T1 will get another shot at Gen.G Esports, this time with a title on the line.
T1 survived a tight, back-and-forth battle with Anyone’s Legend on Friday night, winning 3-2 to advance to the championship match of the LoL Mid-Season Invitational in Vancouver, Canada.
The squad landed in the lower bracket final against Anyone’s Legend after falling 3-2 to Gen.G in the upper bracket final two days earlier.
The $2 million event began with two teams from each League of Legends region: China, Korea, Pacific, the Americas and Europe-Middle East-Africa.
The winner of the grand final will earn $500,000 and a spot in the $5 million League of Legends World Championship, to be played this fall in China. The runner-up takes home $300,000.
The two teams traded wins over the first four games on Friday night, with Anyone’s Legend opening with a 27-minute win on red. T1 responded with a 30-minute win on blue. Anyone’s Legend won Game 3 on blue, taking it in 32 minutes. Blue got a win in Game 4, as well, but this time it was T1 getting it in 27 minutes.
That followed the pattern of T1’s match with Gen.G. But unlike the upper bracket final, T1 took the winner-take-all Game 5 on Friday, winning in 29 minutes on red.
Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong of Korea led T1 with 32 kills, eight deaths and 27 assists. That included an amazing Game 5, where Gumayusi registered 15 kills with 12 assists and no deaths. China’s Wang “Hope” Jie paced Anyone’s Legend with a 21/12/19 K/D/A ratio.
The T1-Gen.G championship showdown is set for Saturday.
League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational final standings / prize pool:
1. $500,000, berth in League of Legends World Championship
2. $300,000
3. $240,000 — Anyone’s Legend
4. $200,000 — Bilibili Gaming
5-6. $160,000 — CTBC Flying Oyster, FlyQuest
7-8. $130,000 — G2 Esports, KOI
9. $100,000 — GAM Esports
10. $80,000 — FURIA
–Field Level Media
