On Aug. 19, in the 2023 LCK Summer Split playoffs, T1 faced KT Rolster. The two teams fought fiercely as they made the arena ring of Silver Scrapes again, but in the end, T1 emerged as the winner. With the win, T1 advanced to the finals as well as securing a ticket to the 2023 LoL World Championship. After the match, interim head coach Lim “Tom” Jae-hyeon, mid laner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, and top laner Choi “Zeus” Woo-je joined the media for a press conference.

Congrats on the win. How was today’s match?

Tom: As we won games 1 and 2 rather easily, we got a bit loose. On the other hand, KT players got better.

Faker: Today’s game was really tough, but we were able to learn a lot.

Zeus: When we got ahead 2-0, I think I unconsciously got careless. I was able to learn how my mindset should be in these situations.

(To Faker) It’s the first time you’re going to Worlds held in Korea.

Faker: It doesn’t really matter where Worlds is held, but since it's the first time I'm playing at Worlds held in Korea, I'm looking forward to it.

KT banned Azir in the later games. What did you discuss about the bans?

Tom: One of the reasons we picked Cassiopeia was that it’s a champion we can pull out without much practice. We have that much experience playing it. Even with the Azir ban, we have plenty of champions we can pick, so I’m not worried.

Playing in the finals decider match before playing in the finals the next day could be advantageous - being able to feel the atmosphere and adapt to the environment. What do you think?

Zeus: I definitely agree.

In the first two games, you picked the top side champions first, but in the later games, you prioritized the bot champion.

Tom: The longer the games go, we had to reveal more cards, so we went in that direction.

(To Faker) You selected Conqueror and Hail of Blades on Azir.

Faker: I was confident playing the late game with Conqueror, and I’m still researching Hail of Blades.

You’ll be facing Gen.G in the finals.

Faker: Gen.G is the defending champion, and I think they’re a very strong team. We need to discuss how we’ll deal with them according to their style.

Zeus: We lost to Gen.G the last time. If we know ourselves and the opponent, we’ll win no matter what, so I’ll prepare with that in mind.

The Asian Games are coming up too.

Faker: When I first went to the Asian Games, I had a sense of duty. This time, I’ll make sure that I show the best performance. We lost to China at MSI, so I’ll prepare more thoroughly.

Zeus: I know what a precious chance it is to be a part of the Asian Games. I’ll need to know my opponents well as well as myself.

In your last match against Gen.G, Chovy’s Yone was a big threat.

Tom: Chovy scales well even when he plays a champion that loses lane. He is capable of making plays in teamfights as well. If it’s difficult to face, we might ban it.

Any last comments?

Tom: We had a close 3-2 win today. We’ll improve what we lacked today so that we can win 3-1 or 3-0 tomorrow.

Faker: I’m grateful that we were able to show a good performance today. The support of countless fans helped us win. I’ll be back in good condition.

Zeus: We went through a lot getting here, and again, it’s Gen.G. I believe we’ll be able to show a good performance.