Faker has become the king of viewership! The barrage playstyle is incredibly appealing, completely breaking the opponents’ morale, with GEN becoming the victim.

Hello to all LPL viewers and League of Legends summoners, this is World Game Report.

This year’s first split of the LCK has been thrilling, demonstrating the league’s high level of strength and foundation, alongside many amusing and interesting elements. Among them, T1 continues to attract the most attention.

Editor

In the latest LCK viewership statistics, T1 clearly leads the rankings, while GEN’s data is unexpectedly low.

Faker reigns as the viewership king, with GEN as the unfortunate party.

Recently released official viewership figures show T1 at the top with 990,000 viewers, followed by HLE in second place, then KT, BFX, DRX, and GEN in sixth place. This ranking surprised many fans, as given GEN’s competitive strength, their popularity should not be so low, certainly not outside the top two.

Editor

Some netizens discovered a pattern: T1’s top rank is due to its unmatched popularity, while GEN’s sixth place is because they never faced T1 in matches.

In other words, teams like HLE, KT, and BFX rank higher because they played against T1, and viewership ratings count the combined audience for both competing teams. These teams thus benefit from T1’s popularity, whereas GEN, being in the same group as T1 without direct matches, misses out on this boost, making GEN the real victim from this perspective.

Of course, as the LCK Cup moves into the playoffs, if GEN maintains strong competitiveness, they will eventually face T1 in a decisive battle. Their BO5 matchups will surely draw terrifyingly high viewership numbers.

The barrage playstyle is extremely effective, leaving haters completely fooled.

We all know T1’s popularity is largely thanks to Faker, the GOAT, whose presence alone outshines all other teams. But in reality, T1 has also been very active this year, including Faker, employing what is widely recognized as the highest-traffic playstyle since last year’s KeSPA Cup through this year’s LCK season.

People often say certain players use the "most barrage" style, referring to surprising in-game moments that maximize entertainment value.

This year, T1 adopts exactly this style, which is undeniably very appealing. Especially for a top-tier team like T1, employing this method almost guarantees maximum viewership.

Looking at T1’s match data this year, they played four BO3 series: three went the full distance, and one was a sweep. Full-length series naturally draw higher viewership, and losing a game often stirs up the haters. T1 also enjoys experimenting after winning the first game; for example, Faker’s funny plays with Yone in the second game once led to a loss.

The only sweep was against KT, where in the second game T1 made an incredible comeback from a 13,000 gold deficit, leaving the audience stunned and the haters speechless.

Dominating the league with ease, can T1 claim LCK supremacy?

Many viewers comment that T1’s style tricks haters into watching, and by remaining undefeated while delivering top-tier entertainment, it proves T1 has adapted well this season, confidently handling league opponents and securing wins even from tough positions or in decider games.

Personally, I believe this year’s T1 is stronger than at the same time last year. Last year, Doran often made rookie mistakes, but this year he has fully evolved, even carrying the team forward and helping secure victories when teammates falter.

In the bottom lane, Peyz’s form is steadily improving. Last year at this time, Gumayusi was even benched, while Smash’s performance in the first split was quite solid.

Regarding T1’s system, their core isn’t really in the bottom lane. Replacing Gumayusi with Peyz doesn’t impact much; in fact, if Peyz’s main champions are stable, it could raise T1’s ceiling and expand tactical and lineup options. Judging by this season’s trends, T1 looks well positioned to contend for the championship. With the format changes, T1 won’t be eliminated early like last year, and their margin for error is sufficient. It now depends on whether T1 can seize the opportunity.