On December 9, the LoL World Champion T1 faced NNO Old at the “Red Bull League of Its Own” event at the Velodrome in Berlin – and it was spectacular. MeinMMO author Fabienne Kissel was present on Saturday and reports from the game.
Note: The title image is a picture from the Content Pool of Red Bull League of Its Own 2023. Photographer Credit ©: Stephanie Lindgren / Red Bull Content Pool.
What an event it was? Well-known European teams along with the German streamer team NNO Old participated and faced the challenge of playing League of Legends against the South Korean super team T1.
T1 won the LoL Worlds this year, and the living legend Faker
secured his fourth World Championship title. For many players and streamers, it is a dream to be able to play against T1, and NNO Old has fulfilled this dream.
Normally only the top teams play against T1. With “Red Bull League of Its Own,” a unique format was created. The event sold out within 3 hours.
Special rules for T1:
- These teams were present: T1, G2, Karmine Corp, Team Heretics, BIG, Eintracht Spandau, NNO Old.
- BIG and Eintracht Spandau played against each other first to decide who could face T1.
- All matches were a Best-of-One, and T1 had special rules in the friendly tournament.
- The players from T1 faced a special challenge as they had to choose a different champion in each match. They were prohibited from selecting champions that had already been used against them or that they had played in previous matches.
- Bans and non-T1 matches were not part of the pool restrictions.
- In the last show match – G2 against T1 – the rules were lifted.
All further framework information about the event can be read here:
NNO Old vs T1: A spectacle full of emotional surprises
Almost 500,000 people (via escharts) followed the game of NNO Old against T1, including about 7,000 spectators on-site who experienced the captivating atmosphere live. Despite T1’s apparent superiority, the fans cheered with all their might for NNO, creating an electrifying atmosphere in the hall.
The atmosphere in the hall reached a climax as the names of the NNO players were individually shouted by the audience – an unforgettable moment that moved me and gave me goosebumps.
Which champions were picked?
NNO Old:
- Camille (Tolkin)
- Brand (Agurin)
- Zed (NoWay)
- Ezreal (Broeki)
- Bard (Karni)
T1:
- Vayne (Zeus)
- Zac (Oner)
- Azir (Faker)
- Jhin (Gumayusi)
- Zyra (Keria)
All players from T1 chose a champion with a T1 skin. Faker, who rarely plays with a skin, positively surprised the audience. He chose the T1 Azir skin from the player Easyhoon!
Champions such as Orianna, Neeko, Varus, Jax, and Renekton were banned. The biggest German LoL streamer and NNO midlaner NoWay originally wanted to play AD Varus, which the caster Masterplay (via YouTube) mentioned during the pick phase.
Masterplay stepped in for the caster Johnny, who couldn’t be there due to corona, which he announced on YouTube.
Here you can learn more about the Unkillable Demon King
Faker, who became world champion for the fourth time this year:
Highlights of NNO Old
It was evident that both teams enjoyed every second of the game and the players were often smiling. A particularly heartwarming moment occurred at the beginning of the match. T1 wrote the following words in all chat: mid
, 5vs5
, go
(POV Tolkin via YouTube). The teams actually met ten on the mid lane, briefly exchanged emotes, and created a cool opening.
Here you can see the moment:
First Kill of NNO on the Botlane
Agurin and Oner made their way to gank on the bot lane. Just before Oner jumped into the fight with Zac, Agurin was able to deal significant damage to him from the tri-bush with Brand.
NNO presented themselves confidently and was finally able to take down Zac, marking NNO’s first kill in this show match. With every successful kill by NNO, the excitement in the hall grew, accompanied by an ear-splitting kill sound that echoed through the crowd with every kill.
Here you can see NNO’s first kill:
NoWay’s Play with Zed
In the ninth minute, Oner executed a gank in the mid lane, with Faker and Oner starting a tower dive against NoWay. NoWay impressed with his outstanding skill, careful movement, and a good ulti with Zed to escape Azir’s ulti, narrowly surviving the gank.
This moment made the fans’ hearts race. The audience held their breath as NoWay barely survived the gank.
Here you can see the impressive play:
Karni’s Plays with Bard
Before the play, Karni interrupted Gumayusi’s ultimate with his ultimate. As T1 then built pressure in the mid lane, Karni showcased his precise timing. He used his Q with Bard exactly when a Zyra plant was placed behind Zeus, allowing him to stun Zeus by hitting two targets. This led Broeki to secure the kill against Zeus.
Touching Countdown for the NNO Players
A particularly beautiful moment occurred in the arena when the audience began to count down because they knew that NNO Old had achieved it at that moment. They held out until the 17th minute – longer than MAD Lions. T1 had overrun MAD Lions this year at the MSI with a game that lasted barely 17 minutes.
Overall, the game lasted over 28 minutes, which was probably also because T1 played less seriously in the friendly match, and in my opinion, NNO did very well overall.
Tolkin also had it hard against Vayne on the top lane as Camille, even if Zeus is the objectively better player
, as Tolkin shared on X. At the end of the game, the audience honored both teams with a touching standing ovation.
The match between T1 and NNO at the “Red Bull League of Its Own” event was definitely a unique spectacle that will stay in my memory forever. It was undoubtedly the most emotional game I have ever experienced.
Red Bull League of Its Ownevent. The costs for entry, travel, and accommodation were covered by the organizers.
How did you like the event? Were you there? How did you find the match NNO vs T1? Feel free to write it in the comments.
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