“It’s hard to believe the regular season is starting already,” Gumayusi after returning from MSI and the EWC

After a packed month where T1 traveled across the globe—from Seoul to Vancouver for the Mid-Season Invitational, then to Riyadh for the Esports World Cup—the players are finally back home. But a return to South Korea doesn’t mean rest for them, as the LCK resumed immediately, leaving little time for the T1 players to catch their breath. The same applies to Gen.G, as well as Chinese teams like Anyone’s Legend and Bilibili Gaming, who also took part in these tournaments and made deep runs.

T1’s AD Carry, Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyeong, spoke on several topics after returning home, sharing his thoughts on the schedule, recent and upcoming competitions, and the ongoing rivalry between T1 and Gen.G during a live stream. After arriving back in Korea, he had just one day off before jumping straight back into work, as the LCK regular season resumed on July 23—only three days after the Esports World Cup ended. “It’s hard to believe the regular season is starting already,” he said.

Gumayusi also admitted he wasn’t fully aware of the LCK Round 3–5 format and initially thought they’d have to play 27 best-of-threes instead of 12, which came as a relief: “It won’t be as bad as I thought.” Overall, he described the experience as fun and valuable, even if the results didn’t meet their expectations. While they had a good time together as a team, falling short in the MSI final left some regret.

Gumayusi also spoke about how this year’s international tournaments felt like his first real chance to compete for titles, since he barely played during the LCK Cup, having been subbed out at the time for Shin "Smash" Geum-jae. He pointed out that there are still two trophies left to fight for—LCK and Worlds—and noted that Hanwha Life Esports have already won two (the LCK Cup and First Stand), while Gen.G claimed two as well (MSI and EWC). “So if T1 wins the remaining two, it all balances out. Thinking like that doesn’t feel too bad.”

Gumayusi then shared his thoughts on Gen.G and their recent form, stating “I at least want to make sure they bleed once.” The two teams are set to face each other at least three times during this LCK Round 3-5, starting with their first clash in front of the T1 crowd at the Homeground event in Incheon. And he kept his word—T1 took the series 2-1, with a standout performance from Gumayusi himself.

Unfortunately, the schedule is brutal for teams that go deep in tournaments. Gumayusi said, “The schedule is so exhausting, but every year it somehow gets worse than the last.” He also spoke about the physical and mental fatigue they felt during MSI, noting that he used to need a lot of rest but much less so now.

Finally, he talked about the new champion Yunara, describing her as a fun mix between Twitch and Zeri. He said she’s very strong at the moment but is waiting to see how she performs in competitive play, mentioning that there will be counters to Yunara.