Both Gumayusi and Keria have admitted to suffering from burnout while Faker was gone, and have claimed that other T1 members were having similar issues in the LCK regular season. Gumayusi said he felt like he ‘lost his form’ during this time.
The extreme dip T1 suffered when Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok was recovering combined with their swift recovery once Faker came back has sparked a lot of speculation about just how dependent this team is on Faker’s leadership.
And, while it surely helps to have Faker back on the team, a mix of on-stream admissions and interviews have changed the narrative a bit.
Both Ryu ‘Keria’ Min-seok and Lee ‘Gumayusi’ Min-hyeong have admitted to being burnt out during the LCK regular season, claiming that they weren’t happy with the way they were playing.
T1 players claim burnout affected their ability to play
With the current T1 roster being at the top of their game and representing South Korea internationally for the better part of 2 years, it’s no surprise to hear that the team is a bit burnt out on League of Legends.
With League being an ever-changing game, adapting to the meta and finding strategies that work within that landscape is a non-stop effort. And, seeing as this T1 roster has made it to international competition at every possible opportunity, they haven’t had much time for breaks.
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This led to Keria admitting he was feeling burnt out on stream, a claim that had been substantiated by Gumayusi when asked about that admission in an interview with Cookie News.
“I think most of the team members felt the same way. They all had their struggles, but they seem to be working hard and are motivated to win.” Gumayusi claimed in the interview. “I also had a hard time, suffered a similar burnout. I felt like I had lost my form.”
And, though Gumayusi lamented his performance in their 3-1 win over DPlus KIA, those lessons clearly served them well in their match against KT.
T1’s win against KT in the so-called ‘telecom war’ has re-ignited fans’ faith in the iconic esports organization, and given T1 fans a reason to think that this is the year that this roster can finally take a world championship title.
And, though much of their rapid improvement has been associated with Faker, it’s important to remember that the rest of the roster had their own struggles and have managed to overcome them on the path to victory.