T1 beats – On June 28, 2026, at the Daejeon Convention Center, T1 took Game 1 against Team Liquid Alienware (TLAW) in the Play-In Stage of MSI 2026. After a steady early game and a sudden First Blood from Keria, T1 pulled ahead through skirmishes, widened the gold gap to
When the MSI 2026 Play-In match began at the Daejeon Convention Center on June 28, 2026, it felt almost calm—like both teams were letting the map breathe. The early game moved steadily, and the first kill didn’t come until around the 9-minute mark.
That moment flipped the tone. During a brief skirmish in the bottom lane, Keria (Ryu Min-seok) on Camille found himself cut off. He still managed a surprise play to secure First Blood on Yeon’s Caitlyn—only for him to be taken down by Quid’s Akali right after.
After that, the match refused to stay quiet. Small-scale skirmishes kept landing as the clock rolled past 10 minutes. T1’s bot duo eliminated Yeon’s Caitlyn twice more each time she returned to lane. and Faker (Lee Sang-hyeok) then secured a double kill during a mid-jungle skirmish. The momentum clearly moved into T1’s hands.
From there, the game opened up into brawls. And T1 kept winning the fights.
Phase (Kim Su-hwan) on Mel grew rapidly after picking up multiple kills, delivering a performance that carried him forward. Keria (Ryu Min-seok) on Camille looked just as dangerous for a Support role. creating openings that directly helped Mel keep accelerating. By the 21-minute mark. the gold gap had widened to over 5k. with Faker sitting at a 5/1/4 scoreline and Phase standing at 6/1/3.
TLAW’s chance finally arrived at 23 minutes. Josedeodo’s Wukong landed an “exquisite” ultimate, followed by a combo from Morgan’s Yasuo ultimate. For a moment, it looked like TLAW had assembled the kind of teamfight that could swing everything back in their favor.
But T1 used their health advantage to turn the tide of that disadvantageous engagement—literally turning it around through the fight itself. The result was decisive: they secured Baron, flipping the match from a lead into something closer to total control.
At 26 minutes, the story ended the way it should have once the decisive objective fell. Building on their prior teamfight victory, T1 pushed into TLAW’s base and closed out the game easily, completing a strong start to their MSI 2026 campaign.
MSI 2026 T1 TLAW Daejeon Convention Center Play-In Stage Keria Faker Phase Josedeodo Morgan Baron
First blood at 9 mins and somehow T1 still wins? ok.
I didn’t even know this was happening but I saw Keria’s name and was like yeah he’s cracked. Gold gap 5k is wild though, TLAW must’ve just melted.
Keria doing first blood then getting taken down right after sounds like typical support life lol. Also why did it take until 23 minutes for TLAW to do anything? Wukong ultimate was “exquisite” but then they still lost the fight… Baron always ruins peoples hopes.
So T1 wins Game 1, big deal. But isn’t this like the “play-in” where it’s not even the real bracket? I feel like everyone’s overhyping it. Also I thought Faker was mid-jungle like always but the article said he got a double kill—does that mean he was roaming or just farming? Either way, Baron push at 26 is basically guaranteed if your comp is ahead, right?