T1 make League of Legends history again with perfect 18-0 win streak in LCK

South Korean League of Legends (LoL) juggernaut T1 have made history once again, as they finished the 2022 LoL Champions Korea (LCK) Spring Season with a perfect 18-0 win streak on Sunday (20 March).

T1 are the first-ever team to finish the LCK regular season undefeated, notching 36 game wins against just seven losses en route to 18-straight match victories to complete their historic feat.

T1 are already the most decorated team in LoL history, having won three World Championships, two of which were in back-to-back years, owing largely to Lee “Faker” Sang Hyeok.

The team also have two Mid-Season Invitationals and several LCK titles under their belt.

T1 and Faker, the greatest LoL player of all time, were already breaking and setting records earlier in the season when they surpassed their own 14-0 win streak.

The LCK season kicked off with a match in a match between T1 and Kwangdong Freecs (KDF), where the former took the series in a dominant 2-0 sweep. T1 then went on to defeat Fredit BRION, but not without dropping a game against the latter in the same week.

The team went on unscathed in Week 2, demolishing DRX and SANDBOX Gaming.

Faker also set two new records in his match against DRX that week, with his Tryndamere pick being the 70th champion that he used in the LCK and 74th across his entire career. Tryndamere was Faker’s counter pick against the problematic Corki, which has been LCK’s favourite mid laner in the Spring Season.

In LCK Sping’s third week, the team dropped one game each against Nongshim RedForce and DAMWON KIA Gaming. The games ended still ended with T1 on top.

In a match against Hanwha Life Esports (HLE), T1 struggled against an overpowered Zeri, at a loss on how to counter the new champion with her attack speed, movement speed, and the slow in her kit.

They promptly banned the Spark of Zaun in the next two games, ending with T1 taking the upper hand in the series. They then went on to sweep Gen.G Esports, one of the strongest teams in the season.

In Week 5, T1 swept KT Rolster before outlasting Nongshim RedForce in a 2-1 series victory. Ryu “Keria” Min-seok also set his 2,000th assist on the same week, a feat which he achieved in only a little over two years into his career.

Weeks 6 and 7 saw more dominant showings from T1, where they notched four-straight series sweeps over DWG KIA, HLE, Gen.G, and KT Rolster to reprise their 14-0 win streak record from 2015.

Faker also notably got his 2,500th kill on his trademark Le Blanc pick in T1's match against Gen.G on Week 7, making him the only pro LoL player to do so in their career.

In Week 8, T1 won against KDF 2-1 and swept Fredit BRION 2-0. The last week of the regular season then saw T1 defeat SANDBOX Gaming 2-1, before ending on a high note with a 2-0 sweep against DRX.

Faker also shone with his first Veigar on the stage in T1’s final match of the regular season.

Beyond Faker, the T1 bot lane duo also made history this season.

Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong had the most kills during the season with 216 kills and an overall kill participation rate of 67% throughout the season. Keria, on the other hand, bagged the most assists for the regular season as well with 441 assists and a 72.3% participation rate.

Faker placed fourth among players in terms of MVP point ranking, followed by Gumayusi and Keria in 9th and 10th place, respectively.

Moon "Oner" Hyeon-joon came in 13th on the MVP rankings while Zeus took the 19th spot. This is the first year that Zeus is on the starting roster of T1 after being part of T1 Academy and becoming the team’s Substitute in 2021.

T1's overall 36-7 standing notably puts them at +29 points at the end of the season. T1 also previously finished the Summer 2015 Split with +29 points, with DAMWON Gaming KIA doing the same in Summer 2020. In those years, both teams went on to win their respective World Championships.

While some LCK fans say that T1 only achieved this because several teams had to field members from their Challenger rosters due to COVID-19, analysts in LCK have said that T1 are in their top form nonetheless.

T1 are currently ranked first among the teams in the LCK this season so far, with the Spring Playoffs beginning on Wednesday (23 March) with a match between DWG KIA and Fredit BRION.

T1 will then face the winner of that match in the semifinals.

With all of the records that T1 are making, this may be the year that Faker and his team reclaim the Summoner's Cup. Assuming that they continue their great performance, of course.

T1 2022 Roster:

• Top Lane: Choi “Zeus” Woo-je

• Jungle: Moon “Oner” Hyeon-joon

• Mid Lane: Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok

• Bot Lane: Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong

• Support: Ryu “Keria” Min-seok

• Coaches: Choi “Polt” Seong-hun, Kim “moment” Ji-hwan

Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.

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