Faker and T1 dominate Top Esports at Worlds 2024 Quarterfinals
Faker and T1 continue to write Worlds history, this time by completely running over Top Esports during their Quarterfinal matchup at Worlds 2024.
Despite the team's struggles throughout the year in the LCK, T1 prove once more that the team is a different beast when Worlds comes around. Now, T1 have come all the way from being one game away from missing Worlds 2024 altogether to breezing their way into the tournament's semifinals.
With T1's victory, Faker continues to make League of Legends history, as this marks the 9th time Faker has made it to the Semifinals at Worlds in his 9 appearances on the biggest tournament in the game.
"I love this game League of Legends, so I think the result follows."
-T1 Faker after his team's victory
Worlds 2024 Knockout Stage wakes up the beast in T1
T1 and Top Esports had already faced each other at Worlds 2024 for their opening game of the Swiss Stage, in which TES walked away the victors after a tense back-and-forth match.
And yet, despite their previous loss, T1 came into their rematch against TES in the Quarterfinals high on confidence. And boy did it show.
To open the series, T1 drafted for their strengths, with a composition based around unparalleled side lane power. All the while getting Gumayusi's hands on Caitlyn, a champion on which the South Korean AD carry has a staggering career winrate of 87.5%.
After an even early game, T1 began running circles around Top Esports in the mid-game, outplaying their Chinese counterparts through better movement across the map on their way to securing a comfortable victory to start the series.
T1 make Worlds Quarterfinals look like child's play
Following T1's Game 1 win against a formidable opponent, not even the biggest T1 believers could have expected it to get any better than that. T1, however, always find a way to impress.
T1 loaded up to the second game of the series ready to dominate in a way we haven't seen yet at Worlds 2024.
Despite TES putting up an interesting composition in the draft, T1's gameplay did not create even the smallest of openings for TES to exploit. Meanwhile, T1 slowly but surely choked TES out of the game, with the LPL side failing to create anything in team fights.
Before long, T1 moved up to match point in the Quarterfinals after finishing the game 15-0 as Top Esports failed to secure even a single kill for the entirety of Game 2.
"I personally really liked the comp we played in Game 2, because I get to play Xin Zhao again after such a long time finally. So, I can say for sure now that current meta allows me to play Xin Zhao. So, I'm pretty happy."
-T1 Oner on their second game of the series
Deservedly feeling like the better team, T1 decided to take some liberties for their third game of the series. Or, at least Keria did, as he locked in Pyke for himself, marking the first time the champion is played at Worlds 2024.
Ultimately, not even Keria's antics could stand in the way of Faker's unending legacy, as T1 reached yet another Semifinals at Worlds after a statement 3-0 victory over Top Esports
Perhaps T1's domination is best exemplified by Gumayusi's final scoreboard for the series, though. The star AD carry finished their Quarterfinals match with a 17/0/14 scoreline, going deathless for the entire series.
Now, T1 are set to face either the North American FlyQuest or their biggest rivals in the LCK, Gen.G, whom T1 have a crushing 3-11 record against in 2024.
"I don't wanna face either of them, honestly. But, it's likely that Gen.G will make it out, so we will do our best to prep for the Gen.G match."
-T1 Oner on who he would rather face in the Semifinals
Faker and T1 break viewership records
Exactly what we all came here to see, the T1 beast let loose at Worlds. That's the story the numbers tell, at least.
T1's series against Top Esports shattered the previous peak record at Worlds 2024, as their Quarterfinals series saw a peak viewership of 3,604,845.
Faker and T1's allure extends beyond the Quarterfinals, however. As things currently stand, the top three most viewed matches at Worlds 2024 have all had T1 in them.
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Image source: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
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