TL;DW – MSI Edition: T1 Overtakes Game 1 vs GEN.G
MSI Finals, Game 1. 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). For more information on what Early, Mid, and Late Game mean, see Terms at the bottom of the article.
Champion Selection: Double Team Fight Drafts
During the 1st ban phase, GEN.G targets the Mid Lane with Neeko, Azir, and Viktor banned away. T1 responds with 2 Jungle bans (Pantheon and Vi) and an ADC ban (Varus).
GEN.G 1st picks Taliyah. T1 opts to go for Gwen and Jarvan IV. GEN.G responds with Lucian and Braum. T1’s pick before 2the nd ban phase is Oriana.
T1 whittles down the Jungle roster as they ban out Xin Zhao and Wukong. GEN.G aims for the Bot Lane, removing Senna and Rakan.
Returning to champion selection, T1 grabs Jhin. GEN.G closes out their team with Sejuani and Jax. T1 last picks Alistar. Both teams have drafted strong engage, team fighting comps. GEN.G is more close quarters, while T1 has the better ranged follow-up.
Team comps are: GEN.G – Jax (top), Sejuani (jungle), Taliyah (mid), Lucian (bot), Braum (support) vs T1 – Gwen (top), Jarvan IV (jungle), Oriana (mid), Jhin (bot), Alistar (support).
Early Game Highlights: Nothing Exciting Happens
Farming and poking is the name of the game at the beginning of all things. Gumayusi and Doran, in particular, take quite a bit of damage in the early part of the Early Game.
GEN.G secures the 1st Drake (Chemtech) uncontested.
GEN.G starts up the Voidgrubs, but T1 arrives to push them off. GEN.G hangs around, looking to potentially Smite a Grub away. A fight breaks out as Keria dives onto Canyon. Both teams through out some damage, but no one dies. T1 backs off after they claim 1 Grub. The remaining 2 go over to GEN.G.
Early Game ends with GEN.G ahead in gold by 500 and also ahead in farm.
Mid Game Highlights: A Little Bit of Action
GEN.G starts up the 2nd Drake (Cloud). T1 dances around, poking at them as they tank it. Faker hits a 2-man Shockwave onto Canyon and Duro. As he’s being pulled in, Canyon Smites the Drake to secure it. Though Canyon gets low, it’s Keria who dies first to Chovy for 1st Blood. In response, however, Faker takes out Duro, and Oner drops Ruler. Fight goes 2-1 for T1 but GEN.G claims the objective.
T1 takes the Rift Herald uncontested. They immediately drop it in Mid Lane and use it to take the Outer Turret for the 1st Turret of the game. GEN.G tries to defend, but Duro goes in too deep and dies to Faker. Rift Herald is able to charge at the Inner Mid Turret as well, and T1 are able to drop it too.
Kiin and Chovy go Top together and kill Doran; Chovy gets the credit.
Both teams set up for the 3rd Drake (Ocean). GEN.G have the better position and starts it up. T1 pokes at them. Doran and Chovy meet as they both try to come in from the side. They skirmish with each other as their teams battle over the Drake. Oner is able to get in close and Smite-Steal the objective away. Both teams posture but decide to back off afterwards.
After regrouping, T1 invades GEN.G’s Red Jungle. They find Canyon and dive onto him. He gets away with a sliver of Health. The rest of GEN.G chase T1 out of the Jungle, with Faker also dropping to a sliver of Health. Oner attempts to go back in but ends up having to Flash out. No one dies, but a lot of Ability and Summoner Spells are used.
Mid Game ends with T1 now the ones ahead in gold by 1.6k, but GEN.G still ahead in farm.
Late Game Highlights: T1 Unleash the GOAT
GEN.G starts up the Atakhan. T1 arrives to contest. Doran isn’t with them, so T1 dances around until he arrives, but it’s too late. GEN.G secures the Atakhana and starts to back away. T1 chases after them. Oner jumps in and dies to Ruler. Doran deals a lot of damage to GEN.G’s players but ends up being the one who dies to Ruler as well.
Faker hits a 2-man Shockwave onto Ruler and Kiin, which allows Gumayusi to kill Kiin. Canyon and Chovy are able to get away, but Ruler and Duro have to try to run away. Unfortunately for them, their only path is up Bot Lane towards T1’s Base. They eventually get caught and, despite their best efforts, are both dropped by Faker. Fight goes 3-2 for T1.
Both teams set up around the Dragon Pit, but T1 has the better position. Canyon steps a little too far forward and gets taken to Half-Health. GEN.G backs off momentarily. T1 starts up the 4th Drake and takes it before GEN.G can stop them. Kiin goes in too deep and dies to Faker. The rest of GEN.G attempts to back off, but Chovy gets caught out and dies to Gumayusi’s Curtain Call. Fight goes 2-0 for T1, who also secure the objective.
T1 immediately rotates over to Baron and takes it uncontested.
Using the Baron Buff, T1 takes the Inner Bot and Inner Top Turrets. As they start to siege the Base Top Turret, Chovy hits a massive Seismic Shove, dealing a large chunk of damage to several members of T1 and forcing Faker to Go Golden. A skirmish ensues, and Ruler is able to fire enough shots to take down Keria. T1 backs off.
Both teams set up for the 5th Drake. This time, GEN.G has the better position. They start it up but pull it too far down, and it resets. GEN.G starts it up again. Chovy uses Weaver’s Wall to keep T1 at bay, and Duro secures the objective with Smite (he took Unsealed Spellbook).
A fight breaks out after the Drake falls. Gumayusi is able to drop Canyon. Chovy retaliates by taking out Oner. Doran snips down Kiin. Gumayusi opens up the Curtain Call to try and snipe down Duro and Ruler, but Chovy knocks him out of it with a Seismic Shove.
This does not stop T1 from chasing them down, however. Keria kills Ruler, Gumayusi takes out Duro, and Faker kills Chovy for the ACE. Fight goes 5-1 for T1, but GEN.G secures the Drake and are now on Soul Point.
During a replay that refuses to end, T1 takes the Baron uncontested.
Using Baron Buff, T1 takes the Base Bot and Mid Turrets. While GEN.G tries to defend, they are forced back. T1 then takes both Bot and Mid Inhibitors, pokes down GEN.G, and takes both Nexus Turrets.
As they set their sights on the Nexus, Canyon dies in, only to die instantly to Gumayusi. The rest of GEN.G follow only to drop one by one. Ruler falls of Keria, Duro drops to Gumayusi, Kiin is destroyed by Faker, and Chovy runs away and hides in the fountain. T1 then destroys GEN.G’s Nexus.
Post Game Analysis: MSI Finals Start Off With a Bang
T1 ends the game at 34:20 with a 12.3k gold lead. The final score was 17-6.
Despite the early game pressure they were able to create, GEN.G fall to T1’s stronger team fighting abilities. This is mostly due to better positioning on T1’s part and also some rather foolish engages by GEN.G (such as Kiin going in after the 4th Drake was secured).
There was also a bit of luck on T1’s side as part of the reason they were able to get 1st Turret was because there wasn’t a wave for GEN.G to use to take T1’s Outer Bot Turret. Ultimately, it all comes down to T1 making better calls.
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.
