Faker reveals Doran's "strange weapons"; T1 wins breathlessly thanks to unexpected picks

T1 had to endure an extremely tense BO5 series against BFX in the 2026 LCK Playoffs. When the team was pushed into a difficult position, Doran unexpectedly became the savior with two picks: Nasus and Kennen, while Faker revealed that these "wild cards" actually originated from his teammate's solo queue climb.

Doran surprises with Nasus and Kennen

T1 entered the first match at LCK Playoffs 2026 against BFX, one of the most outstanding teams in the Rise group. Although rated higher, the reigning world champions faced many difficulties and needed all five games to secure victory.

Notably, when T1 was down 2-1, Doran unexpectedly locked in Nasus in game 4 before continuing to use Kennen in the decisive game.

These were not very common picks in T1's recent playstyle. However, both proved highly effective, helping the team break BFX's pre-prepared calculations.

Nasus in particular became a particularly troublesome problem. BFX could hardly generate enough pressure to stop Doran from stacking power, allowing the champion to reach a dangerous threshold as the game progressed into the later stages.

Faker reveals the origin of the "unique" picks

After the match, Faker said that Nasus and Kennen completely came from Doran himself, not a surprise plan prepared by the coaching staff specifically for BFX.

"Doran's picks mainly came from his solo queue climb. Today he did very well and countered BFX's signature champions," Faker shared.

This shows that solo queue experience can still become an important tactical resource in the professional scene, especially in BO5 series where the ability to surprise in pick/ban holds great value.

Doran also proved he can become a carry option when T1 is in a tough spot, instead of only taking on the role of tanking or supporting other carries.

T1 still has many issues to fix

Despite winning, the performance of T1 was not truly convincing. Faker had moments where he made early and repeated mistakes, allowing the opponent to secure First Blood, while Peyz also failed to maintain his best form. T1 ultimately overcame BFX largely thanks to timely individual flashes of brilliance.

More importantly, the victory over BFX is only the first step. T1 still needs at least two more wins to get closer to the goal of qualifying for the 2026 World Championship and competing for the LCK title.

Ahead of them are tough opponents like DK, KT, HLE, and Gen.G. Therefore, "strange weapons" like Doran's Nasus can continue to be an advantage, but T1 definitely needs to improve more if they want to go deep in the Playoffs.