After their previous match produced one of the most surprising defeats in recent competitive League of Legends, the LCK 2025 rounds 1-2 tournament will see BRION and T1 doing battle once again. Will things go differently this time, or will the match be a repeat of the shocking result that was delivered to fans and bettors alike just over two weeks ago?
The ongoing LCK has been full of twists and turns. While Gen.G and Hanwha Life Esports have established themselves as the favorites to win, others have struggled throughout the year. T1 is an odd case, as the team has lost some matches it theoretically should have won, it has also defeated enough teams to land a comfortable spot in the top five of the LCK standings.
One of the most unexpected results for the squad was when BRION defeated T1. Considering BRION has never placed higher than sixth place in any LCK split, the team’s victory against the league’s most established name turned many heads. The two teams will now face off again, and BRION winning once more would greatly help it to crack the top six and qualify for the Road to MSI playoff tournament.
Despite its shaky start, T1 seems to have finally found its footing, taking out four teams in succession without losing a single game along the way. In particular, Oner and Faker have consistently showcased excellent mechanical skills during this recent winning streak. Faker picked up his second-ever pentakill against DRX, while Oner has won T1 multiple games thanks to his sharp objective acquisition.
The biggest anomaly in the team is Doran. Despite being a great player in his own right, the top-laner continues to make questionable decisions, forcing his teammates to cover for him around the map.
BRION’s top laner played very well against Doran and T1, especially in the third game of BRION’s series victory when Morgan’s Yorick made quick work of the enemy players. The team is likely to have HamBak play as jungler instead of Croco in this series, and while he may not have the best objective acquisition numbers, his ganks can help turn the tide of battle in BRION’s favor. Although BRION’s ADC won his team the third game against T1, Hype is ultimately too inconsistent to be relied upon, and most of his kills were claimed thanks to T1’s poor decision-making and drafting rather than Hype’s own playmaking abilities.
Below are the rosters for both teams:
BRION:
T1:
Brion continues to experiment with its champion picks, likely looking for some that stick. The team’s most common recent picks include Ambessa, Yorick, Wukong, Ahri, Miss Fortune, and Varus. The team’s support has various top picks, including Rakan, Rell, Nautilus, and Braum.
When it comes to T1, it wouldn’t be surprising if Faker goes for picks like Viktor and Ahri, especially after that recent pentakill, while Oner will go for Xin Zhao and Sejuani. The other players will likely pick Ambessa, Gwen, Jhin, Miss Fortune, Rakan, Alistar, and Lulu.
Out of the 17 matches BRION and T1 have had on the big stage, BRION has only won three times. With 14 wins against its opponent under its belt, T1 is going into the match with a significant advantage.
Despite how the last match between the two teams went, T1 is still the clear favorite to win against BRION with a betting line of 1.10. BRION’s 6.60 line cements it as the underdog here, which isn’t too surprising since the team is coming off two consecutive losses that have further deflated expectations for the BROs.
BRION has a habit of going into matches headstrong from the first game. This has proven to help the team win the first game multiple times, but that may not happen here. With T1’s recent loss to BRION, T1’s players may take things more seriously from the jump. T1’s downfall in the third game was largely thanks to the team’s poor drafting, and that’s unlikely to play such a big factor again.
While Clozer is likely to play very safe against Faker, just as he did last time, Hype may get a little overconfident in the bottom lane. Considering how Hype was able to snowball into an unstoppable carry in the third game against T1, it wouldn’t be surprising if he tries to recreate that energy by playing more aggressively. Gumayusi seems to be in a better headspace thanks to the Smash issue’s seeming settlement and is likely to play more strategically here. Since T1 will likely want to take at least the first game the distance, Oner’s high objective acquisition may shine. If Oner can help T1 to remain settled early and progress into the mid- and late-game periods, look for T1 to close out the game, and the series, from there.
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