Yesterday there was a match for the ages in League of Legends. At MSI 2023, the South Koreans T1 with superstar Faker faced the Chinese top team JD Gaming with ADC Ruler. It was the spectacle that everyone had hoped for. The match went over 5 games. At its peak, 2.3 million were watching – a viewer record for MSI.
What a match it was!
- MSI is the “Mid-Season” tournament in LoL. The best teams from around the world from all regions compete against each other.
- The match yesterday was a pre-final: both teams had not lost in MSI yet and were now looking for the first finalist. It was the first time in MSI 2023 that China and South Korea faced each other.
- The winner of the match would advance to the final. The loser drops to the “Loser’s Bracket” but still has a chance to beat the best team that has already lost and redeem themselves in the final.
The encounter went like this: It was an epic “Best of 5” battle between the Korean super team T1 and the Chinese JDG.
No team could pull ahead clearly; the match was balanced, and it ultimately came down to a decisive battle in Match 5, which JD Gaming won after 35 minutes.
The decisive factor in the match was seen as the bot lane duel between Gumaysui (T1) and Ruler (JDG Gaming). In the end, Ruler excelled on Jinx with 12-1-3.
In fact, Ruler had predicted the outcome of the encounter and said they would beat T1 3-2 (via youtube).
JDG has assembled a fantastic team
But for JDG, mid laner “knight”, who has been waiting for his international breakthrough for years, and jungler Kanavi, whom one still knows from the old “Team Griffin” times, also shone.
Ruler and knight both joined the team in December 2022: JD Gaming has assembled a pretty great team there.
How is the game being discussed? The discussion on Reddit revolves mainly around a team fight that T1 entered with a disadvantage and lost.
The Reddit users from their comfortable gaming chairs know better and say: T1 should never have gone in. Faker threw the anchor on Nautilus – he should have just left it alone.
6 Superstars in one game boost the viewer count
The special thing about the match was: With 2.3 million viewers, the match broke the viewer record of all time for MSI. Never before has an MSI game had so many viewers.
According to Dotesports, this is due to the sheer star power of the match: With Faker involved, you have the superstar. The Uber-support Keria and Gumayusi are said to be the “stars” of the future.
Additionally, JDG also had a lot to offer with Kanavi, Knight, and the “best ADC of all time”, Ruler.
If you are wondering how things are going for the stars from Europe and North America: They are already on the plane home.
