Bot laner Lee ‘Gumayusi’ Min-hyeong of T1 has expressed his team's readiness to settle scores with fellow competitors, JD Gaming and Bilibili Gaming at the impending Worlds 2023.
Heading into the global competition, T1 aims to break the international title drought which has been extending since their last victorious moment at the Mid-Season Invitational in 2017 in Brazil. Following that, T1 managed to reach three international finals viz. Worlds 2017 and 2022, and MSI 2022, albeit these journeys ended in defeat.
For Gumayusi, this year's world championship will be his third consecutive appearance. The previous two saw T1 battling hard but being overcome by DAMWON Gaming in the semi-finals of Worlds 2021 and by DRX in the final of the previous year. Both series extended to all five games.
As the world championship approaches, Gumayusi has expressed a thirst for vengeance against JD Gaming and Bilibili Gaming that caused T1's defeats in the MSI 2023 playoffs. In an interview he mentioned his desire for revenge against these two sides who had overcome T1 at the MSI 2023.
A Glimpse into T1's Recent Performances
The reason behind Gumayusi's yearning for revenge can be attributed to T1's performance at the MSI. They were ousted to the lower bracket after JD Gaming narrowly triumphed over them, with a 3-2 scoreline. Eventually, T1 was ousted from the championship following a defeat by Bilibili Gaming, tallying a 3-1 scoreline.
Preparation for Upcoming Championship Battles
All three teams including T1, JD Gaming, and Bilibili Gaming have gained direct entry to the main stage of Worlds 2023. In the history of the competition, this event is to witness a Swiss format for the first time. Besides T1, other teams such as Gen.G, KT Rolster, and Dplus will be representing the LCK at Worlds.
Team T1's Strategy for Worlds
The team currently only has two players available. Choi ‘Zeus’ Woo-je, Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok, and Ryu ‘Keria’ Min-seok are all part of South Korea’s team for the continental tournament, the 2022 Asian Games. This tournament will be played on patch 13.12, whereas Worlds will take place on patch 13.19. The situation poses a challenge as the players will have less three weeks to adapt to the meta if South Korea reaches the final of the Asian Games. Despite this, Gumayusi feels that the team will make the best use of the time they have. He emphasized that they will take advantage of solo queue and share information about the meta with the other players.
In the same interview, Gumayusi revealed that Worlds 2023 might signify the final appearance of T1’s current roster, with the contracts of several players set to expire at the end of the season.
