The Esports World Cup started with a bang as T1 became the first-ever EWC League of Legends winners after defeating TOP Esports (TES) 3-1 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Four-time World Champions T1 and Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, one of the greatest esports competitors of all time, took home $400,000 and yet another trophy to add to their prestigious collection.
It was another Korean team who had been tournament favourites as Gen.G, led by spectacular midlaner Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon, were coming off the back of their historic Mid-Season Invitational triumph. However, in a shock result, they were swept 2-0 in the opening round by China’s TES and the LPL org didn’t stop there as they also took down Europe’s G2 Esports in another 2-0 stomp.
Meanwhile, T1’s route to the final was a little more tricky as they dropped games to both China’s Billibi Gaming and North America’s Team Liquid in separate 2-1 victories.
Still undefeated, TES kept their momentum going as they took the first game against T1 in the final with Faker’s mid-lane opponent Lin “Creme” Jian playing a starring role on Tristana.
However, there’s a reason Faker is considered the greatest of all time. For the second game, he returned to his signature Ahri pick which allowed to relentlessly make plays around the map and help his team tie the series.
From there, T1 were in firm control. Jungler Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun had a remarkable showing on Nidalee in Game 3, finishing with a KDA of 8/1/6 on the high-risk champion. And then he was even more menacing on Sejuani in Game 4 as his 6/0/14 performance perfectly set up his team for success to secure the 3-1 win.
It was unsurprisingly Faker who was awarded MVP but his ADC Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong also deserves special mention for playing 10 different winners through his 10 games in the EWC and was consistently world-class throughout. With fearless draft being discussed for future LoL Esports tournaments, the Korean proved that the top pros should have no complaints if they do need to play a bigger variety of winners.
