T1’s LCK CL roster is worst in the league despite Rekkles MVP performance
Michal Konkol/Riot GamesT1 has long been known for their incredible scouting. Though, even with that reputation, many were skeptical of their decision to pick up Rekkles as a support player. Currently, their team is winless and (on paper) the worst in the LCK CL, though it may not be a direct problem with Rekkles.
T1 opting to pick up Rekkles was a near-unprecedented move in the League of Legends ecosystem, with it being the first time a Western pro player who has played in a major region’s pro league getting picked up by an LCK org.
Though there was a possibility of jojopyun getting imported, he ultimately decided to stay in NA. So, Rekkles wound up being a pioneer as he went to the LCK CL to hone his skills as a roleswapped support player. And he’s done exceptionally well so far both in Korean solo queue and in pro play from a statistical standpoint.
However, T1’s team hasn’t won a single set. Though they’ve won some matches here and there, they haven’t taken home a best-of-3 and have thrown numerous matches. What’s going wrong with T1’s LCK Challengers team?
T1 LCK CL team is just short of greatness with Rekkles
Stats-wise, Rekkles has the second highest KDA in the league, second only to DPlus KIA’s Rahel who’s having an incredible split as DPlus’ ADC. KDA isn’t everything, not by a mile, but the stat shows that Rekkles isn’t exactly running it down or solo-losing games for the team.
Rekkles has been playing a lot of Senna, Renata, & Janna, support champions he’s been known for in solo queue for years that specialize in disengaging or, in Senna’s case, outright carrying the game.
And, even during his two matches playing hard-engage, he created opportunities for his team and carried ADC Smash through the laning phase. He’s caught some Player of the Game flowers in their wins but they still haven’t taken a full set despite having won a game in almost every set so far.
This team is on the cusp of greatness, and they’re so close to doing well. So, what’s the problem?
Well, Rekkles is almost completely silent in comms. He can play well without speaking, but his teammates need more direction in his eyes.
“My teammates are rookies, they need guidance in game. So, I should learn some words that they can understand to follow me.”
Going off of clips of their comms, Rekkles still only knows basic Korean phrases and doesn’t do much shotcalling. Even if he’s playing well, support is a role that’s an essential part of a team’s overall structure and how they play. Support players calling the shots is fairly common, but not something this T1 roster can rely upon.
However, T1’s topside often loses on their own, unaffected by Rekkles’ impact. Even if the team has thrown matches overall, it’s not like every lane is winning all the time.
One of the clearest examples of the language barrier in action comes from a throw in T1’s match against Kwangdong Freecs.
(Teamfight discussed happens at 4:12)
Rekkles immediately dives the backline as Rell, only for KDF to run right past him and onto the carries. Seeing as Rell doesn’t have much impact after she’s jumped in and CCed everyone, KDF simply ignored him and turned around a game that seemed lost. Additionally, T1 was only up 4k gold in this match despite a massive kill lead due to dropping the ball on Drake secure and map control.
Regardless of Rekkles strong individual performance, a number of problems on this roster are keeping them from being truly great. It remains to be seen if T1 decide changes need to be made as their loss streak continues.
