The League of Legends World Championships are currently underway in South Korea. T1 took victory in the semifinals with the unkillable Demon King Faker. MeinMMO tells you how the semi-finals went.
What kind of game was that? On Sunday morning, November 12th, T1 and JDG played each other in the semifinals at LoL Worlds 2023 in South Korea. T1 won 3-1.
We’ll tell you how the semi-final went and what crazy highlights there were.
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T1 dominates with spectacular plays and wins the first game after 25 minutes
These were the picks in the first game:
How did the first match go? JDG ADC Ruler proudly wore the Xayah Worlds skin, introduced after winning the 2017 World Championship with Samsung Galaxy (SSG). The game started intensely in the early game with Firstblood falling for Aatrox (T1 Zeus), supported by Jungle Rell (Oner). Zeus continued his dominance and also secured the second kill of the game, picking up a win against Rumble (JDG 369) on the topplane.
A highlight occurred around minute 9 when an impressive ultimate combo from Bard and Orianna took place. Faker impressed by hitting three opponents with Orianna’s Shockwave, dominating the fight.
Keria shined during the semifinals and dominated the map
In minute 13, Bard (T1 Keria) staged a successful gank on the topplane by cleverly using his ultimate. This resulted in Rumble being unable to escape, and Aatrox secured another kill. Shortly afterwards, T1’s first tower of the game was destroyed, underlining their clear dominance in the early game.
T1 Keria with Bard had the map under control. With a vision score of 95 after just 23 minutes, he proved that control of the map is extremely important.
You can see the gank here:
Faker’s skills with Orianna
Highlight: Faker showed his skills again in a teamfight at minute 17. A special highlight was how his Shockwave pulled an opponent just out of the Bard portal, so he hit three and was able to turn the teamfight around.
You can see the team fight here:
JDG won the second game with strong teamfights
These were the picks in the second game:
How did the second game go? The match started with T1 invading, causing Maokai to score firstblood, but then dying to Kalista (JDG). Caitlyn (T1) also scored a kill. The performances of K’Sante (369) and Kalista (Ruler) were particularly influential in the game. Overall, there weren’t many kills in the early game, and by the 20th minute the score was 4-4.
In the twentieth minute there was a team fight for the third dragon, which JDG successfully took. T1 engaged Vi (Kanavi), but he killed Maokai and made it out at the same time. JDG then turned the fight around by using a coordinated combo to take out Aatrox and Ruler getting the kill.
You can see the team fight here:
JDG continued to dominate in the fight afterwards. Kanavi attacked Caitlyn with his ultimate, which resulted in Gumayusi being taken out. T1 managed to eliminate Vi, but JDG ultimately won the fight when Ruler secured the decisive kill on One with Kalista. This allowed them to capture the Baron and subsequently push successfully.
Highlight: Around minute 30, Faker was taken out in the team fight in the midlane by Vi’s ultimate. At this crucial moment, K’Sante and Senna grabbed the remaining kills, giving JDG a clear advantage – after which they picked up the Inhibitor in the middle and the Baron.
The final fight took place in the base of T1, which JDG 369 in particular was able to fight with K’Sante and Ruler with Kalista.
You can watch the final battle here:
Strong head-to-head race in the third game, T1 got the win with a play by Faker
These were the picks in the third game:
In the first three minutes there were already 3 kills, including 2 that Keria was able to achieve as Renata. At minute 13 there was an exciting battle on the top plane, which JDG won with a good use of Teleport – overall a strong early game from JDG.
However, the dynamics of the game changed in minute 17 when T1 dominated in the battle for the third dragon. JDG knight zoned the entire team with Taliyah’s ultimate except Oner with Rell. This allowed them to focus their damage on him.
But Oner impressively flashed Ashe’s arrow to get his crowd control (CC) through on the carries. Together with Faker’s Azir Ultimate, they managed to take Ashe and Taliyah out of the fight. Oner then secured the dragon for his team.
You can watch the battle for the dragon here:
In the 27th minute of the game, JDG Missing scored with his precise Ashe ultimate oner in the midlane. The hit led to JDG securing the kill on Rell and also taking out Aatrox. After that they were able to make Baron without any problems.
Big highlight: Faker’s legendary engagement with Azir secures the victory
Around minute 29 there was another spectacular teamfight in the midlane when JDG pushed with the previously captured Baron. JDG Missing fired another Ashe Arrow that almost hit Kalista (Gumayusi) had he not flashed lightning fast.
Faker anticipated Ruler’s flash and hit his ultimate with Azir, allowing Oner and Rell to enforce the CC on Varus (Ruler) and Taliyah (knight) and T1 ultimately won the teamfight 5/0 and initiated a decisive turning point in the game. This legendary moment from Faker led to T1 finally winning and ending the game.
You can see the highlight here:
T1 wins 3-1 and advances to the final
These were the picks in game four:
What were the highlights in the fourth game? There were several highlights in the fourth exciting match. In minute 20, T1 managed to dominate the game as Zeus successfully eliminated Kanavi with Yone Bel’veth and Faker with Azir. Following this, T1 captured the Baron, which significantly strengthened their position in the game.
The next decisive teamfight took place over the third dragon. JDG started the Ocean Drake, but Oner was able to use Jarvan IV to secure the dragon for T1 using Smite. In an impressive combination, Faker grabbed a double kill and decided the teamfight in favor of T1 with a flash ultimate combo.
Highlight: Shortly afterwards on the topplane, T1 Oner was able to secure the kill on Bel’Veth with the Jarvan IV Ultimate. Then it was about the Dragonsoul for T1 – Zeus started the dragon and built up pressure. Faker almost single-handedly killed Vi (Kanavi) and the dragon ultimately went to T1.
Gumayusi clinched the teamfight for T1 by getting the kills on Zeri and Aatrox. This success allowed T1 to secure the Baron and further solidify control of the game.
You can watch the battle for the Dragonsoul here:
The final team fight
With the Baron buff behind them, T1 managed to destroy no less than 3 inhibitors and also the two Nexus towers, leading to the final teamfight, which T1 dominated and won. Oner took out Bel’Veth with a Jarvan IV Ultimate while Zeus and Faker turned their attention to Ruler. So they were able to win the team fight in the end, destroy the Nexus and claim victory.
This means Faker could finally win the world title again
What’s next? Today T1 picked up the win against JDG, and so T1 will face Weibo Gaming in the finals, which takes place next week on November 19th – we can’t wait to see what plays await us in a week. Faker already won the world title in 2013, 2015 and 2016 – this year he could become world champion in LoL for the fourth time.
What did you think of the games today? Feel free to write it to us in the comments.
This is how WeiboGaming won in the semi-finals: After 5 years, a gifted toplaner made it to the final again – this is how the semi-finals went