T1 had to field a substitute academy player Yoon “Poby” Sung-won for the injured Faker due to injury. Unfortunately for T1’s fans, their first game without Faker in the 2023 LCK Summer Split turned out to be a disaster.
The team faced DRX on July 5 as a part of week five of the 2023 LCK Summer Split. Prior to the game, T1’s rivals were placed in eighth place with a 2-6 record. And with T1’s 6-2 score, they were seen as the favorites, even without Faker, who will miss an extended period of time due to a hand injury. In their match, David took down the Goliath in stunning fashion as DRX demolished T1 in a 2-0 series.
In the first game, DRX quickly took the driving wheel by pressuring the early game and never giving up their advantages. T1 were quickly choked, and their new mid laner Poby was the only player to claim any kills on their side with two. The whole team went 2-19-4 in terms of KDA.
The case wasn’t much different in the second game, where DRX smashed T1 in a 32-minute victory. Similarly to the first game, they rapidly took over control of the map, denying T1 any opportunities to claw themselves back into contention.
While this loss is certainly painful for T1 and pushes them even further away from first-placed Gen.G, it’s somewhat understandable. Poby had no experience whatsoever in the LCK prior to July 5’s series, and with a sudden absence of a leader like Faker, it’s not surprising the team lost some steam.
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T1 will need to quickly fix their mistakes if they want to dodge going 0-2 in week five, however. Their next opponent will be Gen.G, who have a perfect 8-0 record and lost only three maps so far. The clash will take place on Saturday, July 8.
