League of Legends: The numbers behind T1's perfect LCK Split
South Korean League of Legends (LoL) juggernauts T1 made history when they completed an undefeated run in the 2022 LoL Champions Korea (LCK) Spring Split last Sunday (3 April).
The “South Korean Phoenix” were the first-ever LCK team to win a Split without losing a single match, and also the second organisation in LoL esports history to complete such a feat.
European team Fnatic became the first when they won the 2015 LoL European Championship Summer Split undefeated, but T1's run was also full of other record breakers.
For example, T1's historic run in the 2022 LCK Spring Split is also the 10th regional title for both the organization and its superstar midlaner, Lee "Faker" Sang Hyeok, in the tenth year of the LCK. It was also the first regional title for the team since 2019.
Before this, T1 were already the most decorated team in LoL history, having won three World Championships, two of which were in back-to-back years, owing largely to Faker. The team also have two Mid-Season Invitational titles and several LCK titles under their belt.
But what allowed T1 to succeed in a feat that seemed nearly impossible this year, especially when having to face many legends and giants in the Korean League?
Many would say that it’s Faker, the consensus G.O.A.T. of LoL, since he was present in almost all of T1’s record-breaking moments.
But the team also seem to have upped their game in Season 2022, so it's more than just Faker being Faker this year.
The organization were keen on developing and growing talent from within through T1 Challengers, where top laner Choi "Zeus" Woo-je and jungler Moon "Oner" Hyeon-joon came from.
With the addition of Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyeong as the AD Carry — after being in a substitute role in T1 since 2019 — and Ryu "Keria" Min-seok as the team’s Support since 2020, the team have been in perfect sync.
And with Faker at the helm, guiding and supporting the team rather than looking for flashy plays, a solid T1 start in Season 2022 was inevitable.
In fact, T1 have been breaking records all season, with Faker playing Tryndamere, his 70th champion played in the LCK, participating in his 1,000th game in his career, and locking in his 2,500th kill, all in the same season. Keria also notched the 2,000th assist of his career during this run.
But more than just the accolades, T1's perfect run can be also be summed up by all the absurd stats they've put up throughout the Split. Let's take a deeper dive into their success:
T1 obviously notched the highest win rate of the Spring Split at 83.7% across all 43 games played, while rivals Gen.G Esports and DAMWON KIA followed at 70% and 64.3% respectively.
While T1 won all of their matches in the both the regular season and playoffs, they did drop eight games in the process. The team lost the most games to Nongshim RedForce, losing twice, while their six other losses came at hands of Fredit BRION, DWG KIA, Hanwha Life Esports, Kwangdong Freecs, Liiv SANDBOX, and Gen.G Esports.
T1’s dominance can also be seen by how long it took for them to win. Their shortest game of the Split was against Fredit BRION on game 1 of week 8, clocking in at just 19 minutes and five seconds. T1's longest game was against DWG KIA on week 3 of the regular season, where they lost after a 55-minute, 21-second encounter.
And while T1 as a whole looked like the perfect team, each member also had their own shining moments.
Bot laner Gumayusi had the highest KDA during the playoffs, but Oner ended up getting third place overall in the KDA leaderboard for the entire season.
Although Oner was surpassed by Gen.G Esports players Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon and Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk, this is still a feat.
Both Gumayusi and Oner have recorded one Quadrakill each all season, with no other players in the LCK managing to record either a quadra or pentakill.
Keria, on the other hand, concluded the Spring Season as the support player with the highest KDA (4.6, tied with DWG Kia's Kim 'Kellin' Hyeong-gyu), and the most single-season assists in LCK history, with a staggering 451.
When compared to other support players, he also had the most assists per game, the greatest DPM, and the most Player of the Games points.
All members of T1 also received honours in the 2022 Spring All-LCK teams, with four out of five members getting inducted into the All-LCK First Team — Faker, Zeus, Gumayusi, and Keria, while Oner was part of the All LCK Second Team honours. Keria was also named MVP of the Split.
T1 also had their favourite champions in the Spring, with Jayce, Jinx, and Lee Sin taking the top three spots having been picked 17, 16, and 15 times in total throughout.
During their run, T1's most successful champions included Keria’s Nautilus (at 100% win rate across ten games), Faker’s LeBlanc (100% across 9 games), and Keria’s Thresh (100% win rate across 7 games).
Of course, since T1 won most of their matches, a total of 32 champions had 100% win rates despite the number of times they were picked.
Not all of T1's drafts were perfect, though.
The team picked Galio, Leona, Poppy, and Seraphine only once — with all their appearances ending in losses.
Faker’s signature Ryze was picked four times but didn’t have a strong showing this Spring, with only a 25% win rate, while Gumayusi tried his hand on Jhin three times, which only gave him a 33.3% win rate.
With T1’s dominant win this Spring, it seems that they’re ready to take it to the International stage, where they will be facing 10 of the best teams from different regions at the Mid-Season Invitational in May.
MSI 2022 will take place in their home country at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO), South Korea, and will begin on May 10.
Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.
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