T1 trucks return after team benches Gumayusi in LCK

T1 made a controversial decision to replace Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong in an LCK Cup match, and now fans with the cash to spare are once again sending in the trucks to make their frustration known.

In competitive League of Legends, T1 is at the top of the list of successful organizations. The team has taken home five different World Championship titles over the years. Most recently, it has won both the 2023 and 2024 League of Legends World Championship events with its well-established ZOFGK roster. After replacing Choi “Zeus” Woo-je with Choi “Doran” Hyeon-joon, fans were upset enough to harass T1 management both online and in real-life. Now with a potential threat to another venerated player’s position, fans are back at it again.

Here’s exactly what a T1 truck is and more details as to why fans are upset enough to send them to the organization’s Korean headquarters.

What are the T1 trucks?

Often appearing after a controversial decision or unfortunate loss, fans sometime send “T1 trucks ” with messages to the organization’s headquarters in Korea.

T1 trucks are half-ton messages from dedicated fans to the team’s management to express their frustration at team performance or with certain decisions. They highlight the passion some have and the lengths that they’re willing to go to to show it. Outside observers compare fans’ relationship to T1 as being similar to that of k-pop star stans.

There have been several incidences in the past few years culminating in the T1 trucks rolling out. Other notable appearances include in 2022 to encourage management to hire new coaches and in 2023 over bot laner Gumayusi’s poor performance at the LCK. Most recently, fans sent out the T1 trucks in early January 2025 after the team’s loss against Hanwha Life Esports.

Among the side’s fans, there’s a lot of controversy over the T1 trucks. Many find the idea of sending real-life hate mail to be cringeworthy or not befitting of being a fan of the team. They argue that the team is more important than celebrating individual players. Others clearly feel differently, as the T1 trucks do continue to pop up time and time again.

T1 trucks appear after Gumayusi benched for LCK Cup match

Just days after T1 benched Gumayusi for its LCK Cup match against KT Rolster, the T1 trucks have reared their heads once again because fans are upset.

On January 24, the official T1 X account announced the team would be swapping star ADC  player Gumayusi for rookie Shin “Smash” Geum-jae against KT Rolster during the LCK Cup. Smash currently plays for T1 Esports Academy and is well-respected as an up-and-coming player. In a translated post, Gumayusi stated that he was also surprised at the decision to relegate him to the bench. He pledged to use the opportunity to grow and to come back better than ever.

Head coach Kim “kkOma” Jeong-gyun later said that he wanted to try something new for the tournament and to gather data. Since T1 ending up winning 2-1, kkOma may decide to make more swaps in the LCK, or even hold with Smash on the starting T1 roster.

Many fans were upset after T1 swapped out Gumayusi, regardless of the results. The player has been T1’s ADC carry since 2019, with two back-to-back Worlds titles now under his belt. Some feel the move was both disrespectful and a detriment to the team as a whole given his proven credentials. Others are angry that they spent money on a fan meet with the impression of getting to meet Gumayusi only to have it changed to a substitute player at the last minute.

It’s no surprise that some fans decided to sic the T1 trucks on the team. Two trucks recently appeared after the aftermath with Gumayusi. Though the exact translation is still up for debate, the gist of the messages boil down to anger over benching Gumayusi for a rookie and saying that T1 doesn’t care about its fans. The messages are written in Korean, but there is speculation that Chinese fans may have sent the trucks due to some linguistic inconsistencies in those messages. With T1 having dedicated fans located all over the world, the possibilities are many.

Gumayusi’s contract currently expires at the end of 2025, after the next LoL World Championship. Should T1 choose not to renew the player after benching him, it can expect to see more trucks sent by angry fans.