T1 dismantle G2 Esports in rapid MSI 2022 series to book spot in final against RNG

Hometown heroes T1 extinguished their demons against G2 Esports in a totally lop-sided battle at MSI 2022 to book a spot in Sunday’s Grand Final. The Korean squad beat Europe’s stars in under 80 minutes and will face RNG for the title.

It was one of the most dominant displays in League history, period. All it took was 77 minutes in-game for T1 to take down European rivals G2 Esports in the MSI 2022 Knockout Stage, and in doing so extinguish a demon that has been looming for years over the squad.

After trading games in the Rumble Stage, there was much hype for a competitive series between two favorites for the title. However, from the first minute of Game 1, it was clear there was a gulf between the two sides.

Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok lived up to his promise to rinse Rasmus ‘caPs’ Winther, establishing a lane kingdom down mid no matter the pick. His Tristana in Game 1 (5/1/2) was explosive, and he backed up that aggression with a game on his signature LeBlanc (8/3/5) and Akali (5/1/5).

However, across the map, all of T1 stepped up after mediocre performances throughout last week had experts doubting their ability to perform in front of a home crowd upwards of 4,000-strong.

Choi ‘Zeus’ Woo-je simply outclassed Sergen ‘BrokenBlade’ Celik who was relegated to weak-side top lane picks, while Lee ‘Gumayusi’ Min-hyeong played his best series of the tournament down bot lane in a stark return to form.

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While not the fastest series in international League of Legends history ⁠— G2 Esports still holds that title from their MSI 2019 victory against Team Liquid ⁠— it was a show of dominance from T1 that proves a point to Chinese champions RNG who await T1 in the final.

As for G2 Esports, they will go home with a regrettable end to their tournament. After a five-game slump in Rumble Stage there was hope of a bounceback, but that was quickly extinguished. As the event went on, the European squad were exploited across the map.

Lee Aiksoon for Riot Games

G2 Esports exploded at the end of MSI 2022, losing eight of their last nine games.

The final tomorrow is expected to be an explosive affair though as the two heavyweights of League of Legends go toe-to-toe.

While RNG looked near-unstoppable, T1 showed in the Rumble Stage they can bleed. Whether that can be stretched into a consistent BO5 against the in-form defending champions remains to be seen.