It is a clash of the titans in South Korea's LCK Summer Playoffs final on Sunday as Gen.G Esports and T1 lock horns in a match not to be missed.
These two sides are considered not only among the best in their region but also in the world and, although both have already qualified, this match will determine which outfit takes top seed at the 2022 League of Legends World Championship, which begins with the play-in stage at the end of September.
But there are also bragging rights on the line in this final with the pair of sides having clashed back in the LCK Spring final earlier this year.
On that occasion it was T1 who came out on top after an irrepressible regular season but Gen.G have looked the stronger side this summer and will be out for revenge.
Having both received byes to the semi-finals of the LCK Summer playoffs, Gen.G and T1 needed to win only one knockout match to reach the final.
Gen.G breezed past Liiv SANDBOX 3-1 while T1 were pushed close in a 3-2 win over DWG KIA.
| What | Gen.G vs. T1, LCK Summer Playoffs |
| Where | South Korea |
| When | 01:00, Sunday August 28th 2022 |
| How to watch | LCK Youtube / Twitch channels |
| Odds | Gen.G -225 , T1 +162 |
Shine has come off T1 since LCK Spring campaign
It does not seem that long ago that these sides were squaring up in the final of the LCK Spring - a split which well and truly belonged to juggernauts T1.
In a record-breaking campaign, T1 won all 18 of their regular-season matches in the LCK Spring before concluding the playoffs with a 3-1 win over Gen.G to take the title.
It was thoroughly deserved and many expected they would go on to dominate the LCK Summer as well.
But defeat to Royal Never Give Up in the final of the Mid-Season Invitational seemed to fluster the team slightly and they had fallen to defeat in the LCK Summer by the start of the third week, going down 2-1 against Kwangdong Freecs.
The team's aura of invincibility had disappeared and, although they stabilised to finish second in the standings, a 15-3 win-loss record was underwhelming from a side with sky-high standards.
As a result, they go into their final with Gen.G as underdogs this time around and the +162 about them winning the match looks about right.
T1 look to top laner in final
The experience of Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, one of the most iconic players in League of Legends, will of course be key for T1 but it is another area of their game where they are most likely to hurt Gen.G Esports.
Fans of T1 will be looking to top laner Choi "Zeus" Woo-je for inspiration in this final as it is arguably the one area of the team where they are stronger than Gen.G, although Choi "Doran" Hyeon-joonis is hardly a pushover.
"Zeus" placed third in the Player of the Game standings in the LCK Summer regular season and will be key in setting the tempo of the match.
Hard to look past red-hot Gen.G Esports
Try as they might, though, T1 could well fall short of this Gen.G Esports team, who are still a decent bet to win the final at -225.
Four of the five players listed in the LCK Summer All-Pro team come from Gen.G, who won 17 of their 18 matches in the regular season and barely broke a sweat against Liiv SANDBOX.
Their only defeat of the regular season came against T1 and there is plenty of history there which could play its part in this encounter.
However, Gen.G have the better side and seem more confident in their picks and drafting, while bot laner Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk should give them the edge in key team-fights.
Jungler Han "Peanut" Wang-ho is the only player in their roster with an LCK Championship to his name, meaning this side has a fresh feel to it but their synergy is unparalleled and they were not far off T1 in the LCK Spring.
They will undoubtedly face some resistance from T1, so the best way to play this could be to split stakes on a 3-1 and 3-2 win for Gen.G.
