T1 (esports)
Introduction '''T1''' (previously known as '''SK Telecom T1''' or '''SKT T1''') is a South Korean esports organization operated by T1 Entertainment & Sports, a joint venture between SK Telecom and Comcast Spectacor. The team that would become SKT T1 was originally founded in 2002 by ''StarCraft'' player Lim "BoxeR" Yo-hwan under the name Team Orion, which was later renamed to 4 Union in December 2003.In April 2004, South Korean wireless carrier SK Telecom began sponsoring the team, officially creating the team SK Telecom T1.T1's ''League of Legends'' team has won a record four ''League of Legends World Championship'' titles (2013, 2015, 2016 and 2023), two Mid-Season Invitational titles (2016 and 2017), and ten ''League of Legends Champions Korea'' championships, also a record.
History The team that would become T1 was originally founded in 2002 by ''StarCraft'' player Lim "BoxeR" Yo-hwan under the name Team Orion, which was later renamed to 4 Union in December 2003.On April 13, 2004, South Korean wireless carrier SK Telecom sponsored the team with an investment of , officially creating the team SK Telecom T1; by May 2005, it was estimated to have earned $15million worth of market effects. On December 13, 2012, SK Telecom expanded into ''League of Legends'' esports by acquiring the roster of Eat Sleep Game, and created the team SK Telecom T1 S. On February 26, 2013, they created a second ''League of Legends'' team, SK Telecom T1 K.In 2016, SKT closed their ''StarCraft II'' division, after KeSPA announced that they would be discontinuing the Proleague.In 2018, SK Telecom T1 expanded into two more esports, establishing a ''Hearthstone'' division on July 29 and a ''PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds'' division on August 13.By 2019, SKT T1 had expanded to own and operate teams in at least eight games, including the two aforementioned, ''League of Legends'', ''Fortnite'', ''Dota 2'', ''Super Smash Bros.'', and ''Apex Legends''.In October 2019, SK Telecom T1 was rebranded to simply T1, after SK Telecom and Comcast Spectacor partnered to create T1 Entertainment & Sports, and Joe Marsh was named the CEO. ''League of Legends'' player Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok then became a part-owner of T1 Entertainment & Sports in February 2020.On March 9, 2020, T1 signed its first player to its newly formed ''Valorant'' team.
''League of Legends '' 2013 World ChampionshipOn December 13, 2012, SK Telecom expanded into ''League of Legends'' esports by acquiring the roster of Eat Sleep Game, and created the team SK Telecom T1 S. On February 26, 2013, they created their second ''League of Legends'' team, SK Telecom T1 K. In the same year, SKT T1 won their first ''League of Legends'' World Championship. In 2014, SK Telecom T1 K followed their success through in the OGN winter season, winning the tournament without dropping a single game. They would then go on to win All-Star Paris 2014.However, their Winter season success did not follow through and after the Spring and Summer seasons, SKT T1 K failed to qualify for the 2014 World Championship. In the following offseason, Riot Games changed the team regulations so that each organizations may only have one team participating in each league. This led to the merger of SKT T1 K and SKT T1 S, and the subsequent departures of Impact and Piglet for the NA LCS. The new team would compete under the name SKT T1.SKT facing KOO Tigers in the 2015 World Championship finalAt the 2015 World Championship, SKT won the title while losing only one game in the finals for a record of 15–1 over the course of the tournament.SKT team started off the 2016 Season by winning the LCK Spring Split. With this victory, SKT was guaranteed a spot in the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational. At that point in time, MSI was the only major international tournament they had yet to win. They were heavily favored coming into the tournament, but were initially unable to perform up to their usual standards, unexpectedly losing several games in the group stage. However, they managed to turn things around during the elimination round and eventually clinched the title by sweeping the North American team, Counter Logic Gaming, in the finals. SKT placed third in the 2016 LCK Summer Split, but still qualified for the 2016 World Championship through circuit points. The team swept through the group stage and advanced towards the playoff round. In the semifinals they defeated the ROX Tigers in a close 3–2 series. In the finals they defeated Samsung Galaxy in another close 3–2 series, winning their third world championship title. Faker was voted as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.SKT won the 2017 LCK Spring Split, clean sweeping KT Rolster 3–0 in the finals. This win qualified them for the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational. At the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational, SKT topped the group stage with a 8–2 record. SKT then swept Flash Wolves 3–0 in the semifinals and defeated G2 Esports 3–1 in the finals, becoming the first team to win the Mid-Season Invitational back-to-back. At the 2017 World Championship, SKT were considered to be strong favourites to lift the cup for a third consecutive time despite not winning the LCK Summer Split. After a 5–1 group stage, SKT narrowly defeated Misfits and Royal Never Give Up in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, before facing Samsung Galaxy in a repeat of the previous year's final. Despite being favourites going into the game, Samsung Galaxy swept SKT 3–0, ending their domination at the World Championship.SKT finished fourth in the 2018 Korea Regional Finals, failing to qualify for the 2018 World Championship.In April 2019, SKT won the LCK Spring Split. As champions, SKT represented the LCK at the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational. They finished the group stage in second place but lost 3–2 to G2 Esports in the semifinals. In the LCK Summer Split, SKT repeated the success and defended their title. SKT qualified as the LCK's first seed for the 2019 ''League of Legends'' World Championship, where they were once again defeated by G2 Esports in a semifinals series, losing 3–1.In October 2019, SKT rebranded as T1 after partnering with Comcast Spectacor. In February 2020, Faker had re-signed with the team for three years, in which his contract would last until 2022.He also became a part owner of T1 Entertainment and Sports. In April of the same year, T1 defeated Gen.G and won their ninth LCK title.At the 2021 League of Legends World Championship, T1 was eliminated in the semifinals by DWG KIA, losing 3–2 in a best-of-five series.2023 World ChampionshipDuring the 2022 LCK Spring, T1 went undefeated in the regular season with an 18–0 record, becoming the first team to achieve this record since the league's inception. In the playoffs, T1 won its tenth LCK title, defeating Gen.G 3–1 in the finals. On the international stage, T1 finished as the runners-up of the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational, losing in the final to Royal Never Give Up. The team also finished as the runners-up at the 2022 League of Legends World Championship after losing 3–2 to DRX in the final. The team had qualified for the tournament as the second seed from the LCK by the virtue of having the most Championship Points.In the 2023 LCK Spring Split, T1 qualified for the playoffs as the first seed, posting a 17–1 record as all five members of the roster were chosen for the All-LCK First Team, a first in LCK history. The team won every series to advance to the finals, qualifying for the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational after defeating Gen.G in the upper bracket semifinals. T1 lost the Spring Split title against the same opponent in a rematch of the 2022 LCK Summer 2022 finals, as Gen.G won the match 3–1.T1 was then defeated 3–2 by JD Gaming and 3–1 by Bilibili Gaming to exit the Mid-Season Invitational at the loser-bracket final. At the 2023 League of Legends World Championship, T1 won its fourth World Championship title, the first in seven years, after defeating Weibo Gaming 3–0 in the finals held at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. T1's top laner Choi "Zeus" Woo-je was named finals MVP.=== Seasons overview ===;As SK Telecom T1 S Year League of Legends Champions Korea World Championship      Playoffs 2013 Spring 10 5 5  3rd Quarterfinals ''Did not qualify'' Summer ''Did not qualify'' 2014 Winter 6 3 3  3rd ''Did not qualify'' ''Did not qualify'' Spring 6 3 3  3rd ''Did not qualify'' Summer 6 4 2  2nd Semifinals Totals 28 15 13  ''(2013–2014, includes only regular season)'';As SK Telecom T1 K Year League of Legends Champions Korea World Championship      Playoffs 2013 Spring 10 7 3  1st Third place Summer 6 6 0  1st  2014 Winter 6 6 0  1st  ''Did not qualify'' Spring 6 3 3  2nd Quarterfinals Summer 6 3 3  2nd Quarterfinals Totals 34 25 9  ''(2013–2014, includes only regular season)'';As SK Telecom T1 / T1 Year League of Legends Champions Korea Mid-Season Invitational World Championship      Playoffs 2015 Spring 14 11 3    Summer 18 17 1    2016 Spring 18 12 6  3rd  Summer 18 13 5   Round 3 2017 Spring 18 16 2    Summer 18 13 5  4th  2018 Spring 18 9 9  4th Round 2 ''Did not qualify'' ''Did not qualify'' Summer 18 8 10  7th ''Did not qualify'' 2019 Spring 18 14 4    Semifinals Semifinals Summer 18 11 7  4th  2020 Spring 18 14 4    ''Not held'' ''Did not qualify'' Summer 18 13 5  4th Round 1 2021 Spring 18 11 7  4th Semifinals ''Did not qualify'' Semifinals Summer 18 11 7  4th  2022 Spring 18 18 0    Summer 18 15 3    2023 Spring 18 17 1   Semifinals Summer 18 9 9  5th  Totals 320 232 88  ''(2015–2023, includes only regular season)''=== Roster ===
''StarCraft '' The ''StarCraft'' division of SKT was originally founded in 2002 by player Lim "BoxeR" Yo-hwan under the name Team Orion, which was later renamed to 4 Union in December 2003.The team went on to win the first-ever StarCraft Proleague, and by 2011, they had won the most championships of any team in ''Brood War'' history.In 2016, SKT closed their ''StarCraft II'' division after the Proleague was discontinued.=== Tournament results ======= ''StarCraft'' ==== Year Event Season Place Last match Result 2003 KTF EVER Cup  SKT x Woongjin Stars 3–0 2003–2004 LG IBM MBC Team League  SKT x KTF MagicNs 3–2 2004 ''Tucsan MBCGame'' Team League I  SKT x Suma GO 4–3 Team League II  4–3 2005 SKY Season 1   SKT x KTF MagicNs 4–2 Season 2  SKT x Samsung KHAN 4–2 Grand Final  SKT x KTF MagicNs 4–3 2006 Season 1  SKT x MBC Game Hero 3–0 Grand Final  3–0 2008–2009 Shinhan Bank  SKT x Hwaseung Oz 2–0 2009–2010  SKT x KT Rolster 4–2 2010-2011 ''Winners League''  4–3 Shinhan Bank Grand Final  4–3 2011–2012 SK Planet Proleague  4–3==== ''StarCraft II'' ==== Year Event Place 2012 WCS 2012: Asia  GSL Season 4 2012 (Code S)  Auction All-Kill OSL 2012  MLG vs Proleague Invitational 2012 	 WCS 2012: Global Finals 2013 IEM VII – Katowice  WCS Korea 2013 Season 2 Premier  WCS Korea 2013 Season 3 Premier  StarsWar League Season 3  Red Bull Battle Grounds: Grand Finals New York 2013   WCG 2013  GSL Hot6ix Cup 2013  2014 Proleague 2014 Round 1  IEM VIII - Cologne  WCS Korea 2014 Season 1 Premier  GSL Global Championship 2014  Proleague 2014 Round 3  WCS Korea 2014 Season 2 Premier   Proleague 2014 Round 4  Proleague 2014 Playoffs  KeSPA Cup 2014  DreamHack Stockholm 2014 (SC2)  WCS Korea 2014 Season 3 Premier   WCS 2014 Global Finals  2015 Proleague 2015 Round 1  IEM IX – World Championship  2015 StarCraft II StarLeague Season 1  KeSPA Cup Season 1 2015  2015 StarCraft II StarLeague Season 2 (Main Event)   Proleague 2015 Round 3  Leifeng Cup Monthly #3   KeSPA Cup Season 2 2015    IEM X - Shenzhen  IEM X - gamescom   MSI Masters Gaming Arena 2015 (SC2)  Proleague 2015 Round 4  ASL Season 5 Prime  GSL Season 3 2015 (Code S)  Proleague 2015 Playoffs  WCS 2015 Global Finals  2016 Proleague 2016 Round 1  2016 StarCraft II StarLeague Season 1  Leifeng Cup #145  WCS 2016: Korean Cross Finals Season 1  SHOUTcraft Kings July 2016  GSL Season 2 2016 (Code S)  2016 StarCraft II StarLeague Season 2   WCS 2016: Korean Cross Finals Season 2   OlimoLeague Week #75  OlimoLeague October 2016  WCS 2016 Global Finals  OlimoLeague Grand Final  VSL Team League   Leifeng Cup #157
''Valorant''
Awards and nominations  Year Event Award Team20132013 Korea e-Sports Awards* Best e-Sports Team* e-Sports grand prize of the yearSK Telecom T1 K20152015 Korea e-Sports Awards* Best e-Sports Team* Best LoL Leadership Award Choi Byeong-hoon (최병훈)SK Telecom T1 2016 2016 Korea e-Sports Awards* Best e-Sports Team* Best LoL Leadership Award Choi Byeong-hoon (최병훈) SK Telecom T1 2019 2019 Korea Esports Hall of Fame* Best e-Sports Team of the Year T120222022 Brand of the Year Award* Best e-Sports Team of the Year T120232023 Esports Awards* Esports Team of the YearT1
Literature * == Notes ==
References
External links * Official website