The LCK Summer Split Playoffs showdown once again offered fans a thrilling showdown and an unexpected conclusion as Hanwha Life Esports toppled T1 3-1, blocking their direct route to defend their title at the 2024 League of Legends World Championship.
This win also marked HLE player Zeka’s first appearance in the LCK Finals, making him the first mid laner outside of Faker, Chovy, Bdd, and ShowMaker since Ucal faced a rookie Chovy in 2018. With this victory, HLE moves on to face Gen.G in the Summer Split finals, who have already qualified for Worlds by winning MSI, meaning both teams already have their spot secured at Worlds.
The match was intense, with both teams showing strong moments throughout the games.
T1’s choice of Ziggs and Leona for the bot lane, along with Faker’s surprising pick of Caitlyn mid—his 80th unique champion pick—initially seemed promising, but HLE’s pick of Smolder in mid proved more effective. Despite a close gold gap, HLE leveraged the advantage accumulated in the laning phase to secure more kills, turrets, and objectives, which, combined with their Baron claim, led to a dominant win.
Though T1 found a way to tie up the match with Faker’s late-game Tristana quadra kill, the last two games of the series were completely in HLE hands as they began to take control with Zeka’s Smolder, with a 36-minute win securing the series at 3-1.
And so T1’s tough summer continues—they struggled against several teams during the group stage, fell in the lower bracket after a disastrous 3-0 against HLE, and were under the scrutiny of fans after a concerning video of Faker was published online.
And yet, despite these setbacks, the world champions still have one final chance to make it to Worlds. But first, T1 is now forced to battle through the LCK regional finals—starting with a match against Dplus KIA— for their chance to defend their crown.
