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Credit: lolesports

T1 sweep Hanwha Life Esports, qualify for Worlds 2021 semifinals.




T1 have eliminated Hanwha Life Esports from Worlds 2021 in a one-sided 3-0 sweep series on Oct. 22, 2021. In doing so, they advanced to the semifinals and positioned themselves as favorites.

The three-time World champions asserted dominance from the start of the series, and they faced questionable drafts from Hanwha Life Esports’ side. Overall, the series featured one-sided games.  

T1’s solo laners showed up throughout the series, with Faker playing his role to fruition: to neutralize Chovy in the mid lane. In Games 2 and 3, Faker’s Lissandra counter nullified Chovy’s LeBlanc, helping T1 take over the map. 

As T1 won, they reached the Worlds semifinals for the sixth time in the organization’s history. They have never been eliminated before the semifinals of the World Championships in which they participated, and the tradition continues. 

Despite Hanwha Life Esports’ elimination, they will leave the tournament with a small achievement: they have gone the furthest a fourth seed has gone at Worlds. Indeed, previous fourth seeds from the main regions have crashed either in the play-ins (MAD Lions in 2020) or during the group stage (LGD Gaming in 2020 and LNG Esports in 2021).

Yohan Markov is among the most prolific of all analysts and writers covering League of Legends esports. A long-time veteran of the scene, Yohan has the in-depth knowledge of LoL required to break down the biggest pro games, combined with the lengthy experience covering Riot Games and its many regional leagues needed to break down what's happening and why in the LoL esports world.