T1 Reveal Roster for The 2021 LoL World Championship

The three-time League of Legends World Champions, T1, have unveiled their team for the 2021 LoL World Championship. The Korean powerhouse will travel to Iceland with a seven-man roster, including Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok.

A Seven-Man Roster To Represent T1

T1 (formerly SK Telecom T1) have announced their roster for the 2021 League of Legends World Championship on Thursday, September 23. The Korean roster will feature known names, including the most successful LoL esports player in history – Faker.

As revealed by T1, the Korean esports organization will head to Iceland with Kim “Canna” Chang-dong in the top lane, Moon “Cuzz” Woo-chan and Moon “Oner” Hyeon-joon in the jungle, and Faker in the mid lane. Joining the four is support Ryu “Keria” Min-seok and two ADC players in Park “Teddy” Jin-seong and Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong.

T1 have not specified which of the two ADC players will be used as a part of the main roster. However, we can expect the team to use them interchangeably based on the matchup as they did throughout the regular season.

Throughout the season, T1 utilized their entire 11-man roster, which includes two players in each position, except for jungle, where T1 fielded three players. Since LoL esports teams can only take a limited number of players to Iceland, T1 had to make a tough decision to leave some of their star players back at home.

The list of players who will miss the most prestigious tournament of the year includes Lee “Clozer” Ju-hyeon, Ryu “Hoit” Ho-seong, Choi “Zeus” Woo-je, Choi “Kuri” Won-yeong, and Choi “Ellim” El-lim.

Experimenting With Their Roster

The South Korean team used several different lineup compositions throughout the 2021 season. Their experimenting with the roster was mostly noticeable throughout the LoL Champions Korea (LCK) Spring Split.

That, however, hasn’t earned T1 the results they wanted. T1 finished the first split in fourth place with an 11-7 record, five wins short of the champions, DWG KIA.

Their run through the playoffs was hardly more successful. T1 started the LCK 2021 Spring Playoffs with a 3-1 victory against DRX but fell flat in the semis against Gen.G.

T1 continued experimenting at the start of LCK 2021 Summer, which resulted in a slow start. The three-time LoL world champions ended the first start of the summer split with a 50% win rate (5-5), which threatened T1 with a possibility that they might miss the playoffs.

In a bid to find more stability, T1 released their coach Yang “Daeny” Dae-in and Lee “Zefa” Jae-min in July. As their replacement, signed Kim “Moment” Ji-hwan.

Moment was previously the head coach of T1 between December 2019 – December 2020. He later moved to the position of assistant coach and head coach of T1 Challengers.

Road To LoL Worlds

Besides signing Moment, T1 also promoted their Assistant coach, Son “Stardust” Seok-hee, to Interim head coach. With those changes, T1 turned a new leaf in their quest for the LCK title, and while they weren’t able to reach their goals, T1 have shown immense improvement under the new guidance.

With Moment and Stardust at the helm of the team, T1 found traction and salvaged their season. T1 have dropped only two games out of the remaining eight and ended the regular season with an 11-7 record.

With that, T1 climbed their way from sixth to fourth-place and clinched a spot in the playoffs. In the postseason, T1 eliminated Liiv SANDBOX (3-0) in the first round and got their revenge against Gen.G (3-1) in the semi-finals.

Unfortunately, T1 proved no match for DWG KIA, who beat them 3-1 in the finals. But, regardless of that loss, T1 showed up with it mattered and won the LCK Regional Finals with 3-2 against Hanwha Life and secured a ticket for the 2021 LoL Worlds.

The 2021 LoL World Championship will mark T1’s sixth appearance at the tournament. As the most successful team in history (three worlds titles), T1 will make their return to the big stage for the first time since 2019.