Preface: The S16 season matches have officially begun, and it is believed that the vast majority of players have been paying attention to the recent battles. The LCK playoffs are fiercely competitive. As the recognized strongest region in the world, the T1 team surprisingly experienced an upset in a critical match. It was expected that they would defeat their opponent as easily as Gen.G did and advance to the winners' bracket finals. However, they were completely crushed by BFX, swept 3-1, with even scenes of fountain diving occurring. After the match, Ruler's earlier interview became a prophetic statement; he had openly said that BFX's jungler was outstanding and predicted T1 would be defeated.

Ruler's pre-match prophecy that Faker would be defeated

Most players are quite familiar with the T1 team. As a top-tier team in the LCK region, T1's performance over recent years has been outstanding, reaching the World Championship finals four consecutive times and winning the championship three years in a row. Virtually no team could match them head-to-head at Worlds. Although T1 restructured their roster for the new season, their results remained very stable, entering the playoffs undefeated. It was assumed their first round would be as smooth as Gen.G's, but unexpectedly, they suffered an upset, even feeling somewhat overwhelmed.

In the first game, the synergy between Orianna and Pantheon was exceptional. BFX's mid and jungle instantly eliminated Faker's Azir, dealing maximum damage and giving T1 no chance. Faker's Azir's winning streak was broken. The second game favored T1’s rhythm; both Faker and Peyz performed well, and within just 33 minutes, they destroyed BFX’s base. Just when everyone thought T1 would complete a reverse sweep, the last two games shocked all viewers. It was arguably the most crushing defeat T1 has ever faced. In the third game, BFX’s jungler on Maokai immediately dominated the mid-jungle early on, and BFX’s hyper-carry Ashe completely overwhelmed T1 in lane.

In the final deciding game, T1 seemed mentally shaken. After the team fight at 17 minutes, T1 completely fell apart. Within just 27 minutes, BFX secured the fourth game victory, eliminating T1 to the losers' bracket with a 3-1 score. In the three winning games, Peyz was thoroughly outplayed by BFX’s Ashe, and in the decider, he was even killed repeatedly at the fountain. No one expected this result — it was the biggest upset of the year, especially since pre-match English analysts had predicted a 100% win for T1. Post-match ratings showed very low scores for all players except top laner Doran, including Faker.

After the match, an interview with Ruler was dug up — a prediction made the day before the match. Ruler openly stated that during ranked games, he encountered Raptor’s Lee Sin and found him extremely strong, so he voted for BFX to win. Even before the match started, he believed Faker would be defeated. As expected, the entire BFX team’s momentum was driven by their jungler. After the shocking drop to the losers’ bracket, T1 announced a pause on all activities and canceled all streams to focus on preparation, aiming to fight back from the losers’ bracket. Fans should not underestimate T1 as an ordinary team because they have created many miracles.

Farewell thoughts

I guess no one expected T1 to perform like this. Losing the first game already felt off; Peyz in the bot lane seemed disconnected from the team. The other players didn’t show great mechanics either, while the usually underestimated Doran had few issues and became the team's leader. They will likely face DK next, and it will be a battle to see who advances. There’s also a chance for a rematch against BFX.

What do all of you viewers think about this situation?