T1 emerges as the inaugural League of Legends champions of the Esports World Cup 2024

By Vincent Liao
Arts and Entertainment
T1 emerges as the inaugural League of Legends champions of the Esports World Cup 2024

T1 celebrates its 3-1 victory over Top Esports (TES) in the League of Legends grand finals of the Esports World Cup 2024. ESPORTS WORLD CUP/Handout

July 12 (ZFJ) — T1 became the first-ever League of Legends champions in the inaugural Esports World Cup (EWC) after emerging victorious against Top Esports (TES) 3-1 in the grand finals on Sunday, July 7, at the Qiddiya Arena.

The EWC is an annual international gaming tournament organized by the Esports World Cup Foundation, succeeding the previous Gamers8 festival. This year, the EWC 2024 is being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, spanning from July 3 to August 25. The event features competitions across 21 different video games, including League of Legends, Fortnite, and Apex Legends. Generously funded by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the tournament has a combined prize pool of $60,000,000—the largest in esports history.

The League of Legends tournament took place in the first week of the event. From July 4-7, eight teams representing China (BiliBili Gaming, Top Esports), Korea (Gen.G, T1), North America (Team Liquid, Flyquest), and EMEA (G2 Esports, Fanatics) competed in a single-elimination bracket for a total prize pool of $1,000,000, with the first place team taking home $400,000. While the quarterfinals and semifinals were best of three games, the final was best of five.

The tournament started with a shocking upset as Gen.G, four-time LCK champion and the tournament favorite following their triumph at the 2024 Mid-Season Invitation, was swept 2-0 by TES, China’s second seed, in the opening round. Keeping their momentum going, TES went on to defeat G2 Esports in a similar 2-0 stomp in the semifinals, securing themselves a spot in the finals. Meanwhile, on the other side of the tourney, T1 faced a thornier path to the finals, narrowly overcoming BiliBili Gaming and Team Liquid in separate 2-1 victories.

Continuing their undefeated run in the tournament, TES dominated T1 to take game one in under 23 minutes and lead the series 1-0. Despite the overwhelming setback in game one, T1, led by Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, rebounded and won the next two games to bring the series to a game four and match point for T1.

According to Esports Charts, the Esports World Cup 2024 reached a peak viewership of 1.1 million during the Grand Finals on July 7.

　

In game four, TES banned Faker’s signature champions—Azir and Taliyah—leading Faker to pick Yasuo. Although the champion is rarely seen in professional play, it was a counter to Corki. Faker’s performance on Yasuo effectively rendered Creme’s Corki useless during both the laning phase and in team fights. Similarly, following a back-to-back failed invasion of the enemy jungle and botched gank top lane on Ivern at level four, TES’ jungler Tian fell behind early and, unable to recover, remained largely ineffective for the rest of the game. In contrast, T1’s jungler Oner boasted a flawless 6/0/14 KDA on Sejuani.

Outmatched in both jungle and mid, game four concluded with T1 destroying the enemy Nexus in 29 minutes while having a twelve-thousand gold lead, winning the series and claiming the championships. Faker was named the series MVP.

In the post-game interview, when Faker was asked how he managed to stay at the top of the League of Legends professional scene even a decade after his debut in 2013, he responded, “I think it’s because I am trying to improve all the time. I try to be better. And of course, I have good teammates over here and the fans.”

With the closure of week one, the eight teams now return to their respective regional leagues to compete in the summer split, aiming for a seat in the League of Legends World Championship in the fall later this year. Week two of the EWC will feature competitions in Dota 2, Free Fire, and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.

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