Unsurprisingly, this matchup has become the main talking point of the LCK 2022 Summer Season. As the long-standing Telecom Wars are gradually fading out, the clash of two highest titans (T1 and Gen.G) is on track to become the most-watched matchup in all of the LCK.

For good reason, too: the two teams are neck and neck with the record of 11 Wins and 1 Loss. T1 no longer arrive to this match as Unkillable Demon Kings – and Gen.G smell the blood in the water and are ready to strike the reigning champs if they show even a momentary weakness.

T1: at the top, but at what cost?

On the surface, T1 remain as dominant as ever. As the team leads the LCK polls in a convincing manner, one would assume they’re still in top form. However, a closer inspection reveals a team at the crossroads of destiny.

The star team’s upset loss to Kwandong Freecs can be rationalized: a surprise pocket pick, an unorthodox strategy Gumayusi and Keria didn’t see coming, and a stroke of genius from KDF’s Cain. All are valid excuses, but there’s no excuse for T1’s form in other games against relatively “lesser” teams – even if they did win them in the end, as paradoxically as it may sound.

T1’s inability to grab Game 1 even against teams of Fredit BRION’s caliber is alarming. The team seems to have gotten some sort of star fever, which makes them unable to respect their opponents – which (almost) costs them dearly every time.

Photo by: Inven.

The #1 team deciding a game via the Elder Drake flip against the #10 team sounds ridiculous – but it seems to be T1’s style at the moment. In fact, the team has lost more Elders than it secured: 3 lost, 2 grabbed over the course of the Summer Split. If this was a nameplates-off moment, you wouldn’t recognize them as the current leaders of the pack.

To be fair, T1 has historically been the team to win with their wallets after dominating the laning phase. In Spring 2022, their stats were ridiculous: a whopping +2505 Gold differential at 15 minutes on average, with nearly +300 Gold diff per minute. The team’s playstyle back then was simple: outlane everyone, secure Rift Herald, ram it down a turret (and secure the First Turret bonus gold in 85% of games), get fat stacks, and right-click the enemy.

Let’s be honest – even the best team in the world would forget what it means to actually try hard in teamfights in this scenario. Why practice teamfighting when you can simply outdamage your opponents with all the bonus gold you get? But take this bonus gold away and see this playstyle crumble under its own weight.

Ever since Faker dashed Chovy’s hopes at Worlds 2021, the famed “next Faker” has plotted his revenge.

Photo by: Riot Games.

T1’s stats in Summer 2022: +1054 Gold differential @15, +198 GPM advantage. The stats are still great, but they’re not great enough, and the margin of error is much slimmer than before. As more teams adapted to T1’s toplane-heavy approach, the team can no longer secure Herald with impunity as they did before (75% Heralds secured in Spring > 52% Heralds secured in Summer).

Because of these factors, T1 went from “full-control” team to “hope this works.” For a team of this caliber, winning a series with a score of 2:1 feels more like a loss than a victory. The champion’s curse is real in this one.

Read more: https://tips.gg/article/lck-summer-2022-week-7-day-5-t1-vs-gen-g-