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The League of Legends professional season is heating up in every corner of the globe. South Korea is no exception, as the LCK Cup 2025, the region's first professional tournament of the year, heats up.
The International is interested in the group stage of the tournament, and more specifically in the match between DRX and T1. Unclearly The International is a very interesting match after T1's unsure Long Sogpeg at LCK Cup 2025.
We're trying to figure out which of the DRX - T1 pair will be stronger and earn important points ahead of the play-offs slot allocation.
Let's go.
T1 Form
Let's open our analysis of the T1 vs DRX match with an analysis of T1's form. In this match they will play as favourites with odds to win at around 1.1.
T1 won at LCK Spring 2022 and then three consecutive top-2s: MSI, LCK Summer and Worlds 2022.
The curse of top-2s carried over to the 2023 season as well. At the Long Run of the Year, Faker and company took 2nd place at LCK Spring 2023 and then finished third at MSI 2023.
- T1 line-up: Doran, Oner, Faker, Gumayusi, Keria.
LCK Summer 2023 was a real challenge for T1. The team made it to the play-offs, but did it with difficulty, taking 5th place with the score 9-9 in the group stage.
There were problems for the main protagonist - Faker. The legendary mid laner injured his hand and it obviously affected the overall playing conditions of T1. But now Faker is kind of back on track.
The Faker factor has played out. T1 defeated a serious opponent in the person of Dplus and made their way to the next round, where their opponent will be KT Rolster. The latter, by the way, chose T1 as their opponent.
Next up was no less capable opponent than Dplus. Faker and company played against KT Rolster and won that match with a score of 3-2.
The opponent in the match for the play-offs for T1 was Gen.G. The first tried, and even started the game with the score 2-1, but it didn't work out: Gen.G camebacked, and Chovy was better than Faker.
In the grand final match T1 almost lost to KT Rolster after an excellent Long Sogpeg 2-0. They were saved by Gumayusi, who pulled it off on the 5th map with his Xayah.
However, it didn't allow them to win the final. T1 faced their nemesis Gen.G, where they crushingly lost 0-3.
T1 opened Worlds 2023 with a game against Liquid. Being the clear favourite of the series they closed the match against Liquid in their favour, but it was not an easy win: Liquid held on for 36 minutes and Ledge only 1 kill. Everything was decided in the final midlane brawl, after which T1 closed the series.
In a 1-0 basket, T1 ran into their own kryptonite - Gen.G. Faker and company started great, but the first LCK team was the first to adjust the pace of the game to their own and eventually win the match.
Next up, T1 faced Cloud9. Perhaps, it was the most defeated match of all that I had the chance to watch on this Worlds. Naturally, it ended in T1's favour.
After trampling Cloud9 T1 started to beat Bilibili Gaming, and they succeeded. T1 easily defeated the vice-champions MSI 2023 with the score 2-0.
In the play-offs, T1 played against LNG. Scout, who was not unreasonably named the best player of Worlds 2023, was like that until the 5th of November: T1 wiped out LNG, closing the series with a score of 3-0.
In the semi-finals of Worlds 2023, T1 faced perhaps the top contender to win the championship, JD Gaming. As formidable as the Chinese were, they were unable to outplay the experienced T1. As a result, Faker and company won the match with a score of 3-1 and T1 made it to the grand finals of the most important League of Legends tournament for the sixth (!) time. And then won it for the 4th time, which is an absolute record in competitive League of Legends and in esports in general.
After an excellent Long Cоrnеg regular season, LCK Spring 2024 T1s slipped a bit in the regular season, finishing 15-3 and in third place. T1 started the championship playoffs with a match against Hanwha Life Esports and surprisingly for me, they blew the game wide open, losing it 0-3. In the lower play-offs T1 played against DPlus KIA and beat them 3-0. Next, they defeated their HLE opponents 3-1, thus becoming the second and last Korean team at MSI 2024.
T1 made it to the Mid-Season Invitational 2024 after finishing in the top 2 at LCK Spring 2024. At the MSI 2024 MSI Play-In, T1 easily took the two series 2-0 and advanced to the Bracket Stage. They started off the Bracket Stage with a nerve-wracking 3-2 win over G2 Esports. In the match to advance to the top 3 T1 faced BLG and lost rather toothlessly with a 1-3 score. Next up was a match against Liquid, where T1 won 3-1. After that they played against G2 Esports in a rematch of the first round of MSI 2024 and again they won, but this time cleanly - 3-0 in favour of T1. But in the next match T1 could not win: BLG outplayed T1 with the score 3-1.
To play at Esports World Cup 2024, T1 interrupted their performance at LCK Summer 2024, where they had a 5-1 record.
In between LCK Summer 2024 matches, T1 tasted Riyadh, where they became the champions of Esports World Cup 2024 with a prize money of $1,000,000. They defeated TOP Esports in the grand finals.
T1 entered the LCK Summer 2024 play-offs from the 4th place of the regular season. During LCK Summer 2024, they were 11-7, which is not a good result for a club of T1's level. In the first LCK Summer 2024 play-offs T1 beat KT Rolster 3-1, but then ran into HLE and Ledgeili 0-3. Later they outplayed DPlus KIA, but then they repeated the match with HLE and again lost 1-3 and as a result LCK Summer 2024 top 3.
At Worlds 2024 T1 made it to the LCK Regional Finals, where they defeated KT Rolster by a narrow 3-2 margin in the match to qualify for the World Championship.
At Worlds 2024 T1 debuted with a loss to Top Esports in a close match. Then they easily defeated paiN Gaming and defeated Bilibili Gaming in a tough match, which brought them to a 2-1 score. In the play-offs match, T1 outlasted G2 Esports 2-0.
In the World Championship 2024 play-offs, they made their debut with a match against Top Esports. T1 have never lost in Worlds play-offs to an LPL team in their history. Neither have they lost now, outscoring TES 3-0. In the next Worlds 2024 match, T1 met their perennial kryptonite, Gen.G. T1 had never beaten Gen.G over the past year, but that didn't stop them from winning the most important match of the season and winning convincingly, 3-1. In the grand finals of the World Championship, T1 met the strongest team in China, BLG, and fought their way to the World Championship title, closing out the series with a 3-2 win. T1 became the 5-time Worlds champions.
The LCK Cup 2025 T1 Long Tournament started with a 1-2 loss to DPlus KIA.
Most popular T1 champions
Fiora (5 games, 60% wins) was the most frequent top line. There was also Jax (3 games, 100% wins), Camile (2 matches, 100% wins), Irelia (2 matches, 100% wins).
In the forest Maokai (7 matches, 85% wins), Sejuani (4 games, 75% wins), Viego (2 matches, 100% wins).
The centre line was occupied by Azir (5 matches, 80% wins), Sylas (3 games, 66% wins), Kassadin (2 matches, 100% wins), Ryze (2 games, 50% wins).
Shooters: Varus (4 games, 50% wins), Lucian (4 games, 100% wins).
Sapports: Nami (3 games, 100% wins), Ashe (3 games, 0 wins), Varus (2 games, 100% wins), Miss Fortune (2 matches, 100% wins).
DRX Form
We continue the analysis of DRX - T1 match with a review of DRX form. In this match, they are playing as an outsider with win odds around 5.
The team had a mediocre 12th season in the South Korean LCK. From the achievements: 5th place at LCK Spring 2022 and 6th place at LCK Summer 2022. By any means necessary, the team made it to Worlds by finishing 2nd place at LCK Regional Finals.
Such a poor performance during the competitive year led DRX to Play-In Worlds 2022. DRX travelled the longest road to the finals of all time. They started the World Championship from the Play-In stage.
After making it to Group B at the Play-In, the team had to go through clubs like Royal Never Give Up, MAD Lions and others.
Although DRX performed in the status of a contender for passage, it was difficult to single out the collective as the sole winner. However, that's exactly what happened: DRX made it through the first stage of Worlds unscathed, coming out of their group in first place (5-0).
In the group stage, DRX shared the lead with Rogue. What followed was a true Cinderella story.
In the quarterfinals, the team outplayed the reigning World Champions, and outplayed them. The team did a Reverse Sweep, which is rare at this level of competition. Next, The International was even more interesting: victory over LCK Summer 2023 Gen.G champions LCK Summer 2023 followed by an incredible win in the grand final against T1.
After an unimaginable triumph at Worlds 2022, DRX's fame quickly faded. First the team failed at LCK Spring 2023, finishing Top 9, then Top 6 at LCK Summer 2023 and Top 4 at the Regional Finals, ultimately failing to attend Worlds 2023.
- DRX lineup: Rich, Sponge, ucal, Teddy, Andil.
The main bet for the new season is Teddy. Let's see if the famous Korean will help DRX regain its former glory.
DRX is in a worse situation than their counterparts. DRX are on the penultimate place in the table with a score of 1-8 and almost zero prospects to qualify for the play-offs. And so it happened: the club gained 3-15 and LCK Spring 2024 finished in the top 9.
LCK Summer 2024 was not a revelation and did not change the paradigm of DRX performance - the final TOP-9. At the Long Convergence LCK Cup 2025, DRX defeated BRION by a score of 2-0.
DRX's most popular champions
Top most often played on Aatrox (4 games, 75% wins), Camille (3 matches, 66% wins), Ornn (2 matches, 100% wins), Fiora (2 matches, 50% wins).
In the woods, Kindred (4 games, 100% wins), Graves (3 games, 33% wins), Viego (3 games, 100% wins), Vi (2 matches, 100% wins) were played most often.
In the mid are classic Sylas (6 matches, 100% wins), Akali (4 matches, 50% wins), Azir (3 matches, 33% wins).
At the ADC position Miss Fortune (3 matches, 0% wins), Caitlyn (3 matches, 100% wins), Ahri (3 matches, 66% wins), Ezreal (2 matches, 50% wins) were the most frequently picked.
They took on Heimerdinger (4 games, 50% wins), Braum (2 matches, 100% wins), Lux (2 matches, 100% wins), Soroka (2 matches, 50 wins).
History of head-to-head meetings between T1 and DRX
In the season 2024 they played each other 4 times and DRX won none of the matches.
Predicted result of DRX vs T1 at LCK Cup 2025
In this match my bet is on T1. After a very disappointing Long Sogpeg, they should gather themselves and take the second series for themselves.
Bottom line: T1 win.
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