many fans are rooting for the underdogs.
Hanwha Life, Gen.G, and now DK are already heading to Worlds 2024 for Korea.
