LCK Spring 2022 Playoffs Semifinals are set to begin tomorrow as T1 faces Kwandong Freecs
In the quarterfinals/first round of the LCK playoffs, DAMWON KIA and Kwangdong Freecs emerged as victors. Both of them advance to the Semi-finals and T1 had a choice to pick from either as their opponents. As it comes to no surprise, they picked KDF, the weakest of the two for sure. Now, we are teeing up for T1 to face KDF in the series tomorrow as T1 is the overwhelming favorite. Let’s talk about both teams and their win conditions.
T1 vs Kwangdong Freecs Series
While this is the LCK Playoffs Semifinals, T1 remains the favorites by a mile for this series. Kwangdong Freecs pulled out a great win against DRX but T1 just needs to play like they did in the regular season and they should be good to win easily. Let’s talk about how Kwangdong Freecs can pull of another upset in the playoffs.
Kwangdong Freecs
KDF has a tall hill to climb tomorrow as they face the unbeaten team in the LCK. However, if KDF can pull off some of their strategies against T1, it is possible for them to win the series. There is little margin for error and KDF will need to pull it off to win. Thus, let’s lay out some win conditions for KDF to win
Win Condition For Kwangdong Freecs
- Kiin Must Win Top Lane
- Teddy and Hoit Needs To Hold On
- Do Similar Strategies Like They Did Versus DRX
For DRX to win this series, it must start from the top lane and bot lane. For top lane, Kiin has to exert his pressure as one of the best top laners in the LCK. In fact, he needs to be the best top laner of the LCK tomorrow to win the series for his team. Zeus has been great and has been a stable top laner but he has had his iffy moments. If Kiin can take advantage of Zeus and put him behind and put pressure on him, this could be an interesting lane matchup.
Also, bot lane needs to hold their own. Deft and Beryl caused quite a few problems for Teddy and Hoit but Guma and Keria will be harder to handle. Teddy and Hoit will need to be at their A-game and Ellim will need to help the bot lane while not being passive and let T1 get advantages.
Lastly, it’s all about doing the right things and KDF did a lot of things right in their series against DRX. They will need to make sure they don’t make too many mistakes and just play their style and take the fight to T1.
T1
This team is as much of a juggernaut as you can define them as. Barring their unbeaten record in the regular season, there is an asterisk there for the circumstances in which they got the wins. However, it does not make them any less of a team. They are the best team in the LCK unless proved otherwise. For them, anything short of the LCK trophy is a disaster. Let’s talk about their win conditions against KDF.
Win Conditions for T1
- Doing the Usual T1 Style
- Making Sure Zeus is Comfortable
It’s very simple for T1, play how they have been playing thus far and they will win the series. It’s as simple as it can get. On the second win condition, they need to make sure Zeus is comfortable in his first playoff series as a starter. Just don’t let him lose lane, which will put pressure on him for the rest of the series.
Overall Thoughts and Our Predictions
There is not much to say about this series other than T1 being such overwhelming favorites. KDF can try to pull off an upset but it’s very unlikely that it even comes close to that. Given how T1’s current form is, it seems improbably for T1 to lose this series. Although stranger things have happened in League of Legends, T1 is a safe bet at the moment.
For us, it’s T1 3-1 as while we can see KDF winning 1 game, T1 should just dominate in their 3 games against them. So, we might be seeing a one-sided series tomorrow as T1 continues their conquest to go to MSI or KDF throws some wrenches into that plan.
