In the first match of Worlds 2023 in League of Legends, the American team Liquid met the strong T1 from Korea. Since Team Liquid only took third place in America, expectations were correspondingly low. But the US team played really well for long stretches and victory was even within reach.
The Swiss round is currently underway at the Worlds. This is a new format that replaces the old group stage. Once a team has achieved three wins, it automatically advances to the knockout phase. However, teams with three defeats are immediately eliminated from the tournament.
The special thing is that you always meet teams that currently have the same standing as you. Winners always stay at the top, losers go down and those who are currently balanced also meet teams that are also balanced.
The duel between Team Liquid and T1 was the first match ever played in the Worlds main event. T1 was the clear favorite, after all they have probably the most talented supporter in Keria and a real legend in Faker in the team.
But the match history doesn’t necessarily reflect that.
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Team Liquid got the Baron twice and led in kills almost the entire time
How did the match go? T1 got first blood in the 3rd minute with a gank in the top lane – but with consequences. The teleport from the midlaner APA ensured that the two attackers in the top lane lost their lives. At the same time, there was a gank in the bot lane that resulted in the death of Gummayusi, T1’s AD carry. So it was 3:1 for Team Liquid in kills.
Although T1 dominated the laning phase later on, the US team always managed to surprise in the group fights. So at the 20th minute it was still 8:5 in kills for Team Liquid and the gold was almost even. Each team was also able to defeat the dragon exactly once.
However, Team Liquid then took a big risk and attempted a Baronkill at minute 24. Although they were able to secure the monster and the associated buff, they lost 4 players in the action. Suddenly it looked as if T1 could take control of the match for good.
But Team Liquid achieved a stroke of genius. They started with the Baron, but then turned to catch and kill Keria, who was standing a little away from his team. This was followed by a brilliant move from midlaner Pyosik on Lee Sin, with which he caught Faker and gave his team another kill. Oner followed third.
Without the support, mid laner and jungler, T1 couldn’t do anything against the Baron. The US team was suddenly ahead in gold, in dragons and had the baron buff.
Afterwards, however, the match dragged on for a while until the decisive team fight broke out in the 35th minute. Team Liquid forced the fight, but lost mid laner APA and AD carry Yeon early on. Without damage, the front line couldn’t do much.
T1 defeated 4 of the 5 players and due to the high respawn times they were able to finish the match with one blow.
Strong performances from APA and Pyosik raised hopes
Why was the defeat so annoying? If T1 had dominated from the start, many fans probably wouldn’t have been surprised. But Team Liquid’s good performances suddenly raised hopes. Could the legendary Korean team be brought down?
The jungler Pyosik, who became world champion with the DRX team in 2022, had a really strong day. Multiple kicks on Lee Sin resulted in kills that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. You can watch such a clip here:
It was the performance that many had hoped for when you brought a world champion to America – even if he was not considered the strongest in his position in 2022.
How else has the day gone so far? Today, October 19th, matches at the Worlds will take place until 2 p.m. The first little surprise came in the duel between Cloud9 and MAD Lions. The European team lost quite clearly there.
Otherwise, GenG and JDG prevailed against their competitors. Both teams are considered the favorites to win the tournament.
While the Worlds 2023 is underway, you can read through a highlight from the last few years here:
LoL players look forward to Worlds 2023, rave about the best Worlds season – “It was really the highlight”