T1 will face Weibo Gaming in the League of Legends Worlds final

Two teams are now sitting on the brink of victory. Korean team T1 will face Chinese team Weibo Gaming in the 2023 League of Legends World Championship final in Seoul.

T1 beat undefeated Chinese team JD Gaming 3-1 in Sunday’s semifinal match, earning a ticket to the finals for the fifth time in the tournament’s history. The previous day, Weibo Gaming edged Chinese-owned team Bilibili Gaming 3-2 to secure first place.

Wei “Weiwei” Bohan, left, Kang “The Shi” Seung-lok and coach Yang “Daini” Dae-in of Weibo Gaming react after winning the 2023 League of Legends World Championship on Saturday in Busan. [RIOT GAMES]

Sunday’s loss was particularly bitter for JD Gaming, who was also bested by T1 in the semifinals last year, losing 3-1.

Playing at JD Gaming were Korean esports players Seo “Kanavi” Jin-hyeok and Park “Ruler” Jae-hyeok, who just weeks ago helped propel the Korean national team to victory at the Hangzhou Asian Games, and win gold in League of Legends.

Park ″Ruler″ Jae-hyeok, left, and Seo ″Kanavi″ Jin-hyuk, center, exit after JD Gaming’s semifinal loss to T1 at the 2023 League of Legends World Championship on Sunday in Busan. [RIOT GAMES]

T1 was the only Korean team to reach the semi-finals, while the other three spots were all occupied by teams from China’s professional LoL circuit. The Chinese team Bilibili Gaming knocked out the Korean team Gen.G Esports, which is still undefeated in the tournament, and the Korean team KT Rolster also fell to the Chinese team JD Gaming during the quarterfinals.

For fans of T1, arguably the most popular team on Korea’s professional League of Legends circuit, this year represents a chance for redemption after losing to Korean underdog DRX in the final round of last year’s Worlds in New York.

While T1 has three World Series titles under its belt, it has never won on home soil. Korea co-hosted the tournament in 2014 alone in 2018.

Worlds is the biggest stage in the world of LoL, a massive online game franchise with over 150 million monthly players and professional leagues around the world.

Players on professional teams, owned by major global companies, have sponsorship deals with huge brands. For example, the T1 sports a blue and white BMW logo and the familiar Nike logo.

This year’s finals will be held in person at the Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul, with K-pop girl group NewJeans scheduled to perform at its opening ceremony on November 19. The match will also start at 5pm local time. It is broadcast over the Internet.

The finalists will receive a guaranteed grand prize of $445,000 – 20 percent of the $2,225,000 purse.

By Mary Young [[email protected]]