Gen.G, a professional gaming team, has succeeded in securing the domestic e-sports champion spot.
Gen.G beat T1 3-1 in the spring season finals of the 2023 LoL Champions Korea (LCK) e-sports competition held at the Jamsil Indoor Gymnasium in Songpa-gu, Seoul on the 10th. With this, Gen.G achieved its second consecutive championship following last year’s summer season.
Despite winning the championship title, Gen.G’s victory is evaluated as an unexpected result. This is because at the end of last year, Gen.G sent away season MVP Park “Ruler” Jae-hyeok (24) and was evaluated as weakening. Gen. G entered this season filling the gap left by Park Jae-hyeok with rookie Kim “Faze” Soo-hwan (17) and third-year professional Yoo “Delight” Hwan-joong (20).
Even right before the finals, the atmosphere of predicting the victory of the opponent, T1, was dominant. T1, which has many pro gamers with excellent skills, such as Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (26) and Ryu “Keria” Min-seok (20), showed off their overwhelming skills by recording 17 wins and 1 loss during the regular league (pennant race). Ahead of the finals, 12 out of 13 experts predicted that T1 would win. About 87% of esports fans also expected T1 to win.
The opponent record also laughed at T1. T1 won both matches in the regular league and the playoff winner’s match on the 1st. At the time, Gen.G’s young players were often targeted by T1 because of their lack of experience.
However, the return match, which took place in about a week, produced conflicting results. In the final, as Gen.G calmly assembled the game, T1’s organizational power, which had been like a fortress, collapsed helplessly. Kim Soo-hwan, the youngest, performed the best of his life on the biggest stage, predicting the birth of a new star. He enjoyed the joy of being selected as the ‘Final MVP’ given to the most brilliant player of the day.
Kim Soo-hwan said in a press conference immediately after winning the championship, “I have achieved this result because I have hyungs I can trust and rely on.” As he said, Gen.G was able to fill the vacancy left by Park Jae-hyeok with rookie-level players and win the championship thanks to the new structure of the team. Gen.G scout Son Chang-sik (33) explained that Gen.G’s power was maximized thanks to veteran ‘Peanut’ Wang-ho (25) Han, who is excellent at reading numbers, easing the burden on young players.
Ji-hoon “Chovy” Ji-hoon (22), who has long been called the “King of No Officials,” began to have “winning luck” after becoming the champion for the first time in his life last year at Gen.G. He said, “I can focus more on my play because I have strong teammates. Thanks to the team members, I was able to take off the label of the king of no arms.” 바카라
The joys and sorrows between the winner and the loser clearly intersect. T1 was the runner-up in four consecutive competitions. They rose to the ranks of the strongest teams in Korea by winning the spring season of the same competition last year, but after that, they slipped in two international competitions and the summer season finals, becoming a ‘luxury supporting actor’.
“Kumayushi” Lee Min-hyung (21) expressed his feelings, “I have confidence in the team and myself, and even though people around me predicted that T1 would win, I am just confused because I lost.” Lee Min-hyeong struggled with the best performance in T1, but could not prevent the team from losing.