The second round of the winners' bracket in the first LCK split playoffs has finished. On the last match day, T1 and BFX battled in a BO5 to decide who would advance to the winners' final. Expectations were that T1 would comfortably beat BFX and face GEN, but T1 ended up falling short badly. They lost without completing the full five games and were even humiliated by having their base destroyed. Their performance was a huge disappointment compared to pre-match predictions.

In this BO5, except for Doran, the other four teammates were underperforming. In the first game, the two carries played poorly; Peyz was crushed in lane, and teammates had to hold on until late game, but at the crucial moment, Faker recklessly dove and died. In the second game, Doran made mistakes, but the top lane support stepped up. The third game saw the top, jungle, and mid all giving kills away; Peyz’s champion bans were ineffective, Faker was solo killed, and Keria was overly aggressive early, forced back under his tower at level 2.

In the deciding game, the top, jungle, and mid lanes still couldn’t regain form, and T1 lost 1:3 overall. Looking at the entire series, only Doran played decently, making mistakes in just one out of four games. The other four players each made mistakes in two to three games. During the group stage, T1 was undefeated, so to be stopped and killed at the fountain by BFX in playoffs was a harsh contrast that disappointed many fans.

The most heavily targeted player in this BO5 was definitely Peyz in the bottom lane. Aside from a decent performance on Varus in game two, he was the weak point in the other three games—he was pressured, denied farm, took tower damage, and was even killed in lane. Even with Faker assisting bottom, Peyz contributed nothing in team fights. Judging from the results, Peyz truly cost T1 dearly; even with the world’s top support, he struggled to handle lane matchups.

When T1 was on a six-game winning streak, many thought signing Peyz cheaply was a great find. But now it seems JD Gaming was right to pass on him. While Peyz can carry when T1 is ahead, once behind, he becomes silent and his ability to hold the team together is poor. However, the loss wasn’t solely on the ADC; Faker and Oner also played badly.

Although T1’s upset loss to BFX was shocking, their fans are somewhat used to it since T1 has lost to weaker teams multiple times in the league. From the match content, T1 clearly underestimated their opponents. Their tactical preparation was almost nonexistent, and their draft was poor. On top of that, the players’ form was off, making it easy for a league dark horse like BFX to cause an upset.

Before T1’s match, Ruler predicted they would lose because he had faced BFX’s jungler Raptor in solo queue. Ruler highly praised Raptor’s Lee Sin skills. In pre-match voting, Ruler voted for BFX. Although Ruler dislikes T1, his evaluation of junglers is very professional. The Player of the Match in this BO5 series was indeed awarded to Raptor.

After winning, Diable took a jab at Peyz in an interview. The “Big Potato” said: from the moment he woke up, he believed they could 3-0 T1. His confidence came from scrims, where their bottom lane almost never lost. This suggests that Keria and Peyz’s synergy might not be as good as expected.

Conclusion:

With BFX’s victory over T1, they have advanced to the winners' final. It’s unlikely they can beat Gen.G. If T1 fights their way up from the losers' bracket, they might face BFX again in the losers' final. The hardest hit is probably ShowMaker; even if he beats DNS or DRX, he will still have to face T1 later, making a top-three finish seem difficult.

So, what do you think about Peyz’s skill level?

Feel free to leave your comments and join the discussion!