It was LEC vs LCK as the MAD Lions faced T1 at MSI 2023. With the threat of being sent to the lower bracket, both teams surely manifested a victory walking into the series. But it was T1 that came out on top on the night. Check out how all the action turned out only at Gamopo!
MSI 2023: T1 vs MAD Lions
Rosters
T1
- Choi ‘Zeus’ Woo-je (Top)
- Moon ‘Oner’ Hyeon-joon (Jungle)
- Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok (Mid)
- Lee ‘Gumayusi’ Min-hyeong (Bot)
- Ryu ‘Keria’ Min-seok (Support)
MAD Lions
- Kim ‘Chasy’ Dong-hyeon (Top)
- Javier ‘Elyoya’ Prades (Jungle)
- Yasin ‘Nisqy’ Dinçer (Mid)
- Matyáš ‘Carzzy’ Orság (Bot)
- Zdravets ‘Hylissang’ Iliev Galabov (Support)
The Series
Match 1
The first match started off with T1 starting on red side. MAD Lions started the game impressively showing aggression in every play from the start. And it soon paid off with Elyoya picking up a double kill- that too of Faker and Oner heading into the 5th minute. And they surely didn’t stop there! A turret dive at the 7th minute saw MAD Lions pick up two more kills. T1 got their first kill the next minute with Faker taking down Nisqy but Elyoya soon avenged his teammate. At the 11th minute, MAD Lions got their first dragon right after they took down Faker. From the 12th minute, T1 started to show signs of progress as they tried to reduce the lead bit by bit. But they had a lot on their plate because MAD Lions had already gained a 7k gold lead. MAD got their first tower in the top lane at the 15th minute.
The 16th minute saw Hylissang being sent back to base but the Lions responded by slaying Faker and Gumayusi. But the tide of the match surely turned at the 17th minute as T1 took down the entire roster of MAD Lions along with picking up their first dragon. T1 picked up another W in the next teamfight as they killed Nisqy and Hillysang. MAD Lions picked up their second objective at the 23rd minute. MAD took a massive blow the next minute as T1 stole their Baron and a consequent teamfight saw 3 members each of both teams going down. The 28th minute saw T1 pick up their second dragon after Guma took down Nisqy. All of a sudden, the momentum seemed to have shifted to T1. Disaster struck for MAD Lions as T1 got an ace and went straight for Baron. The 33rd minute saw T1 slaying yet another teamfight as T1 picked up their 3rd dragon and penetrated the base of MAD Lions. And with that, T1 executed a comeback unlike any other to pick up their first map of the series.
ONER STEALS THE BARON! #MSI2023 pic.twitter.com/MEhSIjZyAA
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) May 10, 2023
Match 2
The second match of T1 vs MAD Lions began with T1 on the red side yet again. MAD Lions needed to make a comeback on this match to even the scoreline.
tfw Gumayusi Aphelios pic.twitter.com/tO2NMQQhgS
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) May 10, 2023
The Lions started off game 2 the perfect way with them picking up Oner in jungle even before the minions spawned. But Oner got one back at the 5th minute as he picked up Elyoya at mid. This time T1 was in no mood to fall behind during early game as the 6th minute saw Hylissang and Nisqy fall prey to their opponents. T1 picked up their first dragon of the match at the 8th minute. The cusp of the 10th minute saw fights taking place all over the map as both teams conceded two of their members each. 2 minutes later, T1 picked up their first turret after slaying 3 members of MAD Lions. T1 picked up their second dragon of the match at the 14th minute. A beautiful teamfight from T1 at the 16th minute saw the team race towards a 5k gold lead.
Meanwhile, MAD Lions took their first turret of the match at the 18th minute. After taking down both Chasy and Carzzy at the 20th minute, T1 took down the mid inhibitor of MAD Lions. Their LCK opponent continued to dominate the match as they took dragon number three 20 minutes into the match. Despite pressure from the Lions, T1 took down Baron at the 22nd minute and started to attack base again. An aced MAD Lions then helplessly looked on as T1 took down their nexus on the cusp of the 25th minute. Advantage to T1 as they needed just one more win to move onto the next round of MSI 2023.
Match 3
With two wins secured, T1 needed just one more win to call it a night. T1 seemed hungry to do so as they played aggressive right from the start as they forced two flashed out of the Lions just 2 minutes into the match. A dive in the botlane helped T1 secure the kills of Carzzy and Hylissang. T1 repeated their action and got 2 more kills on the cusp of the 6th minute with Elyoya suiciding under the turret. With 3 more kills at the 7th minute, sending the Lions back to the base seemed to have turned into a hobby for the T1 roster. In 8 minutes, T1 managed to pick up 10 kills. Soon, they even picked up their first dragon.
With T1 forcing pressure on top side, it was Guma that picked up the first turret in the bottom lane. A dive at the top on Faker saw him being conceded but Faker made sure to take down Elyoya with him. The 15th minute saw T1 picking up their second dragon of the match as they raced towards the finish line. The 16th minute saw T1 going all in a successful pick by Gumayusi as they looked determined to finish off the map. Elyoya and Carzzy were practically running for their lives as Guma took them both down under their own turrets before T1 destroyed the nexus. With the clock reading 16:41, the win couldn’t come any sooner for T1.
16:47 MINUTES:@T1LoL sweep the series against @MADLions_EN! #MSI2023 pic.twitter.com/kFPNs1TDxw
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) May 10, 2023
T1 will now be facing Gen. G on May 13th for their shot at the upper bracket finals of MSI 2023. It will surely be a challenging series but after tonight’s game, there’s little doubt that T1 is in it to win it. Meanwhile, MAD Lions are now relegated to the lower bracket and they will face G2 on the same day.