On November 2, 2024, the final stage of T1 vs. BLG, which determined the 2024 champions, was held at the O2 Arena in London and a champion rose to his throne.
This article features a recap of T1 vs BLG (Bilibili Gaming) finals and my personal thoughts about worlds.
A fast recap of the first set of finals and early game: BLG performed an unexpected play, allowing an opportunity to secure a kill starting with a big lead. With this lead, BLG slowly snowballed with the lead they had created, and victory was given to BLG.
The second set was also a beginner, as the first set saw T1 ADC role Gumayusi fall again and give a kill to BLG, like the early first game. At the start, many fans, including myself, worried if this game was also going to result in game 1, giving me the PTSD of the previous game. Many were concerned about it. T1 was T1. In those moments of disbelief, T1 had always proved why they were the best in the world. At 24:10, there was a situation where three players of BLG tunneled to a bush, planning to assassinate Faker, but at this moment, Faker proved why he is the “Unkillable Demon” and why so many players nicknamed him that.
For game 2, T1 brought victory, making the game 1-1.
Game 3 was rough for T1. At first glance, BLG’s composition had a tank with very good movement invitations and a marksman with agile movements and scales throughout the late game. On behalf of the composition of T1, it was focused on leading early games and the plan was to demolish every lane, bringing victory before the enemy marksman had enough time to scale. The composition of T1 had much more risk and was less sustainable during the late game. The game started more favorably towards BLG; they had much more lead and easily got every skirmish with victory. Although T1 played their best to counter BLG, the power spike was too much for them to handle, and BLG won the third set. Many fans, including myself, were nervous and doubted if T1 could win this world championship.
Although they had many doubts and mental issues about not having faith in T1, they proved themselves in game 4.
In-game, the game was a piece of art that evoked unexplainable emotions and restored viewers faith in T1. T1 brought a composition filled with picks that well countered BLG’s composition. BLG focused on scaling and looking for the late game because the champions they had chosen outscaled T1’s comp in the late game.
Too many moments during this game need to be discussed and I’ll bring two moments from Faker that turned the game around. The first is a moment where Faker solo-kills BLG’s adc and many professional players and casters commented on this play because of this particular kill, which brought a snowball for T1 to build momentum to bring victory slowly. The other key moment is art!
The perfect initiative from Faker and his team pouring their skills to support Faker is unexplainable. It’s so perfect. With this lead, T1 brought an upset to BLG by destroying the Nexus (if described in chess, it’s the king), leading them to the final set 2-2. In League of Legends, a tradition has been passed down through generations. When a team reaches the fifth set to celebrate this moment, NCS music, “Silver Scrapes,” is turned on to bring the hype for the fifth set, and everyone in the arena turns their flashlight and waves to celebrate the moment. I watched the Korean stream to watch the World Championships, but I remember hearing this quote when a game went to the final set in one of the American streams. One of the casters said, “Ladies and gentlemen, we are heading to game 5!” This still resonates with me, bringing the shivers and preparing myself to watch the fifth set.
In the final set, when the draft ended, BLG had composed an engaging composition, and T1 prepared their picks with a disengaged composition to counter their comp. The game was evenly matched, with kills evenly traded with a score of 3-3 beginning at minute 28:50. T1 performed an unbelievable skirmish. They had lost two players from their team, and BLG had lost one. T1 forced a fight even though they were at a disadvantage of two players. They performed a cracked play where the remaining three players from T1 demolished the enemy four players and brought victory to the skirmish. Not only that, at minute 31, T1 makes the unbelievable.
Here’s a position where Top Laner Zeus is in danger, and Faker flies to Zeus to cover him and takes in 2v4. Here, T1 takes one down, but Zeus is also knocked, leaving Faker with three players of BLG surrounding him. Here, Faker makes an unbelievable play where he builds time for his team to back up, leading to victory for T1, reigning the T1 dynasty once again, claiming their title of defending champion, and creating history for this community.
Although I said T1 made history, I want to strongly empathize with Faker’s performance and accomplishments that followed with this victory. During this tournament, Faker was named Finals MVP, his second Finals MVP title, the last being in 2016. He also earned five world titles, starting in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2023, and 2024. By winning this world title, Faker has had two consecutive world wins throughout his career (2015, 2016, 2023, 2024), which no player has ever accomplished. Not only that, during the fourth set of the game, he also accomplished 500 kills at worlds.
I want to congratulate T1, Faker, and all T1 players for creating history. I’m very thankful that they won this World as a team. They had a hard time throughout this season, and bringing a change to this reminded me of the World Series of Dodgers and Freeman. Before ending, I want to encourage you to watch the World Cup teaser of T1 vs. BLG. It brought tears to my eyes, and I was driven emotionally while watching the video. Also, Faker’s quote about this fifth World Cup victory is for the fans; my heart swelled with awe and emotion.