T1 shuts down Gen.G's reverse sweep to clinch Bangkok spot

In an all-Korean lower final with an international appearance on the line, T1 T1 Korea Rank #2 stax Kim Gu-taek (김구택) Meteor Kim Tae-oh (김태오) Sylvan Go Young-sup (고영섭) BuZz Yu Byeong-cheol (유병철) iZu Ham Woo-ju (함우주) avoided a reverse sweep, taking down Pacific Kickoff's defending champions Gen.G Gen.G Korea Rank #1 Foxy9 Jung Jae-sung (정재성) t3xture Kim Na-ra (김나라) Munchkin Byeon Sang-beom (변상범) yoman Chae Young-moon (채영문) Karon Kim Won-tae (김원태) in five maps. T1 moves onto the first-ever grand final in the organization's history, where they look to exact revenge on DRX DRX Korea Rank #4 Flashback Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) free1ng No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) BeYN Kang Ha-bin (강하빈) .

The stakes were clear entering Saturday's match: The loser would go home, and the winner would advance to the grand final and earn a spot at Masters Bangkok.

The match between two of Korea's strongest squads also saw familiar faces duel for the first time since parting ways. Meteor , who was a key piece in Gen.G's trophy-laden 2024, went against his old teammates for the first time, while Foxy9 also went against former DRX teammates stax and BuZz for the first time.

The best-of-five series needed all five maps, with T1's Pearl, Gen.G's Lotus, T1's Haven, Gen.G's Split, and the decider map of Bind.

T1 began Pearl sprinting. While Gen.G had a more traditional team comp centered around KAY/O and Jett, T1 had a more eye-catching double Duelist comp that fielded Yoru and Neon. They used a quick start to get up 6-1, and while a Gen.G timeout would eat into their momentum, T1 never truly looked tested. They rode an 8-4 halftime advantage into the second half, picking up four rounds from the pistol and bonus rounds to close things out 13-8.

T1 sixth man carpe , subbing in for Sylvan since their upper final match against DRX, impressed again with a map-leading 18 kills on Pearl.

The series moved to Lotus, a staple of Gen.G's map pool on which they've had great success since the beginning of the 2024 season. Gen.G's presumed dominance on the map seemed to continue entering halftime. On the three-site, attack-sided map, they managed six rounds on defense, and on attack looked to snowball that momentum into what would be one of many victories on the map.

However, T1 met Gen.G's attacking aggression with some of their own. After giving up the pistol and bonus rounds, T1 racked up seven straight rounds to steal away their opponents' map pick, claiming a 2-0 lead and putting Gen.G on the brink of elimination.

T1, as they have throughout much of the tournament, fielded a double Duelist team comp on Haven that was popularized by FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #6 crashies Austin Roberts Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder last year. With Meteor again on Iso and BuZz on Yoru, T1 looked to seize the upper hand beginning on attack.

After grabbing the opening pistol round though, Gen.G managed a thrifty, throwing a wrench into T1's first-half economy. Gen.G stood strong on defense, with moments of heroics from in-game leader Munchkin inspiring them to a 7-5 halftime advantage.

On attack, Gen.G did as T1 had on Lotus, winning six straight rounds to close out a near-perfect map and stealing T1's second map pick 13-5.

After shutting out their opponents on the first two maps and seizing all of the momentum, T1 was put on their heels. For Gen.G, the reverse sweep was on.

Gen.G had an unexpected team comp for their first Split game of the year. A double Initiator comp saw Munchkin on Tejo and yoman on Breach, while T1 again fielded two Duelists.

The map started with T1 clinching a thrifty following a Gen.G pistol round, which was the first step in a dominant 9-3 defending half. To open the second half, a reversal of roles saw Gen.G steal a thrifty after a T1 pistol, a testament to how strong both teams were on defense on the map.

Facing an 11-5 deficit, the Gen.G coaching pair of solo and HSK called timeouts, breathing new life into their squad. That saw them win the next three rounds, closing to within three rounds and forcing T1 head coach Autumn to call a timeout of his own.

Gen.G won five straight rounds to pull to within one round at 11-10, but a T1 full push onto A saw them reach match point. After going back to that strategy for another two rounds, Gen.G countered seamlessly, forcing overtime.

The map ended as it started, with a back-and-forth exchange of rounds eventually ending with Gen.G on top, 17-15. t3xture , who struggled to find his play like his usual self on the first three maps, returned to normal on Split, dropping a server-high 35 kills — including a map-ending ace.

That led to the decider map of Bind, where both teams have had their fair share of ups and downs. T1 has beaten Paper Rex Paper Rex Asia-Pacific Rank #6 mindfreak Aaron Leonhart Jinggg Wang Jing Jie f0rsakeN Jason Susanto d4v41 Khalish Rusyaidee something Ilya Petrov on the map, but also holds losses to BOOM Esports BOOM Esports Asia-Pacific Rank #2 dos9 Zhumagali Dastan Famouz Fikri Zaki Hamdani Shiro Hildegard Arnaldo NcSlasher Sheldon Andersen Chandra BerserX Rizkie Adla Kusuma and TALON TALON Asia-Pacific Rank #12 Crws Thanamethk Mahatthananuyut JitBoyS Jittana Nokngam primmie Papaphat Sriprapha ban Joseph Seungmin Oh Governor Peter No . Gen.G has an overtime loss to DRX and a win over TALON.

With plenty of film on each other, T1 appeared better suited to the map, having the read on Gen.G's defense. An unrelenting head-on attack saw T1 storm forward, claiming the first nine rounds of the map, burning through both of Gen.G's regulation timeouts.

Still, a few moments of heroics gave Gen.G three rounds to end the half, switching sides down 9-3.

With the exclusion of a would-be bonus round, Gen.G put their foot down on attack, winning five of the first six rounds to narrow the gap to 10-8. As opposed to T1's fast, direct attack, Gen.G opted for a more patient approach — the same approach that saw them struggle to attack on Split.

T1 would reach match point with four rounds of cushion. While Gen.G showed signs of another comeback, 10 was the most they managed. A BuZz vs. t3xture Operator duo and T1 winning their individual duels saw them finally wipe away Gen.G and reach the organization's first grand final ever.

T1 flex player iZu had a team-high 83 kills at the end of five maps, while t3xture's 93 and Karon 's 88 were not enough in the losing effort.

With the win, T1 will move up to the grand final to take on DRX, who they lost to in the upper final 2-1. It will be the first grand final appearance in team history for T1, while Gen.G will be sidelined until Pacific Stage 1 begins in March.