View of atmosphere at League of Legends World Championship 2023 Finals at Gocheok Sky Dome on November 19, 2023 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo courtesy: Riot Games
SEOUL, South Korea -- The global popularity of T1 is undeniable.
As the winningest League of Legends squad in the whole world, it's no question that they too, have fans from all over the globe -- some of whom flew in from Manila to witness T1 win it all in Seoul.
Nana (who declined to disclose her last name) shared she filed for a leave of absence to fly all the way to Seoul over the weekend. Over the summer in the Philippines, Nana, took a gamble and booked tickets to the Grand Finals, hoping her favorite team could make it.
"I knew that my time seeing this particular composition of T1 players would be limited and luckily up until now they are still together, but in promotional videos they say they may not be together next year. So I made it my mission to watch at least one game of theirs. I actually went to Korea to last February to catch one of their LCK games," Nana told ABS-CBN News.
It seemed that stars aligned for the 26 year old, who started playing League when gaming saw a meteoric rise during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
True enough, Filipino esports personalities across numerous titles have been vocal towards their support of T1 as the winningest team in the annals of League of Legends history.
Witnessing all of this live is streamer Jegokage's "retirement gift" for himself as he focuses on his life outside of esports, he told ABS-CBN News.
"I've been following T1 since OGN, they might not be my favorite during that time, but Faker's mechanical prowess into the game and growth as a player and his teammates all throughout his journey caught my interest into supporting T1," he said.
T1 poses onstage before competing at League of Legends World Championship 2023 Finals at Gocheok Sky Dome on November 19, 2023 in Seoul, South Korea. Photo courtesy: Riot Games.
Despite the swan song as he focuses on his non-esports career. he is excited to witness what the multi-gaming company has in store for its Philippine scene, which boasts of a robust player base.
"I work as a freelance League of Legends observer, now that the publishing rights got back to Riot, I definitely would love to see more from the Filipino League of Legends scene and from Riot PH," he said.
And back home, support poured for T1 as crowds flocked to the New Frontier Theatre to watch the games live. Pinoy caster Villsanity shared videos of the crowd in the theatre as they watched the LoL Worlds 2023 Grand Finals.
For Faker, receiving this outpour of support from fans all over the globe inspires him to become a better player.
"Receiving a lot of support inspires me to do better and it's definitely motivates me to grow as a person so I'm very grateful for that," he said in the post-match press conference.