WBG vs T1 – Worlds 2023 Finals Preview & Analysis

It all comes to one last series: T1 and WBG will face off in the Grand Finals of the LoL 2023 World Championship (Worlds). On one hand, you have the rising underdogs WBG who defied all odds and made it to the finals. On the other, T1 and the Unkillable Demon King Faker are back on the big stage one year apart from their defeat against DRX.

Will T1 get their revenge from Worlds 2022 or will WBG break Korean fans’ hope once again? With so many important headlines and matchups to take into consideration, let’s dive deeper into the match and see what we can expect going into this series.

Given that it’s the last series for the 2023 LoL season, we will be making a deeper analysis of what might unfold during the drafts to find out who is favored to win the World Championship.

Make sure you don’t miss out on this epic match on Sunday, November 19 at 17:00 KST (9:00 CET, 3:00 ET).

Worlds 2023 – WBG vs T1 – Grand Finals

WBG – TheShy is back! He is back!

The fourth seed team strikes again. After the incredible run by DRX at Worlds last year, WBG is the second #4 seed to make it to the Grand Finals of a world championship. While their run wasn’t as long as DRX’s, it’s still an incredible achievement by a squad that was doubted over and over again.

We previously mentioned in our Worlds Power Rankings that WBG had the potential to become a top team, but it’s just things didn’t really click coming into Worlds. Well, they decided to do it at the most important moment of the season, finding new and creative drafting strategies to turn things in their favor. On top of that, the players have improved more and more throughout the tournament, to the point where WBG looks quite different from the start.

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A lot of the merit must go to head coach Daeny, who has done an incredible job ever since he joined WBG prior to the start of the Summer Split. In less than half a year, he turned a mid-tier LPL team into a Worlds Finalist. And the draft preparation shown in the series against BLG is probably one of the best proofs of his work.

He fully utilized TheShy’s strengths to create new opportunities for his own squad. Starting from the Rumble pick in Game 1 to the Graves pick in Game 3, to the shift of game plan in Game 5, he was able to get the most from the drafts. If WBG played in a similar way to how they have done until that point, BLG would’ve probably dominated them. Instead, WBG reinvented themselves in the last week of preparation, taking the surprising win and locking a ticket to Seoul this weekend.

Now, they are the last LPL team left alive, and they will clash against what might be the toughest enemy they have ever faced this entire season, T1. Not only because it’s the other finalist, but also because this might be the strongest iteration of T1 we’ve ever seen this year.

T1 – Will the legacy be extended?

All roads lead to Faker, they say. I’m glad we have such a player representing the LoL esports scene: from his mechanics, his ambition, to his manners, he’s probably the best role model of a player we will ever witness.

I still can’t believe Faker has been relevant for over 10 years already, and once again in 2023, he’s marching to the top of the world. He failed to do it last time due to Deft and the rise of DRX, but the gods have given him a second chance. A chance that came around in much tougher conditions, after he even had to sit out due to a major physical injury. T1 took the risk of benching him knowing that they could miss out on the LCK playoffs and Worlds qualification. Yet, here we are, three months later, with the GOAT mid laner one match away from his fourth title.

While everyone knew the match against JDG was going to be tough, T1 showed up on the day with incredible performances across the board. From Zeus’ Yone, to Keria’s Bard, to Oner’s engages, to Gumayusi’s insane kiting, to Faker’s incredible Azir plays, everyone on T1 delivered to the max. It might have been the support of the home crowd or the pressure of being the last LCK team standing at Worlds, we are not sure about that. But what we know is that this T1 roster is clicking like it never did before this year, even more so than last year.

While things are looking great for T1, we must not forget what happened last year and how upsets always happen whenever you don’t expect them. Has T1 learned their lesson and will they finally get their hands on the title? Let’s dive deeper into the match analysis.

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WBG vs T1 Worlds Finals Predictions

Before looking at who is favored to win the finals, there are two important takes worth noting from the Knockout stage. The first is that the red and blue side selection doesn’t seem to have such a discrepancy as it did in the first stages of the tournament.

The second is the shift from melee engage supports to ranged supports once again, similar to what dictated the bot lane meta in last year’s Worlds. Both WBG and T1 were among the first to nail this meta read, with WBG already using Renata Glasc in the Swiss Stage.

T1, in particular, was the first to bring back the double marksmen bot laners, a key point that was relevant in the series between T1 and JDG. The Chinese team, knowing that T1 had those combos prepared, had to pick them preventively so that they wouldn’t let T1 into a comfortable position in the bottom lane. It was clear, however, that JDG still hadn’t perfected that playstyle.

WBG only had one game on a marksman (Crisp on Ashe) but this bot lane draft priority will likely dictate the rest of the map, both during champ select and in-game. In particular, the most affected matchup will be the top lane, something that WBG used to their advantage in the series against BLG.

TheShy is known to be an aggressive top laner and always looks for favorable matchups to get a substantial early lead. He did it against Bin and it’s likely going to happen again in the finals. Zeus doesn’t have to come out ahead, as long as he can neutralize TheShy. Picks like Rumble, Jayce, and Aatrox will be contested, but I’m expecting more “tech” to come out for the last series. It will be a crucial matchup for WBG especially, considering T1’s bot lane looks unbeatable now.

The jungle-mid duo have had more importance in the mid-game fights as they can set up for the team’s success with well-executed plays. Based on what we saw so far, Oner and Faker definitely looked more close-knit, but Xiaohu and Weiwei have stepped up immensely compared to the start. If they can keep up, we will have an insane series on our hands.

Overall, this match is still in T1’s favor, as they looked unbeatable throughout the Knockout stage. I felt like the series against JDG could’ve gone to 5 games, but the meta seems too good for the Korean team. Just like Zeus in his post-game interview after the JDG series, I feel like it will be a 3-1 record for the Korean team. If WBG can somehow find new picks to counter T1, then there is a potential for a really close match, but many stars will have to align, including the drafting phase, which is for me, the main key that will decide to entire match.

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