TL;DW – MSI Edition: GEN.G Strike Back Against T1 in Game 2
MSI Finals, Game 2. GEN.G vs T1. GEN.G is on Blue, T1 is on Red. GEN.G’s roster is Kiin (top), Canyon (jungle), Chovy (mid), Ruler (bot), and Duro (support). T1’s roster is Doran (top), Oner (jungle), Faker (mid), Gumayusi (bot), and Keria (support). Both teams represent the LCK (Korean). T1 won Game 1. For more information on what Early, Mid, and Late Game mean, see Terms at the bottom of the article.
Champion Selection: Pick or Pile Drive, Who Wins
Neeko, Pantheon, Rumble, Varus, Annie, and Azir banned out in the 1st ban phase.
GEN.G grabs Ryze right of the bat. T1 takes Wukong and Corki. GEN.G counters with Vi and Sion. T1 picks Galio before the 2nd ban phase starts.
T1 targets the ADC pool, removing Kai’Sa and Xayah from the game. GEN.G spread their bans around, taking Ambessa and Bard off the table.
T1 starts up the 2nd set of picks by locking in Poppy. GEN.G finishes their team by choosing Senna and Nautilus. T1 has the last pick, and they opt for Camille. Again, both teams have good team fight potential. GEN.G comp is more pick-based, with late game scaling in Senna. T1, on the other hand, has better wombo combo potential.
Team comps are: GEN.G – Sion (top), Vi (jungle), Ryze (mid), Senna (bot), Nautilus (support) vs T1 – Camille (top), Wukong (jungle), Galio (mid), Corki (bot), Poppy (support).
Early Game Highlights: A Bit of Aggression
Oh, goody, another interview. Game starts out without anything interesting happening.
Duro lands a hook onto Gumayusi in the Top Lane, which forces both Guma and Keria out of the lane. They both also have to burn their Flashes.
GEN.G claims the 1st Drake (Hextech) uncontested.
Keria and Gumayusi return to Bot Lane. Keria leaves to roam around the map, leaving Guma vulnerable. Taking advantage of this, Kiin uses Unstoppable Onslaught to engage Guma and kill him. 1st Blood goes to GEN.G.
In response, Keria and Oner gank the Top Lane with Doran. Once the play starts, Faker joins with Hero’s Entrance and takes out Ruler. Doran drops Duro. Fight goes 2-0 for T1.
Oner and Canyon fight over the Voidgrubs. The respective teammates join, but T1 has the numbers advantage because there are 2 members of GEN.G in the Bot Lane. GEN.G are forced to retreat without getting any Grub. Duro ends up getting caught out and dies to Oner. T1 walks away with a kill and 2 Grubs. They decide not to go back for the last one, which Canyon takes.
Early Game ends with T1 ahead in gold by 1.1k and also ahead in farm.
Mid Game Highlights: Pick Lead to Objectives
Canyon ganks Doran in Top Lane with Kiin. They manage to lock him down, and Kiin gets the kill. In response, T1 takes the 2nd Drake (Chemtech) uncontested.
A minor team fight breaks out in the Mid Lane. Though he gets low and has to Flash to survive Ruler’s assault, Gumayusi is able to secure a kill on to Canyon. T1 backs off afterwards. GEN.G try to get something back are able to find a kill on to Doran because he chose a very foolish place to recall. Ruler gets the kill. This allows GEN.G to claim the Rift Herald uncontested.
Chovy and Canyon set a trap for Doran in the Bot Lane. He falls for it and dies to Chovy. This gives GEN.G priority over the 3rd Drake (Ocean). T1 backs off, and GEN.G secures the objective uncontested.
Mid Game ends with GEN.G now the ones ahead in gold, though only by 700. T1 are still ahead in farm.
Late Game Highlights: Picks For Days
Kiin face checks a bush and gets jumped on by 3 members of T1. Though he does die to Doran, it takes so long that everyone is able to arrive. T1 get low and have to flee after getting the kill. GEN.G chases, and Ruler is able to drop Oner.
Duro uses the Rift Herald to knock up several members of the retreating T1, leading Chovy killing Faker and Keria. GEN.G look for more but can’t find it, so they back off. Fight goes 3-1 for GEN.G.
During a replay, GEN.G starts up the Atakhan. T1 dances around looking for an angle to contest. Doran dives in first, and a fight breaks out. Oner is able to kill Duro, but Chovy counters by killing Faker. Ruler follows up with a take-down on to Oner.
Chovy uses Realm Warp to try and get behind the remaining members of T1, but they all turn on him Gumayusi gets the kill. They turn reengage on to the rest of GEN.G. Guma kills Ruler. Canyon takes out Doran before he dies to Guma.
Kiin is the last man standing from GEN.G, and he gets into a 1v2 with Guman and Keria. He’s too tanky and is able to kill Gumayusi. Keria backs off. Fight is a 4-4, and no one gets the Atakhan.
When everyone respawns, GEN.G prioritizes heading to the 4th Drake. They are able to secure it uncontested. They are now on Soul Point.
Faker gets caught out in Top River. He survives by burning his Flash, but Gumayusi doesn’t. He gets sniped down by Ruler. This leads to GEN.G starting up the Atakhan again. T1 looks for an angle, but they can’t find it. GEN.G secures the objective, mostly uncontested.
Doran gets caught out in GEN.G’s Blue Jungle. He gets chased all the way to Mid Lane and dies to Canyon.
GEN.G starts up the Baron. When Oner steps forward to take out a ward in his Red Jungle, he gets jumped on by GEN.G and killed by Kiin. GEN.G gets Baron low and then back off slightly, baiting T1 in. Keria changes his Summoner Spell to Smite and dives into the pit. He is unable to Steal, and Canyon secures Baron for GEN.G.
A fight breaks out with T1 now at a disadvantage. Chovy kills both Keria and Gumayusi. Faker retreats (he didn’t even join the fight), and Doran tries to get away by going through GEN.G’s Blue Jungle. He gets caught and dies to Chovy as well. Fight goes 3-0 for GEN.G, who also claim Baron.
Both teams set up for the 5th Drake, but GEN.G have the better position. As Oner tries to clear out wards, he gets caught, locked up with a Vi Ultimate, and dies to Chovy. This allows GEN.G to take the Drake uncontested. They now have Ocean Soul.
Using both Ocean Soul and Baron Buff, GEN.G takes the Inner Bot Turret, while also getting a kill on Doran. They then take the Base Bot Turret and Bot Inhibitor. T1 is then able to force them away. As GEN.G retreats, Doran finds Chovy in the Bot Lane and jumps on him.
Despite Faker using Hero’s Entrance to try and help, Ruler is able to take out Doran from over T1’s Blue Jungle wall. Faker is able to kill Canyon right before he dies to Ruler as well. Chovy then gets a Double Kill on to Oner and Gumayusi. Keria tries to flee, but Ruler Flash over a wall to catch him and kill him for the ACE. GEN.G then ends the game.
Post Game Analysis: T1 Chances the LTA at MSI
GEN.G ends the game at 30:26 with a 13k gold lead. The final score was 24-10.
T1 lost that game in the same way many LTA teams lose their games. Over-aggression and bad position. Doran and Oner got caught out way to much, leading to GEN.G getting the numbers advantage right before important objective fights. On top of that, the decision to fully commit to killing Kiin, with how tanky he was, was an extreme miscalculation. T1 outplayed themselves in this game.
Terms
Early Game: Any time before 10 minutes, first Outer Turret down, or first level 10 (whichever comes first).
Mid Game: Between Early Game and either 20 minutes, 2 Inner Turrets down, half the players are level 16, or 3rd dragon killed.
Late Game: Any time after Mid Game.
