T1 has made it to the Worlds Finals for a 3rd year in a row, only one enemy stands in their way of a consecutive trophy. This wouldn't be the first time this team wins two years in a row but would be the first time they do it with the exact same roster. Faker is the only player who has been here since the very beginning, meaning this is potentially his 5th ring.
BLG is the clear underdog here as none of these players have ever won Worlds. Even though they dominated LPL this year coming into the tournament as the best in the region, this will be the hardest challenge they will ever face.
With no second chances it all comes down to this best of 5 series where T1 will fight to the best of their ability to stay champions and go down in history as the best team in the history of League of Legends, as this may be the last time we see this roster play together. If BLG manages to win against insurmountable odds means we will have a spectale of the best games we've seen in a long time.
The Road so Far
T1's history dates back to 2013, when it used to actually be split into 2 teams: SKT T1 S & SKT T1 K. Faker was handpicked by SKT with the idea of building a team around him, which they have continued to do until this very day. This first season was also the first time T1 and Faker won the World Championship, starting what would become a legendary career.
They're the only team in history to win two years in a row, defending the Champions title. This was done in 2015 and 2016, losing in 2017 making that the first time ever they got to Worlds and didn't take the trophy home. Even with a history of dominating the pro scene this team has been unable to even qualify for Worlds more than once. When they do qualify however, it's rare to not see them get eliminated before Semifinals.
SK Telecom T1 rebranded to just T1 in 2019 and it wasn't until 2022 that the roster we know and love was created. It was this year that they went undefeated in the LCK Regular Season with an 18-0 record, the only ones to have ever achieved this. While they didn't win the World Championship this year, it's still regarded as the best one in League of Legends history. Ever since then this organization has made the decision to not make roster changes and help the players work better as a team, a strategy that has worked immensly well and no other team has ever dared to do.
As of today they have 4 Worlds and 2 MSI titles to their name, a 5th title will make sure everyone knows Faker as the undisputed Greatest Of All Time. Will their performance this year give us a hint of what's to come?
Their Regular Season performance could've been a lot better. They did come in 2nd during spring but barely managed to land the LCK's 4th seed spot by coming in 2nd in regional playoffs. This is not the first time a different team dominates the region, but their expertise shows during international tournaments. This was proven when they beat GenG, who were considered the best players from Korea. So far they only 1st place they've gotten since Worlds 2023 has been the Esports World Cup, which took place in the middle of Summer Season.
If we take a look at this year's Mid Season Invitational we can see they actually lost to BLG not only once but twice. This is the very same team they're facing now. After losing 1-3 in round two they had a rematch in the last round of loser's bracket, where they then lost 2-3.
Given the performances we've seen from them during Worlds, these players just keep getting stronger. The closer to Finals they get, the more unstoppable they seem. Everyone may be expecting Faker to lift a 5th trophy soon but this is not a clear cut victory, BLG has a very real chance at this.
BiliBili Gaming's history dates back to 2018, however the current roster has only been playing together since Summer. They actually have 2 junglers: Wei and Xun; only the latter has been in the team since 2023 alongside the rest of the roster. So far Wei has only played two games, one of which was their loss against T1.
This roster has completely dominated LPL the entire Season, taking first place in both Spring and Summer. Had they managed to beat GenG they would be standing in what's known as a "Golden Road". This means winning Summer & Spring Season, MSI and Worlds all in the same year. T1 has been the team closest to completing this in 2015, where they got 2nd place in MSI and won everything else. BLG may now be standing in their shoes.
Unfortunately they have struggled to translate this dominance to international events. Looking at just their performance within this tournament, they've already lost to T1, struggled against G2 and even lost to LNG. This is going to be, without a doubt, the hardest series they've played all year.
T1 has shown incredible strengths inside of their drafts, not afraid to innovate and take chances knowing their preparation and players can back it up. They're probably the best team in the world when it comes to executing lane swaps early game, consistently getting leads out of it, knowing when it's the best time to execute them and pretty much always being benefited from this popular maneuver. Combined with near perfect early games this team is a monster for almost the entire first half of every single game.
Their key trait which lets all of this work is undoubtedly patience; knowing when to and not to take fights, give up objectives and staying calm throughout the entire game has proven a major asset in every single game they've won. However we also saw them lose every time they weren't patient enough.
Besides depending on this virtue they definitely have weaknesses. The longer a game goes the more disjointed their gameplay becomes: mismatched tempo among players, not standing in the correct places at the right times and somewhat lackluster coordination in the late game can easily give their enemies chances at winning the game. When they find themselves far in the lead minimal mistakes like these can sometimes be irrelevant; if they're to find themselves without a significant lead however this is a very easy way to lose the game.
If BLG excels at anything it's definitely their ability to punish mistakes. In true LPL fashion they're never afraid of taking fights and skirmishes, something that could throw T1 off-balance. They may be the only team who prevents them from simply walking away unscathed in attempts to avoid teamfights.
They're also incredible at keeping a lead; once someone is ahead in gold it's very rare to see it be lost or even diminish. Not letting T1 snowball from the early game can heavily improve their chances at winning the game. A game where both these teams stay relatively even in terms of gold will test T1's patience as it may come down to pure teamfighting.
Another key element is the decisive cross-mapping from BLG. They usually anticipate when a team will take an objective and will make a play in the opposite side of the map instantly. While this may not create an advantage for the whole team, creating a gold and XP lead on a single player can easily get every player ahead not long after.
This repertoire of a skillset provides major tools to take down the 4 times World Champions, but also poses major risks. The majority of things mentioned here are double edged swords, running the risk of digging a deeper hole for them to fall in. Small miscalculations can end up giving away tons of resources that would've been otherwise inaccessible. This team will walk a tight rope between helping T1 demolish them harder or striking all their vital points.
With their contracts expiring in a few weeks, this may be the last time we see this T1 roster together. It's currently unknown if any of the players will stay in the team, with the exception of Faker.
Both teams also heavily rely in their Midlaners in order to win games. All eyes will be here as we see two of the best midlaners alive battle for the most important series of their lives.
Given such a special occasion we will be giving away 250€ in Riot Points (Or the Riot official Merch Store!) to a random person who can correctly predict the winner! Comment which team YOU think will take the trophy home.
My bets are on T1 to win a second year in a row, making history once again. I also very well hope this is a 3-2 series.