T1 Keria’s perspective on the LoL landscape: “I don’t think that Korean teams stand out by a big margin. I think especially for T1 we have to still work hard”

The LCK could not have gotten off to a better start at the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational. The powerhouse league across two days decimated Europe's G2 Esports and MAD Lions. In both series fans saw an unprecedented pre-twenty-minute win, one of them coming close to an international record.

Following their dismantling of the EMEA Spring champions MAD Lions, T1 Keria sat down with the media for a post-series scrum.

With T1's recent failures, the squad has been labeled as 'chokers' by the League of Legends community. In the biggest moments over the past year, this star-studded roster, filled with the best talent in the world has not been able to get it done when it matters most.

It was a moment of horror for the T1 fans seeing their squad go down more than 7k gold in game one. For a team that has already been criticized for their performances in the big moments, their backs were truly up against the wall.

Keria was asked how the squad was able to keep their mental strong following the poor early game.

"We were aware that we had a really good team fight comp. So even though they had a huge lead, we knew that they could not snowball it any further. We just needed one Baron fight where could turn the tables around. We fought a lot and had so many skirmishes that Gumayusi was able to get so much gold, so we were able to snowball off it and win."

T1's recent defeat to Gen.G has meant they have lost the last few finals they have competed in. Dating back to MSI 2022, T1 has yet to win another championship. Their most crushing defeat came in game five at the 2022 World Championship against heavy underdogs DRX.

T1 Keria was questioned on the upcoming rematch with Gen.G. "Last time in the spring finals, we were way underperforming compared to Gen.G and Gen.G was just outplaying us the entire series so they got the trophy. But this time at MSI, we are working so hard, even harder than we then we were preparing for the finals and we tried too hard to fit the meta. So I'm looking forward to having a better result than the spring finals."

Keria was then asked to reflect on T1's performance in 2023 so far, and what his remaining goals are for the reason of the season.

"To be completely honest, I think our performance was not really on point, even in the regular season. That is why we were not able to get the result that we wanted. And I think it is time that we actually perceive those outcomes. So after those kinds of incidents, we were able to have some reality checks.

And we know that we really have to work harder and step it up. This means we actually have a lot of room to improve and we are aware of it. So I think I'm looking forward to seeing us improve a lot. Our goal for 2023 is to win an international title."

With Gen.G also looking very dominant in their series against G2 Esports, the upper bracket is starting to heat up. "Right now I am currently looking out for JDG and Gen.G. And then followed up by G2 from the other regions" Keria said when asked about opponents he thinks are dangerous.

Despite the dominance from both Gen.G and T1, Keria remains coy about the strength of the region in comparison to the other major regions. "I don't really think that Korean teams or T1 stand out by a big margin compared to the other regions. I think especially for T1 we have to still work hard."

It will be interesting to see if Keria's comments turn out to be true. Over the next two days, it will be a battle between two more major regions. The LPL vs the LCS highlights days three and four of the bracket stage.

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