The 2022 LCK Summer finals are just two days away. It’s the rematch of the LCK Spring finals, as T1 will be facing off against Gen.G once again. The clash of these two titans is history repeating itself; Gen.G are finally looking to secure their first domestic title, with T1 looking to carve another milestone in their intensive legacy.

Tim “Nemesis” Lipovšek is a pro player in the LoL Esports scene,  currently a streamer for Gen.G. He’s watched all of Gen.G’s matches through his co-streams of their matches, as well as most of T1’s matches throughout the split. In a conversation with him, he shared some of his thoughts on the upcoming finals between Gen.G and T1.

The following is that conversation I had with Nemesis of the upcoming finals.

You've co-streamed/watched all of Gen.G's games this split. Anyone with an experienced set of eyes would agree that they'll finally take the championship trophy this split. Percentage wise, what's your take and predicted score?

I think it’s 70-30 for Gen.G, and I think they’ll win 3-1. I think the meta favors Gen.G, as it’s an ADC-ccentric meta. I don’t think you can target ban any specific player, because Gen.G’s good at too many champions right now. Compared to T1, I think Gen.G plays more consistently and has better teamplay. 

They’re just a strong team. They don’t have one player that stands out more than one another; all five of those players are very cohesive as a unit.

T1 is a team that performed consistently, but still showed weakness throughout the split. If you were to point out some of those weaknesses, what would they be?

Their biggest weakness is their terrible drafts. I’m not them, so it’s really hard for me to understand why they draft the way they do. It’s funny because I can make two champions per role, and if you would force teams to play those champions only, then they’d win more games.

Think of the most generic team compositions you can think of. A generic team comp in the current meta would be something like… Ornn-Wukong-Ahri or Azir-Sivir or Zeri-Lulu or Yuumi. If T1 just played generic team compositions like this, then I think they’d win more games. However, like I said, I’m not them, so it’s hard for me to explain why they draft the way they do.

Speaking of picks, there’s been talk on whether or not Nilah works in pro play. Do you think there’s a chance that we’ll see more of Nilah in the upcoming finals?

She’s really strange. In some games she pops off, but in other games, she’s completely useless. She’s not consistent at all. Every player has their own build on her, which I don’t understand. I hate it when she’s picked into Yuumi, because I don’t think she does well against her.

In my opinion, her biggest strength is the level advantage that you get from the extra XP. She becomes higher level than the enemy adc, and your support does as well in comparison to the enemy support. However, if it’s supports like Nautilus, does it really matter? If it’s Nautilus against Yuumi for example, Yuumi will still outscale.

T1 played Nilah-Sejuani in game 4 against DK in round 2 of the playoffs, and I think that bot lane’s really good. It’s much better than Nautilus, for example because they can both proc Sejuani passive and Sejuani benefits from higher levels as well. However, I’d personally prefer teams stay away from Nilah for now, and pair enchanter supports like Lulu/Yuumi with a hyper carry.

You mentioned that there are no specific target bans against Gen.G. However, there’s one pick that’s ascended Ruler, and that’s Zeri. Why do teams keep letting him play this champion, and do you think T1 will also let him play Zeri in the finals?

That’s also something I’m curious about, because every time Ruler’s on Zeri, he just wins. In my opinion, the best bans against Gen.G are the triple ADC bans. Or Yuumi. Poppy’s also a good ban because of how good Peanut is on that champion. In my opinion, Yuumi, Zeri, and Sivir are probably the three best bans against Gen.G. Lehends has a 100% win rate on Yuumi. He’ll just first pick it whenever it’s available, so you would think that teams will ban this champion against Gen.G, but nah.

There’s no point banning mid lane champions like Ahri, because Chovy will pick something else and still would have more CS than his lane opponent. Because it’s an adc meta, just banning champions that will 1v9 in the mid-late game would be the most optimal option against Gen.G. 

Many have praised Peanut’s innovative jungle pathing this split. What makes it so special?

I wouldn’t say creative jungle pathing; I’d say that he finds good ganks in his games. He knows where to go on the map at the right time. He often ganks level 3 and gets kills, which also means that his enemy laners are playing bad. Still, being able to find those angles is his ability to read the game, so you can’t discredit him for that.

In your opinion, which lane matchup do you think will be the most important one for the finals?

ADC. Easily. Because of the champions in the current meta, and every adc 1v9s right now. It is unreal that Riot hasn’t nerfed them yet. When the game reaches the point where champions get 2-3 items, it just becomes the ADC show. Every other role has no say in the game. If I had to play any other role, I’d be very mad playing those roles.

If any other role was this broken, then the whole community would flip. But it’s ADC, so it’s fine.

In the LCK finals media day, Score said it doesn’t really matter which side they play on, but would love to play on the blue side to showcase more variety of strategies. Polt said that he thinks the blue side is better. The community was also outspoken on how the blue side is better. What’s your take on side selection?

Honestly, I don’t think it matters too much. However, I think most teams in general should pick the red side, because when I watch LCK, teams pick the blue side, then proceed to first pick Renekton. What’s the point of picking the blue side then? The biggest strength of drafting from the blue side is that you get to first pick the champion you want; I can see Gen.G first picking Yuumi or Zeri, but I can’t really picture what T1 wants to first pick.

I had this opinion for years, but pro teams think the blue side is better, so you’re probably going to see teams prioritize the blue side. Historically speaking, the blue side has a higher win rate, and it’s harder to play from the red side. Blue side is easier from the draft perspective as well, especially if you have higher knowledge on how to draft. It’s much harder to draft from the red side. At the highest level of play, however, I think the red side is better. I’d much prefer playing from the red side.