League of Legends: T1 sweep Kwangdong Freecs to reach LCK Spring finals

South Korean League of Legends (LoL) juggernaut T1 are poised to complete a historic perfect run in the 2022 LoL Champions Korea (LCK) Spring Split.

After an undefeated run in the regular season, the team booked a spot in the Playoff grand finals with a 3-0 sweep over Kwangdong Freecs (KDF) 3-0 in the best-of-five semifinals on Saturday (26 March).

T1 have been breaking records all season, with Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok clocking in his 70th champion played in the LCK, his 1,000th game in his career, and his 2,500th kill as well in the same season, and Ryu "Keria" Min-seok making 2,000 assists in his career.

The team had a perfect regular season this spring, winning all 18 games in the Group Stage, and automatically securing the top spot in the LCK Playoffs.

All members of T1 also received honours in the 2022 Spring All-LCK teams, with four out of five members — namely Faker, Keria, Choi "Zeus" Woo-je, and Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyeong — being inducted into the All-LCK First Team. Moon "Oner" Hyeon-joon made the All-LCK Second Team.

Keria was also the first-ever support player to win the LCK Regular Season MVP award, which has traditionally gone to junglers and mid laners.

As the first seed, T1 automatically qualified for the semifinals and were pit against KDF after the latter won their opening match of the Playoffs against Fredit BRION on Friday (25 March).

The first game of the semis started off quite messy, with T1 uncharacteristically overcommitting in the laning phase.

However, as the game continued, Faker’s mid Ahri and Keria’s support Tahm Kench were crucial in keeping their team ahead of their opponents. Faker notably executed the most critical flanks while Keria kept KDF busy with a Kench that seemingly couldn’t be killed.

After a surprise flank at the Dragon pit, T1 barreled down KDF’s base and took game one in 26 minutes with Faker named as the Player of the Game.

T1 were in full control in game two, cleanly executing skirmishes and preventing KDF from fighting back.

Keria’s strong showing on Nautilus enabled the team to control map objectives and choke the enemy, all while securing some kills for himself.

And with KDF unable to defend against T1’s relentless rampage, T1 took a 2-0 series lead after 20 minutes of action with Keria being awarded the Player of the Game.

KDF slowed the pace in game three, skillfully defending map objectives and keeping T1 in check until the mid game.

However, Oner’s Lee Sin stomped KDF in teamfights while the rest of the T1 followed through with damage.

They then marched through KDF's base to secure the 3-0 series sweep after 32 minutes, with Keria taking the Player of the Game title once again.

T1 advance to the grand finals and will meet the winner of the other semis match between Gen.G Esports and DAMWON KIA.

Should T1 win the Spring Finals, they will be the first team in the LCK to achieve a perfect run throughout an entire split, including the Playoffs.

The Spring Finals of the LCK is set to be held at the KINTEX on Saturday (2 April).

This will be the first time in three years that fans will be able to see their home league’s finals in person, with live audiences now allowed at the Goyang exhibition complex.

Fans worldwide can also watch the LCK finals on LCK's Twitch and YouTube channels.

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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