On Friday 22,
T1 secured a 2-1 victory over
Nongshim RedForce, keeping them level with
Hanwha Life Esports, who moved to a 19-8 record after edging out
KT Rolster yesterday. NS are still winless this split, now on a 12-series losing streak across the "Road to MSI" and the LCK Rounds 3-5, though they did manage to take a game off the reigning back-to-back world champions — their second of the split after the first against KT last week.
T1 had to work for their win against Nongshim RedForce but ultimately came out on top in the series. Game 1 was close in the early stages with both sides trading blows, but when it came to teamfighting and objective control, T1 simply moved better as a unit. A skirmish around the Rift Herald top side was a turning point, and
Mun "Oner" Hyeon-jun hit his 3,000th LCK assist in a standout Xin Zhao performance. Together with Lee "
Faker" Sang-hyeok, the duo was involved in 19 of T1’s 20 kills.
Nongshim struck back in Game 2 with a controlled showing. An early 2v2 under their botlane turret went their way, and Son "
Lehends" Si-woo shined on Leona to help NS even the series. In Game 3, Oner pulled out Zed jungle, but it was Faker who got punished on an early gank attempt mid, allowing Syun "Calix" Hyun-bin to gain the upper hand in lane and later secure a second solo kill on the unkillable demon king. Still, Ryu "Keria" Min-seok’s Braum was flawless, and the decisive moment came when Choi "Doran" Hyeon-joon’s Jax landed a four-man Counter Strike.
From there, T1 rolled through the fight and closed the game cleanly, keeping themselves in the race for second place — a battle that will likely be decided in their upcoming series against Hanwha Life Esports on Wednesday, August 27. Tomorrow, the highlight matchup of the LCK week will pit Hanwha Life Esports against Gen.G, and depending on the result, T1 could move ahead as soon as Sunday when they face KT Rolster in a Telecom War.
