The second to last week of the regular season in the 2021 LCK Summer Split is right around the corner and one of the key matchups will be between T1 and Gen.G, both of whom are fighting for the best seed possible moving into the playoffs.
With only two weeks left, Gen.G has locked in a playoff spot with its current 10-4 record. T1 has yet to lock in a spot in the playoffs, but a win against Gen.G will do wonders towards reaching that goal. T1 will be entering the week in a shared fifth place spot with a 9-6 record. This split’s performance has been inconsistent for the former LCK champion T1, so finding consistency during the last games of the regular split will be key to success in a potential playoff bracket.
Prior to this match, T1 came out victorious against Fredit BRION in a three-game series. Even though Fredit BRION managed to take a game, T1 got to play a lot of early-game oriented champions such as LeBlank, Kalista, and Renekton with great success. This might be the key to defeating Gen.G, as it has shown very slow early games and often rely on late-game scaling.
The key for T1 in this style of play will be that jungler Moon “Cuzz” Woo-chan can get on a comfortable pick and make some action happen during the first 10 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok has showcased that he is still versatile and is able to pick up Renekton or other aggressive picks in the mid lane. If T1 instead chooses to go the scaling route, the team might just be playing overly much into the strengths of Gen.G and could have a hard time.
For Gen.G it will be the complete opposite, as the players should prepare to fend off early aggression from the side of T1. The rock of Gen.G this split has been the bot lane where Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk is always there to take over in the late game and carry his team to victory. If he gets shut down during the laning phase, it has been seen before that Gen.G struggles to execute this play style.
This means that Gen.G should be aware in the early game and potentially try to match some of the aggression that might come out of T1. If T1 doesn’t come out swinging from champion select, then Gen.G can take the breaks and try to outclass T1 in the macro game.
T1 vs. Gen.G rosters
T1 roster:
- Top – Kim “Canna” Chang-dong
- Jungle – Moon “Cuzz” Woo-chan
- Mid – Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok
- Bot – Park “Teddy” Jin-seong / Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong
- Support – Ryu “Keria” Min-seok
Gen.G roster:
- Top – Kim “Rascal” Kwang-hee
- Jungle – Kim “Clid” Tae-min
- Mid – Gwak “Bdd” Bo-seong
- Bot – Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk
- Support – Kim “Life” Jeong-min
T1 favored against top team Gen.G in the LCK
Even though Gen.G is currently sitting in second place, the gap between T1 and Gen.G isn’t as big as it was earlier in the split. After an amazing start to the split, Gen:G has been showing weakness the last couple of weeks while T1 is slowly starting to improve. The bookmakers have clearly spotted this, as T1 is surprisingly a slight favorite in this matchup. In general, this seems to be a close series, but the trust in Faker and the rest of T1 is starting to build up. Gen.G will still be capable of performing through great teamplay and macro play, so this is also a chance for the Gen.G believers to catch some good odds.
A win for T1 in this case will give odds 1.76 while a win for Gen.G will give a favorable 1.94. Getting a bit extra value on Gen.G seems like a good idea.
The clash of titans between T1 and Gen.G will take place on Friday, August 6.
