Afreeca Freecs pulled off a huge upset against T1 today. Even though Faker came off the bench for T1, AFS picked up the 2-1 series win in the 2020 LCK Summer Split playoffs.
This was the first time this split that AFS beat a League of Legends team that was higher than them in the standings. They managed to earn the nickname of the gatekeeper of the playoffs during the regular season for being 0-2 against teams ranked from first to fourth but 2-0 against squads from sixth to 10th in the standings.
AFS’ mid and bottom laners popped off today. Fly’s Zoe and Mystic’s Miss Fortune earned the Player of the Game awards after being the crucial factors in AFS’ victory. Fly brought out his Aurelion Sol pocket pick in the second game but was unable to perform on it.
The series began with rookie mid laner Clozer as the starter for T1. He was given Zoe, and while he performed well, the team eventually got ran down by AFS. T1 were outclassed in every single lane, and judging by the draft, they were the clear favorites. But they were unable to execute it properly.
T1 came close to evening out the first game even while being behind on gold and kills by taking the Mountain Dragon Soul. But AFS quickly realized this and pushed the gas pedal to end the game.
Following their devastating loss in the first game, T1 subbed in their legendary mid laner, Faker. He was given a first-pick Twisted Fate, which he used to take control of the game. T1 looked completely different, confident in their moves and calculated with their plays. After toying with their food for 25 minutes, they equalized the series.
AFS responded by bringing in jungler Spirit for the third game. His veteran experience in such dire situations was crucial for AFS. They had a much better early game this time, securing both Rift Heralds and the early drakes. They then started slowly choking T1 out and scaling into the late game. As the game went by, T1’s hope of winning the series went down. After AFS took down the Baron, they went to challenge T1. And after a bloody teamfight, AFS finished the game and the series.
Following this loss, T1 only have one shot at the 2020 World Championship. They’ll have to go through the regional qualifiers, which begin in two weeks on Sept. 7.
AFS advance to the next round of LCK playoffs following this huge upset. They’ll face Gen.G on Friday, Aug. 28 at 3am CT.
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