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LCK Spring 2024 is nearing its logical conclusion. Two teams are left in the race for the LCK Spring 2024 title.
Two teams widely known to competitive League of Legends fans. T1 and Gen.G ladies and gentlemen, T1 and Gen.G.
This will be the 5th regional league grand final in a row. The clear advantage is on the side of Gen.G, who have won the last three matches.
Let's try to see if T1 will finally take the title at home or if Gen.G will not let Faker take the title again.
Let's go.
Gen.G Form
We open the match review with an analysis of the form of the past three LCK champions Gen.G. In this match they will play as the number one.
In the 2022 season Gen.G finished top 2 at LCK Spring 2022 and won at LCK Summer 2022, and then travelled to Worlds 2022, where they lost dramatically in the grand final match. However, this didn't do much to shake their position at the 2023 season's Long Segment.
In 2023, Gen.G won LCK Spring 2023, leaving no chance for T1 in the grand finals. A little less luck at MSI 2023, where Bilibili Gaming sensationally kept the Korean champions out of the finals.
- Gen.G line-up: Kiin, Canyon, Chovy, Peyz, Lehends.
At LCK Summer 2023, Gen.G made it to the play-offs without any problems. During the group stage, the titular Koreans gave up only 2 series, eventually finishing in 2nd place in the group stage table with a score of 16-2.
In their first play-offs match for themselves, Gen.G crushed HLE. HLE 3-0 and now Gen.G are ready to advance to the league finals for the second consecutive time.
The Grand Final is a rematch of the playoffs. Last round Gen.G beat T1 3-2 in a very tough series and I think the final will be the same.
And in the grand finals, they did it too. And it was even easier than in the match to get here: Gen.G became the LCK Summer Split champion by beating T1 3-1.
Worlds 2023 Gen.G started off with a solid win over Gam Esports. It was fast and painful for Gam with 22 minutes and only 5 kills for the Vietnamese.
In a 2-0 basket match, Gen.G played against their counterparts, and by extension, bitter rivals T1. The South Korean derby, like the last 4, ended in favour of Gen.G, as Chovy and his Akali left T1 with nothing to lose.
Gen.G advanced to the Worlds 2023 play-offs with a score of 3-0. In their final group stage match, they played against G2 Esports and, expectedly easily, ran over the Europeans 2-0.
Being one of the favourites for Worlds 2023, Gen.G couldn't handle the burden of responsibility and lost in the first round of play-offs, Ledgeiv BLG.
In the first match at LCK Spring 2024, Gen.G will be tested against T1. I'm sure the reigning LCK champions will be proud to pass it, as Gen.G are historically good at home against the Worlds 2023 champions. Following that, Gen.G will play Nongshim RedForce, where they should outplay their opponents with unenviable ease.
In the group stage of LCK Spring 2024, Gen.G have done as well as they were expected to do: unequivocal top-1 with a fantastic 17-1 series record. In their first play-offs round Gen.G played against DPlus KIA, where they defeated DPlus KIA 3-2. In the match to advance to the LCK Spring 2024 grand finals, Gen.G faced Hanwha Life Esports and won 3-1.
Gen.G's most popular champions
The most popular champion on the top line is Gnar (10 games, 90% win rate). Jayce appeared 8 times and the winrate was 87%. Kenen was played 4 times and won all matches, KSante 4 times and 3 wins, Renekton 4 times and 2 wins.
In the forest were Vi (11 matches, 72% wins), Sejuani (10 games, 80% wins), Wukong (7 matches, 85% wins), Le Sin (6 games, 83% wins).
On the centre line it was Azir (13 games, 69% wins), Gragas (6 matches, 100% wins), Kassadin (5 games, 100% wins), Viktor (4 matches, 75% wins).
The most popular ADC is Lucian (12 matches, 83% wins). Next are Varus (8 games, 87% wins), Caitlyn (5 games, 100% wins), Zeri (4 matches, 75% wins).
Nami (13 matches, 84% winrate). Ashe and Lux have 4 games and 4 wins each.
T1 Form.
We continue our breakdown of the LCK Spring 2024 Grand Final with a breakdown of T1's game form. In this match they will play as the number two.
T1 won at LCK Spring 2022 and then three consecutive top 2s: MSI, LCK Summer and Worlds 2022.
The curse of top-2s carried over to the 2023 season as well. At the Long Run of the Year, Faker and company took 2nd place at LCK Spring 2023, and then finished third at MSI 2023.
- T1 line-up: Zeus, Oner, Faker, Gumayusi, Keria.
LCK Summer 2023 was a real challenge for T1. The team made it to the play-offs, but did it with difficulty, taking 5th place in the group stage with the score 9-9.
There were problems for the main protagonist - Faker. The legendary mid laner injured his hand and it obviously affected the overall playing conditions of T1. But now Faker is kind of back on track.
The Faker factor has played out. T1 defeated a serious opponent in the person of Dplus and made their way to the next round, where their opponent will be KT Rolster. The latter, by the way, chose T1 as their opponent.
Next up was no less capable opponent than Dplus. Faker and company played against KT Rolster and won that match with a score of 3-2.
The opponent in the match for the play-offs for T1 was Gen.G. The first tried, and even started the game with the score 2-1, but it didn't work out: Gen.G camebacked, and Chovy was better than Faker.
In the grand final match T1 almost lost to KT Rolster after an excellent Long Sogpeg 2-0. They were saved by Gumayusi, who pulled it off on the 5th map with his Xayah.
However, it didn't allow them to win the final. T1 faced their nemesis Gen.G, where they crushingly lost 0-3.
T1 opened Worlds 2023 with a game against Liquid. Being the clear favourite of the series they closed the match against Liquid in their favour, but it was not an easy win: Liquid held on for 36 minutes and Ledge only 1 kill. Everything was decided in the final midlane brawl, after which T1 closed the series.
In a 1-0 basket, T1 ran into their own kryptonite - Gen.G. Faker and company started great, but the first LCK team was the first to adjust the pace of the game to their own and eventually win the match.
Next up, T1 faced Cloud9. Perhaps, it was the most defeated match of all that I had the chance to watch on this Worlds. Naturally, it ended in T1's favour.
After trampling Cloud9 T1 started to beat Bilibili Gaming, and they succeeded. T1 easily defeated the vice-champions MSI 2023 with the score 2-0.
In the play-offs, T1 played against LNG. Scout, who was not unreasonably named the best player of Worlds 2023, was like that until the 5th of November: T1 wiped LNG out, closing the series with a score of 3-0.
In the Worlds 2023 semi-finals, T1 faced arguably the top contender to win the championship, JD Gaming. As formidable as the Chinese were, they were unable to outplay the experienced T1. As a result, Faker and company won the match with a score of 3-1 and T1 for the sixth (!) time made it to the grand finals of the most important League of Legends tournament. And then won it for the 4th time, which is an absolute record in competitive League of Legends and in esports in general.
After an excellent Long Cоrnеg regular season, LCK Spring 2024 T1s slipped a bit in the regular season, finishing 15-3 and in third place. T1 started the championship playoffs with a match against Hanwha Life Esports and surprisingly for me, they blew the game wide open, losing it 0-3. In the lower play-offs T1 played against DPlus KIA and beat them 3-0. Next, they defeated their offenders HLE 3-1, thus becoming the second and last Korean team at MSI 2024.
Most Popular T1 Champions
Fiora (5 games, 60% wins) was the most frequently sent to the top line. There was also Jax (3 games, 100% wins), Camile (2 matches, 100% wins), Irelia (2 matches, 100% wins).
In the forest Maokai (7 matches, 85% wins), Sejuani (4 games, 75% wins), Viego (2 matches, 100% wins).
The centre line was occupied by Azir (5 matches, 80% wins), Sylas (3 games, 66% wins), Kassadin (2 matches, 100% wins), Ryze (2 games, 50% wins).
Shooters: Varus (4 games, 50% wins), Lucian (4 games, 100% wins).
Supports: Nami (3 games, 100% wins), Ashe (3 games, 0 wins), Varus (2 games, 100% wins), Miss Fortune (2 games, 100% wins).
History of head-to-head meetings T1 - Gen.G
The teams have played a lot of official matches and if we talk about regional El Clasico, the absolute advantage is on the side of Gen.G: they haven't lost to T1 since 2023 and in the last 5 series they gave away only 1 card.
Predicted result of the T1 - Gen.G matchup at the LCK Spring 2024 Playoffs
In this matchup, my bet is on Gen.G. They are still too uncomfortable an opponent for T1. Faker and company like to play long, gaining mass on their champions, and Gen.G punish lightning fast with their macro play, aggressiveness and tempo. And Gen.G in LCK is literally T1 kryptonite.
Bottom line: Gen.G wins.
