T1’s Teddy says it’s harder to build synergy with a 10-man roster

Another player on T1 has addressed the recent criticism towards its 10-man roster and constant roster swaps. This time it’s bot laner Park “Teddy” Jin-seong.

Teddy thinks that it has gotten harder to build synergy on T1 with the frequent roster swaps to the starting lineup, according to a recent interview he had with InvenGlobal. Teddy notes that he was also a part of the large T1 roster in 2019. But back then, there weren’t constant substitutions to the lineup even under longer losing streaks. In 2021, the story is different and several players on T1 have been speaking towards the issue so far. 

The criticism towards the current strategy of T1 started back in February when Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok publicly disagreed with the 10-man roster approach. At that point, T1 was playing inconsistently in the LCK and not living up to its usual standards. Faker stated that swapping out players day to day can result in players getting stress, especially the young players who aren’t used to such a competitive environment. 

A few weeks later, support Ryu “Keria” Min-seok was asked about the 10-man roster concept and, even though he is the only support on the LCK squad, he praisedfive5-man rosters and said that the team spirit and synergy is usually better compared to a 10-man roster. His reasoning was that everyone on a five-man squad could cheer each other up and scrim together in every single game. With a 10-man roster, there isn’t enough room on Summoner’s Rift for everyone to get maximum practice. 

It all leads to Teddy, who now seems to agree with his teammates. He says that it’s hard to build synergy in the current state of T1, which could explain why the team is placed fifth in the league with a 7-7 record.

“If it’s the same five players, we can still improve from our losses, but currently, it’s gotten much more difficult,” Teddy said. 

Despite the inconsistencies, T1 is still in contention for playoffs and will keep fighting to prove the 10-man roster. T1 finished week 7 of the 2021 LCK Spring Split with a solid victory against KT Rolster, with Teddy leading the team all the way.  

T1 has four matches left to lock in a playoffs spot, the next being against Gen.G on Saturday, March 11. 

Who is T1 Teddy?

Teddy is a professional bot laner from South Korea, currently playing for T1 in the LCK. Teddy has played professionally since 2015 and made a name for himself when he played for Jin Air Green Wings from 2016 to 2018. Even though Jin Air was never a top team, Teddy was always the consistent performer on the team which led him to a spot on T1 in November 2018. 

How old is T1 Teddy?

With an age of 22 years old, Teddy is still a young player despite being considered an LCK veteran. Teddy has played four full seasons of the LCK and won three titles in total.