T1 vs Team Liquid Honda Recap – Worlds 2023 Swiss Stage Day 1

T1 vs Team Liquid Honda Recap – The first match of the Worlds Swiss Stage was a banger, as T1 vs Team Liquid turned out much more interesting than anyone could’ve anticipated.

The Main Stage of the 2023 League of Legends World Championship has finally started! On the first day, the 16 teams will play 8 Bo1’s to separate the field and find out who gets closer to the Knockout Stage.

The first bout was between 3-time world champion organization T1 and their legendary midlaner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok and the 3^rd seed of the North American LCS, Team Liquid Honda. While the previews for this match were incredibly T1 sided (and for good reason), it turned out to be a banger, worthy to be the opening derby for the Worlds Main Stage.

T1 vs Team Liquid Honda Recap

The match started out with a botched dive from T1 where both Oner and Zeus died to Summit and APA who arrived with a very early teleport. Pyosik was leading the charge crossmap, getting another kill for the NA squad on Gumayusi’s Ashe. This put TL in a comfortable position, which led to them taking the first Herald of the game – but they had to give up a kill for it.

After the laning phase, TL tried to press their advantage, but T1 didn’t let them get a lead through clever macro plays. The Korean squad stabilized after taking the T1 and T2 Towers in the midlane, but TL did a great job of answering their advances with some quick kills.

Team Liquid took the first Baron Nashor after hunting Faker down in the toplane, but lost the teamfight after T1 collapsed on them with the lead of Zeus. While the Korean squad managed to mitigate most of the damage TL could’ve done with their first Baron, they lost their T2 Tower, which meant that a second Nashor could be disastrous.

When the next Baron spawned, TL managed to win a fight before the they started the objective, securing the second worm of the game. They took some towers but couldn’t breach the Inhibitors of T1, which meant that Faker and his teammates still had some time to recuperate and scale.

They managed to hold out just long enough to force a fight that TL couldn’t win as one of their strongest member, Pyosik fell hard on Lee Sin, and Guma’s Ashe and Zeus’ Jayce became unstoppable. In true LCK fashion, they decided the match with one teamfight, winning the first match of the Worlds Swiss Stage.

Quick Stats:

• Teams: T1 – Team Liquid Honda
• Time: 36:28
• Kills: 15-14
• Turrets: 7-6
• Gold: 67.2k – 66.5k
• Dragons: 2-2
• Barons: 0-2

T1 joined the 1-0 teams first, meaning that they only need two victories in order to qualify for the Knockout Stage. While Faker and his teammates didn’t dominate the 3^rd seed of the LCS, they played their own game which Pyosik and co. couldn’t crack. T1 is a very strong contender, and once they ramp up, they could make some teams run for their money earlier in the game.