Introduction: The S16 season has officially kicked off, and most players have been closely following the recent matches. The LCK region’s competition is extremely intense. In the recent knockout stage, DK managed a reverse sweep to defeat T1, advancing to the losers' bracket final. This match became the center of global discussion as T1 squandered three match points. With this result, all four LPL-returned players studying abroad have been eliminated, showing their strong ties to the past. Afterwards, Oner and the head coach publicly apologized. Frankly, Faker’s performance was highly problematic in this series, especially his Twisted Fate in game three, which was completely ineffective.

All four LCK-returned players have been eliminated

Most players still pay close attention to the LCK region. As a world-class league, it has maintained high popularity and outstanding results over recent years, winning multiple world championships consecutively. T1 has become the undisputed six-time champion. In the first split’s regular season, both T1 and Gen.G performed steadily, entering the playoffs undefeated. However, after losing two consecutive best-of-five series, T1 was eliminated early and missed the Hong Kong offline matches, much to the disappointment of many fans.

In the match against DK, almost everyone expected T1 to win, just like their previous encounter with BFX. In the first two games, T1’s players were very relaxed and secured three match points with a 2-0 lead. In the early phase of game three, T1 again gained a huge advantage, but mid-game their teamwork fell apart, especially Faker’s Twisted Fate and Oner’s Kha’Zix, who completely lost rhythm. Faker’s Twisted Fate kept trying to catch enemies but failed, resulting in poor development, no damage output, and no crowd control. Ultimately, despite the early disadvantage, DK completed the comeback.

After the match, DK’s support player was seen crying with joy in the locker room, showing how much pressure he had. DK continued to play steadily in the following two games, completing the reverse sweep and eliminating T1 to reach the losers’ bracket final. This marked the first time in a decade that T1 lost a series after leading 2-0. The last time was in the 2016 LCK summer playoffs when KT reverse swept SKT. In a post-match interview, T1’s head coach and jungler Oner publicly apologized, admitting many unexpected issues in resource control led to the loss. Indeed, losing jungle resources despite having the advantage was unacceptable.

Thus, all four LCK-returned players have been eliminated. These players are Kanavi, the jungler who returned to HLE from TES; Scout, the mid laner who returned to NS from JDG; Taeyoon, the AD carry who returned to NS from WE; and Peyz, the AD carry who returned to T1 from JDG. All four were top talents in the LPL region but were completely overwhelmed in LCK, clearly highlighting the significant gap between the two leagues. Unless something unexpected happens, Gen.G is likely to win this Rift Rivals tournament.

Farewell thoughts

No one expected that all four talented returnees this season would be eliminated. More notably, neither HLE nor T1 qualified for Rift Rivals. After this match, DK must be fully energized, especially their bottom laner Smash, whose excitement was evident after the victory. It’s unclear what T1 thinks now—why didn’t they promote him to the main roster and keep him as a starter?

Dear viewers, what are your thoughts on this matter?