MSI Preview: T1’s Redemption Arc starts now?

All roads lead to him… and T1. For Faker and the rest of the squad, the road to MSI 2025 has been anything but linear. Despite a poor form in the first part of the year and constant ups and downs in the LCK season so far, the team has locked in their spot at the international tournament for the fourth consecutive time.

While all expectations were on HLE, T1 put up a convincing performance that has now led fans to question: is this what the real T1 looks like, or was it just a coincidence? What does this mean for MSI? Let’s break down T1’s form and what the expectations are in Vancouver.

T1 is finally figuring things out

It’s impossible to talk about T1’s bounce back without highlighting top laner Choi “Doran” Hyeon-joon. After being considered the main weak link for half of the season, the guy just decided to turn up in one of the most crucial moments of the season, and coincidentally, against the top he replaced. During the playoff run, Doran felt like a different beast, actively winning matchups and consistently creating space for his team in the fights.

Doran’s resurgence was more than just an individual glow-up — it unlocked the rest of T1’s system. Both against KT and HLE, Doran’s consistent play in the top lane allowed T1 to play proactively on the map, building up consistent leads with dragon stacking and forcing the enemies to play on their terms. In short, they looked like T1 from last year.

But now comes the real test. While we have seen glimpses of peak Doran domestically, the question is now whether he can maintain this form heading into MSI. Like we previously analyzed earlier in the season, T1’s success comes down to whether Doran can continue to perform at this level, if T1 were to maintain a similar playstyle to the one with Zeus. 

Keria is Back in Business and the coaching staff seems to have found a fix

The other big highlight from T1 in the Road to MSI playoffs was Ryu “Keria” Min-seok, who finally looks back to his playmaking best. The guy looked quite off when T1 was consistently swapping out Gumayusi and Smash, but now that the quintet is seemingly locked in for the foreseeable future, Keria has been back to his usual form, dictating pace, creating pressure, and syncing beautifully with the rest of the team in the teamfights.

This is also thanks to the draft preparation from the T1’s coaching staff, who should be praised in recent times for actually putting together strong team compositions. Not only have they come up with good answers, like in Game 1 against HLE where they went for a full-engage composition against Viper’s Miss Fortune, which was a forced pick due to removing ADCs in the second ban phase, but they have been able to draft around the team’s strengths more often than not.

Paired with the fact that most of the players seem in strong form like always, especially jungler Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun, there are all the elements for a good tournament for T1. The roster looks more cohesive, and with the meta putting more emphasis on drakes right now, this looks to be T1’s comfort zone. 

Can T1 fight for the MSI title?

It might be a hot take or a bit of hopium, but I do think that if the T1 we see at MSI is the same one from playoffs, there is definitely a chance. The LCK teams are still looking more solid than all the other regions, and aside from Anyone’s Legend, I don’t think anyone at the tournament can come close in terms of ceiling.

Considering T1 won’t be on the same side of the bracket as Gen.G, T1 has good chances of going deep at MSI. There are quite a few variables, though, starting from Doran, and his performance will likely dictate the team’s volatility. Nonetheless, T1 thrives in high-stakes matches, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see them pull off something unexpected, just like they did at the Road to MSI.