“The Rold Cup Emperor is back”… South Korea’s T1 wins first title in seven years
South Korea’s T1 has been crowned the world’s top team at the 2023 League of Legends (LoL) World Championship. This is their first title in seven years and fourth overall since 2016.
On April 19, T1 lifted the Summoner’s Cup after defeating the Chinese League’s Weibo Gaming (WBG) in the final match of the LoL World Championship at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, Seoul, with a set score of 3-0.
The tournament is a global esports competition that brings together 22 teams from nine regions around the world to compete in role-playing games to determine the strongest team, and has been held annually since 2011. With hundreds of millions of viewers tuning in each year, the tournament is often referred to as the “Rolled Cup,” a nickname derived from soccer’s World Cup.
T1 has won the tournament in 2013, 2015, 2016, and now this year, extending its record for most wins from three to four. T1 legendary player Lee “Faker” Sang-hyuk also became the most decorated player of all time. He has played exclusively for T1 since his debut in 2013. The MVP honors went to T1’s “Zeus” Choi Ji-jeong.
T1’s victory is particularly significant. T1 hadn’t won a title in six years after losing to Samsung Galaxy (now Genji) in the 2017 World Championship finals. They didn’t even make the finals from 2018 to 2021, losing to DRX last year.
The fans were even more enthusiastic about the win. For the first time in the history of esports, street cheering was held in Gwanghwamun Square, and the moment T1 clinched the title, fans roared loudly. It is reported that more than 15,000 people gathered there that day. “It was fun to cheer in the streets like the World Cup, and it was meaningful to watch Faker’s victory with fans,” said Jung Mo, 23, who participated in the cheer.
Fans overseas also celebrated T1’s victory. On Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, many fans, regardless of nationality, expressed their delight at T1’s victory. “WBG came in a close second, T1 are gods,” “Winning 4 pacers! This is the highest mountain that can’t be climbed,” “Congratulations to T1 players. You all deserve it,” etc.
Lee Sang-hyuk commented on his victory, saying, “It feels great to win four titles. Above all, I was very grateful to be able to play in front of so many home fans.” “I really wanted to win the title for my teammates. I wanted to reward my teammates for their hard work, so I’m more happy about that than winning.” “We will use today’s victory to learn and develop further. It’s been a long time since we won, so it doesn’t feel real, but we’ll do our best for the fans.”
The next World Championship Final will be held at the O2 Arena in London, England.