Can T1 Win LCK 2023 Summer Split Without Faker?

This year’s Summer Split in LCK started quite strong for T1 with only a few losses here and there, and they were performing quite well. Not on the level from last year when they dominated the competition while doing a historic 18-0 in LCK 2022 Spring Split.

However, recently one of the most famous eSports players of the world Faker had some issues with pain in his right hand, and T1 was forced to issue a statement on their official Twitter account.

“He underwent a thorough examination at a hospital when his condition did not improve. Fortunately, no major abnormalities were shown in the X-rays and MRI results. (“Faker will be taking a break from League of Legends due to injury”) And after discussions with the coaches, players, and the team – the decision was made for him to take a break to focus on his treatment and recovery.” (“LoL: T1 Without Faker – Superstar Takes Indefinite Break”)

Hand injuries are common in eSports players, actual sports players like snooker, tennis or even professional gamblers who use their hands to make money. Fortunately, there is a solution for the latter, because you can always play Joe Fortune Online Casino for example, and avoid pulling levers or injuring your arms whatsoever.

Who is Replacing Faker in the Midlane?

Right now, Faker is being replaced for the time being, and in his place is a new upcoming star, that has a lot to learn yet named Poby. It is a real gamble on T1’s side because it is a lot of pressure on the young 17 years old player. If you want to try out and guess who will win this year’s Summer Split in LCK you need to know how eSports betting works.

Predicting who will win will be quite hard, especially with our substitute player. So, who exactly is Poby? Well, he has been playing for T1 for almost two years, he started at the age of 15 in the T1 Rookies team and was there basically for the last year and a half. He also went through T1 Academy, T1 Challengers, and T1 Esports Academy, where he is currently slated as a roster member. However, it was time to step up and replace Faker as he is recovering from his injury.

It is a great way for him to showcase his ability to replace Faker permanently in due time, if the legend, the Unkillable Demon King decides to retire. His champion pool that he played this year includes Swain, LeBlanc, Ahri, Annie, Jayce, Lissandra, Nautilus, Ryze, Syndra, Azir, Gragas, Neeko, and Viktor.

Can T1 Come Back?

It is a lot of pressure and stress on the young star, and so far, the performance of T1 is not good. It requires a lot of adjustment and communication training to be on par with Faker who has been in the team forever, since February 2013. In 2020, he even became a part-owner of the T1 team and brand. Faker’s contract currently is set to expire on November 17, 2025, so it’s over two years from now. We can assume that Faker will come back better than ever when he recovers from his wrist injury.

The predictions are that Faker might be back for T1’s match against Hanwha Life Esports on July 21^st, 2023, so Poby will play two more games on July 14 against Nongshim RedForce and Dplus on July 16. So far since the replacement was made T1 has lost to Gen.G, where the opposing team dominated the game over T1, and to DRX, with a similar 0-2 result.

So far T1 dropped down to fifth place, from their dominating 6-2 score to 6-4 with two recent defeats, so their win rate dropped down to whopping 60%. Gen.G that handed them their last loss is dominating the Korean scene now with another historic 10-0 score so far without losing a game. Close second is KT Rolster with a 9-1 score. Everything is possible, and it is worth remembering that the first 6 places have a chance to go further and win the entire split. Even though T1 did 18-0 a year ago, it did not mean they won the entire Split and in the end, they lost in the finals.

It gives a lot of advantages and guarantees you a spot in the finals, but even a team at 6^th place can come out victorious at the end of the tournament, so right now T1 is still in the top half of the ladder. The thing is they need to start winning games to remain in that spot, because there are still eight games to go, and if they somehow manage to lose all of them, they might not even qualify for the later stage of the tournament.

It is difficult to judge a team by being at the disadvantage of having a substitute player with whom no one trained before, and there is another person who has his own playstyle. All-in-all T1 is still at quite the high spot and if they manage to train and get some needed wins soon in the two upcoming games, then they are safe. There is also a possibility of Faker coming back in about 10 days (about 1 and a half weeks), but it is unknown of his performance and predict if he will live up to his name once more.