Revealing T1’s Unintentional “Benefactor”
In recent days, the story surrounding Zeus’ departure from T1 has become a focal point of discussion across forums from Asia to Europe. Ultimately, T1 has decided to recruit Doran as their new top laner for the 2025 season after failing to retain Zeus. Although Doran was only a “stopgap” solution, he is a seasoned player who has made a name for himself as a champion of the LCK. Given the difficulties faced when Zeus declined, this acquisition seems to be a reasonable solution for T1.
However, according to former coach H-Dragon, T1’s recruitment of Doran was quite a thrilling saga. They needed the help of an unintentional “benefactor” to secure this player. Specifically, after his contract with HLE expired, Doran expressed a desire to play for KT due to having many friends there. Nevertheless, KT opted to trust their young talent, PerfecT, and thus could not make any decisions regarding Doran.
This situation allowed T1 to reach out to Doran after failing to recruit Zeus, and they quickly reached an agreement with him. Clearly, utilizing an experienced player like Doran in the LCK is a much safer option than promoting a young player to the main roster. Some viewers jokingly suggested that KT indirectly aided T1 in this deal, especially since T1 was facing many challenges after Zeus’s rejection. This is indeed quite surprising, given that KT has always been a “rival” to T1, creating significant rivalries in the past.
Doran Quickly Integrates with T1
On the evening of November 21, Doran held his first livestream at T1’s headquarters as a way to introduce himself to fans. An interesting detail noticed by viewers was that Doran quickly learned how to communicate with his “special” teammates at T1. The T1 players often have a habit of talking through the walls since their streaming rooms are set up right next to each other. During his first livestream, Doran picked up on this and engaged in lively conversation with Oner in the adjacent room.
When evaluating fairly, T1’s “new” roster doesn’t change significantly, as they only swapped the top lane position. Moreover, the recent addition of Mata as a coach will greatly assist in researching the meta and developing strategies for the team. In fact, T1 could potentially become even stronger and compete for more major titles if Doran integrates smoothly and performs at a high level in the upcoming 2025 season.