T1 is soon slated to face off against Dplus KIA in the LCK 2025 as week four continues. After Dplus KIA’s recent performances, determining the victor might be easier said than done, especially considering how much T1 has struggled so far in this ongoing split.
The LCK 2025 tournament is in full blast, pitting some of the strongest pro League of Legends teams in Korea against each other. From Gen.G to Hanwha Life Esports, the tournament may have some big names, but only the top six teams will qualify for the Road to MSI stage.
One of the teams that most previously assumed would have a sure shot at the next stage was T1, but that isn’t the case anymore. The team has recently been struggling in most of its matches, which is in sharp contrast to T1’s next opponent, Dplus KIA, a side that has bested most teams it’s faced to quickly become a favorite to advance.
T1 has recently been the epitome of inconsistency. While the team displayed great skill in its matches against Gen.G and DRX, its performance against other teams hasn’t been up to par. Losing Zeus to HLE seems to have affected the team more than some expected, and while Doran is an excellent top-laner in his own right, he hasn’t been able to perform nearly as well recently.
That doesn’t mean that all of T1 is collapsing. In particular, Faker and Oner are two players who have consistently played well. Gumayusi and Smash have both played decently at the ADC position, but the constant switching back and forth couldn’t be good for them and has raised questions around the team’s psyche. Another issue seems to be with the team’s drafting. T1 went multiple games without a single tank pick, which is unexpected considering the current meta that favors such champions being included in drafts.
On the other hand, Dplus KIA is one of the leading teams in the tournament. Only losing against Gen.G, the team has five wins and one loss, comfortably landing it in the top three. Lucid’s jungling, ShowMaker’s mid-laning, and Aiming’s ADC plays have been consistently great, though the team’s top-laner, Siwoo, could be a bit of a hit or miss sometimes.
Below are the rosters for both teams in the upcoming match.
T1:
Dplus KIA:
T1 has recently been going for the same couple of champions, though the fearless draft system ensures the team must play at least two different champions in every match. T1’s top picks include Ambessa, Gwen, Xin Zhao, Sejuani, Viktor, Ahri, Jhin, Miss Fortune, Rakan, Alistar, and Lulu.
As for Dplus KIA, the team has also focused on a handful of champions, though its picks are more spread out than T1. DK’s most common champion picks include Rumble, Jayce, Naafiri, Ahri, Miss Fortune, Ezreal, Kai’Sa, Leona, and Poppy.
T1 and Dplus KIA have duked it out on the big stage a whopping 31 times before. Out of those many matches, T1 came out the victor 18 times, giving the team a 58% win rate against the opposing team.
Thanks to T1’s recent performance leaving much to be desired, the team is the underdog in the upcoming match with a betting line of 2.15. In contrast, DK’s 1.68 line cements it as the favorite against T1.
While T1’s performance during this ongoing LCK split has been shaky, the team has almost always won the first game of every match. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the same happens against Dplus Kia, especially considering Oner and Faker have displayed more than enough skills to at least take their team to a third game in series play.
However, they’re likely to lose steam after the first game, as has happened multiple times recently. Aiming and Siwoo are the players likely to determine the course of the match for DK. While Gumayusi and Smash have both showcased more passive gameplay, suggesting Aiming likely may not be able to snowball into a force to be reckoned with, Siwoo could potentially get enough gold against Doran to become DK’s carry, landing the team to a series win.
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