T1’s MSI 2026 campaign came to an unexpected end after a 3-1 loss to G2 Esports, snapping the organization’s long-standing streak of reaching the final four at international events.
Following the defeat, head coach Im “Tom” Jae-hyeon gave an honest assessment of the series in an interview with Inven, highlighting communication issues, top lane draft challenges, and missed opportunities that ultimately sent the defending World Champions packing at their home soil.
“Overall, there were a lot of moments where we weren’t on the same page,” said Tom, pointing to the team’s lack of coordination. “In particular, in the final game, we pushed things a bit too hard at times and ended up letting the game slip away. Overall, I think our communication wasn’t very good.”
G2 consistently held counterpick for BrokenBlade throughout the series, allowing the top laner to secure favorable matchups against Doran. “It’s true that G2 really likes having counterpick. ‘BB’ often gets moved to fifth pick and gets a favorable pick. When we were on first pick, our plan was to secure something strong with the first pick and construct drafts where top could at least play a 40-60 matchup,” he explained.
While that was the plan, Tom admitted several lanes unraveled far more than expected. He explained that Doran managed to recover on Renekton in Game 1, but the Yorick versus Cho’Gath matchup quickly spiraled after an incident around the Void Grubs. He also admitted the Gnar versus Yasuo matchup in Game 3 did not play out the way T1 would’ve liked.
The T1 coach added that the coaching staff expected BrokenBlade’s Yasuo to be a comfort counterpick into Gnar, but admitted that Kled was the champion they were less prepared to face.
Despite the disappointing result, Tom singled out Peyz for praise, who had a tremendous performance overall. “Peyz is just very good at pretty much everything, regardless of what he plays. So in Games 1 and 2, we focused more on non-traditional ADC picks, while in Games 3 and 4, we went with standard marksmen. He’s a talented, smart, and very skilled player.”
Tom also reflected on T1’s demanding tournament schedule. Starting in the Play-In Stage meant the team had very little time between matches, though he believed their earlier loss to BLG had the biggest impact by forcing them onto a more difficult route through the bracket.
“I didn’t expect us to be eliminated this early, at least by our standards. I feel nothing but sorry. We’ll prepare well and do our best to show a better performance at EWC.” Tom closed by apologizing to fans for the early exit, admitting the result fell well below the organization’s expectations.
Looking ahead, Tom said T1’s focus now shifts to reviewing both their drafts and gameplay before the Esports World Cup next week.
