T1's CEO Stepped In

T1’s CEO has stepped in to reinstate Gumayusi as the team’s starting ADC alongside Smash.

But what does this mean for Smash’s future and T1’s long-term strategy?

Thumbnail by: Bennett Grainger

Music used under license from Associated Production Music LLC (”APM”).

[its_steeeeeeeve]

It was a great moment to showcase Smash. T1 building up his value, showing he can compete on the main stage. If he gets traded, he's now worth much more.

[jzfy]

Must be hard to choose, no? One is a proven champion, and the other is a young prospect with so much potential.

[gregoriomanuellegarde]

5:13 "I can't read Korean, but that's what presumably this said. Joe, see right there."
Most funniest line in this serious video

[AMightyStorm]

Joe was intentionally letting everyone know that this is a kkoma problem and that he personally did not agree with their intention to make Smash the starter for the regular season. That's essentially what that letter was.

[OlafJorigson]

Actually, the best case scenario right now would be a shared position, with both Smash and Gumayusi actively playing. Since Fearless Draft is bound to stay until the end of the year and in all major tournaments, having two very different players that both are great in their position, are a god given. This makes the very limited champion pool on ADC no more weak-point for T1. Thats a big drafting bonus and makes it easier for long series to draft.

[collionlol]

Guma single handedly caused Smite to get buffed from 900 to 1200. The only mistake he made was that he only signed for 1 year IMO.

[TheKevinGeee]

Guma has a special relationship with Joe. I remember he told Joe that he wanted to take Teddy's spot and that he was better than Teddy. Joe was impressed and gave him a chance.

[dinocharlie]

To be fair the objective steals say more about Pyosik than Guma

[matthewsmith]

Faker wasn't put in super early over a veteran. A lot of teams back then were making sister teams, and T1 decided that their sister team was going to be nothing but young rookies. The main roster had Easyhoon on it and that is eventually why they competed for the spot. Easyhoon could play control mages where Faker could not. This is not the situation Guma is in.Yes Guma isn't good at hyper carries like Ez or Kaisa because he was never allowed to practice or play them. In the Aphelios Jinx Meta in 2022 he was really good at it. When the Zeri meta came out it didn't fit T1s play style so they never practiced it the only team in the LCK who never played Zeri because they preferred Lucian Nami and the early game power it provided them. So you can't blame a guy for being bad at hyper-carriers when he wasn't allowed to learn them cause it didn't fit his team's style.

[lylaeburmeister]

From what I've heard on Rekkles' stream though, Smash is very devoted to T1 so even if given the chance to play on the starting line up for a different team, I don't know if he would take that opportunity

[maximdecimus]

If T1 won Worlds 2022 then Gumayusi would have a Worlds MVP Varus skin with a Baron sniping recall animation

[Exilum]

The way I see it thinking long term they have interest in keeping both players. That means guma needs to be the starting ADC, and Smash needs to still be valued so must still play regularly through the year. The ideal ending for T1 would be to end up with two top tier ADC instead of one, in a sort of two kings system. But in the short term, Smash can't be compared to Gumayusi.

[jamEZ_o]

3:22 The over exaggerated glazing tells me that these guys are going through severe FAKER WITHDRAWALS 😂

[SteefPip]

You cut the It's Always Sunny clip too early, Mac was about to add "that b*tch is dead" which would have really tied the room together.

[Ashne]

Not only won those 2 worlds, but his steals were what kept them as long as they did on the one they lost.

[fairyflamer]

crazy part is, guma went onetrick on soloq Ezreal just to prove a point while he was bench

[okiwangko]

Hopefully, Smash will get more attention in the future, similar to how Easyhoon and Faker battled for it in the past.

[Heightren]

Smash's value is gonna be great thanks to this season

[Papachacobear]

I am not sure even guma would say they where the “best bot lane in Korea” 😂. Even keria said it was viper delight

Also you can’t show Gumas solo que game’s highlights next to smashes lck highlights

[phancygamesandstuff]

I think it was a great idea by T1 honestly. Take the 0 stakes situation and use it to try out a new player in the exact environment you need them in, however, the problem is WHO you are replacing. Yes Smash is insane, but hes also replacing Guma, who u just cant afford to drop. I would love to see Smash on a different LCK team and I hope they let him go