T1 endured its first loss of the 2025 KeSPA Cup as Hanwha Life Esports secured the match by a 2-1 decider today, sending the five-time world champion into an eliminator match.
Faker and co. started the KeSPA Cup series with a dominating performance in the bottom lane, where Peyz’ Lucian kept securing kills on Gumayusi’s Corki, but the stakes quickly shifted in HLE’s favor once they started to get picks on T1.
Kanavi’s Aatrox pick played the perfect tank for the team to neutralize T1’s engages, which gave enough space for Gumayusi to deal enough damage in the teamfights. They equalized T1’s lead, and it was all done and dusted for the Korean powerhouse.
HLE came out swinging in the next match, but T1 remained calm and slowly pushed their advantage to enable their carries. They secured the Atakhan in the mid game, and a teamfight near the mid lane saw Peyz pair with Keria’s perfect Neeko ult and get his first Pentakill with the squad to gain a massive lead, which gave T1 the chance to get the series to a decider.
With the decider on the line, HLE Zeka played an amazing game on his Akali and frequently caught Faker to solo kill him multiple times in the match, gathering a huge lead. With the Ionian assassin ahead, he ended the match deathless with the KDA 13/0/8, who turned the match completely in their side, and HLE is just one match away from their place in the grand finals.
After losing the HLE series, T1 played Nongshim RedForce in the eliminator to comfortably secure a 2-0 win over them to secure their place in the semifinals. As for HLE, they’ll clash with Dplus KIA in the upper semis, where the loser will have to face T1 in a do-or-die match.
