T1 Gumayusi: “The enemy team’s draft was not what we were expecting and we couldn’t handle the enemy draft well”

Jordan Marney

Jordan Marney

T1 now goes up against winless Cloud9 in the conclusion of the first round robin at Worlds 2022.

T1 was stunned last night at the 2022 League of Legends World Championship. The three-time world champions were dismantled by Europe's third seed in Fnatic to fall to a 1-1 record, they face winless Cloud9 later today. Following their match against FNC, T1 Gumayusi sat down with the media for a post-match scrum.

Fnatic and the LEC are storming through Worlds 2022

Is this the year of the LEC? who knows? One thing is certain however and it is that Europe's grasp on the meta thus far has been fantastic. Fnatic's victory over T1 wrapped up an emphatic and inspiring day for the region, going 3-0 with victories over DRX, Evil Geniuses and of course T1. Outside of G2's opening game to Damwon, the LEC has drafted respectfully with scaling that serves their star players well.

Azir has been heavily featured in Europe's games thus far, flanked by a tank in the jungle and on many occasions, Maokai flexed across the rift. T1 Gumayusi explained briefly how his side was not expecting Fnatic to be playing this style of League of Legends, evidently throwing the Korean giants off guard.

I think the biggest issue behind the loss includes my concentration issues and that the enemy team’s draft was not what we were expecting and we couldn’t handle the enemy draft well.

T1 Gumayusi on Fnatic's draft

An old bot lane combination ran through the LCK

<em>NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 08: Elias "Upset" Lipp of Fnatic poses onstage at the League of Legends World Championship Groups Stage on October 8, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Lance Skundrich/Riot Games)</em>
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 08: Elias "Upset" Lipp of Fnatic poses onstage at the League of Legends World Championship Groups Stage on October 8, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Lance Skundrich/Riot Games)

Lucian was a champion that was not received well in the LCK this split, being picked 44 times and having a win rate of 45% according to Gol.gg. Lucian has historically been picked with enchanter support Nami and it has been one of the more dominant bot lanes over time. Lucian was another pick seen heavily on day two of the Group Stage, with Upset and Comp completely outclassing their opponents on the champion.

When asked about the bot lane match-up specifically, T1 Gumayusi explained he had not put much thought into playing against Lucian+Nami but also they were not able to adapt to playing against it.

I didn’t put that much thought into the enemy team playing Lucian+Nami and wasn’t able to adapt to their picks as well. [...] In terms of the bot matchup, it was not favourable, but when I got into the game I thought it was playable.

T1 Gumayusi on playing against Lucian+Nami at Worlds 2022

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