- T1 are the top-seeded team of the LCK, and they finished #4 in Worlds 2021
- Freecs had to revamp their entire roster in November 2021 because of poor performance
- Freecs may have a chance to push the best of three series and perhaps pry away a single game
The League of Legends Champions Korea is arriving second after the LPL, and it will promise a year that is packed with action between some of the best teams in South Korea. The opener games played on Wednesday, January 12 promise to set the tone of the league and put some of the biggest names to a test.
T1 will go up against Kwangdong Freecs in what many see as a one-sided best of three series. However, we will argue that while Freecs (previously Afreeca Freecs) don’t have as many respectable names to go around, they still have a chance to make it into the top five LCK teams in 2022.
Of course, taking on T1 which is easily the top-seeded team in the league, or at least on par with Gen.G is not an easy task, but it will serve as a quick wake-up call for the team who will be looking to improve on their 11-7 run in the LCK and placed #6 in the previous season.
LCK 2022: T1 vs Freecs Odds – January 12, 2022
- T1 to win 1.26
- Kwangdong Freecs to win 3.19
Where to Watch LCK 2022 T1 vs Freecs
T1 Preview (Jan 12, 2022)
T1 are surely one of the top-seeded if not the top-seeded team in the LCK and this is understandable. The team finished #4 in the League of Legends Worlds in 2021, right on the tail of Gen.G who placed third. They managed to pull ahead of the top-seeded teams in other leagues and once again consolidated South Korea’s supremacy in competitive LoL.
That is if you do not count the fact that EDward Gaming won the championship. Similar to other teams who have performed well in 2021, T1 didn’t do many changes to their roster, trusting their players of delivering the needed performance.
Evidently, with not much to comment on T1’s recent roster adjustments, the team is taking a good inward look and liking what it sees. In a way, T1 believes that it can carry on and outperform its main challengers this year, and facing off against Freecs would be a good starter’s practice, or at least the odds would suggest as much.
Should we see T1 play on the same level it demonstrated all throughout 2021, then it’s safe to say Freecs do not stand much of a chance in the upcoming contest. However, there may be a few markets worth exploring.
Kwangdong Freecs Preview (Jan 12, 2022)
Always rooting for the underdogs, Freecs didn’t perform as terribly as suspected. They missed the cut and had to sit out Worlds 2021, but this gave them enough time to take a look at their performance and enact important changes to their roster. The team decided to let go of Fly, Bang, Lehends, Dread and Keine. The cleansing took place on both coaching as well as player level, with coaches Rigby and Lira departing as well. Evidently, Freecs not qualifying for Worlds 2021 has cost most of these players their positions.
In fairness, all of them showed a lot of courage, effort, and dedication to improving their performance, but they couldn’t muster the gameplay to break into the Worlds or pose any serious challenge to the top-seeded teams.
The entire team has been replaced, bar Kim “Kiin” Gi-in. As to the rest, the team has brought in Choi “Eliim” El-lim, Yoo “FATE” Su-hyeok, Han “Leo”Gyeo-re, Park “Teddy” Jin-seong, Ryu “Hoit” Ho-seong and Kim “MapSSi” Do-yeong, all of whom joined the team in November in preparation for the new season.
With this in mind, the new team will have a hard time defeating T1, but they might just pry away a single game, which would make for some interesting betting opportunities.
- Pick: Freecs +1.5 (1.72)
- Pick: Over 2.5 (2.18)
