A Detailed Look at T1’s “Hidden Strategy” at the 2024 World Championship
In competitive gaming, scrims and rank climbing are often opportunities for teams to experiment with new strategies. However, in some major tournaments like MSI, World Championships, and even domestic leagues like LCK, a team can sometimes keep their strategies under wraps during scrims. T1’s performance at the 2024 World Championship serves as a prime example of this.
Recently, T1’s CEO shared insights about the team’s scrim performance over the past World Championship seasons in an online interview. According to him, in 2022 and 2023, T1 had a win rate in scrims of around 78% to 80%. However, at the 2024 World Championship, this rate dropped alarming low to just 48%. This significant decrease has led to speculations about T1’s true capabilities being “hidden.”
There are many viewers who still have doubts. In a segment discussing T1’s scrim situation, EDG’s coach, KenZhu, mentioned that this team’s scrim performance is “very concerning.” According to him, T1 often wins or loses very quickly. Despite this, he noted that other teams are increasingly aware of T1’s strategies, especially with the information available about players like “Gumayusi and Oner being extremely dangerous, requiring absolute attention from other teams.”
“Ultimately, I think a team like T1 doesn’t have to lose everything in scrims. After all, it is just a strategy,” one viewer commented. Other comments indicated that T1’s recent losses were due to the team having to adapt to unfamiliar game styles.
T1’s “Hidden Strategy” Could Be a Viable Approach
In reality, scrims cannot fully showcase a team’s complete strategies or their overall performance. Moreover, as teams face each other in tournaments like MSI and the World Championship, the competitive environment can change drastically, as opponents can quickly evolve into formidable threats in the future. Thus, it is entirely plausible that some teams do not reveal all their tactics.
Consequently, some teams may have high scrim win rates, yet their actual gameplay may not reflect this effectively. Conversely, a team with a scrim win rate below 50% could still secure a championship title in the end.
