Peyz powers T1 past Karmine Corp 3-1 into Worlds semi-final

Defending champions T1 are one step closer to a fourth consecutive League of Legends world title after beating Karmine Corp 3-1 in the quarter-finals of the League of Legends World Championship in Allen, Texas. Kim "Peyz" Su-hwan was the difference across the four games, finishing the series with 35 kills, three deaths and 19 assists and earning player of the match as T1 reached the semi-finals for a sixth consecutive year.

The best-of-five series at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center followed a familiar pattern for a T1 side that has made a habit of winning when it matters most. T1 took the opening two games, Karmine Corp hit back with a controlled third game, and the Korean giants closed it out in a fourth game decided by one huge team fight near the dragon.

For Karmine Corp, the defeat ends a remarkable run. The French side, the last European team left in the tournament, had fought through the play-in stage and a gruelling Swiss stage to reach the last eight as the third seed from the LEC, the same seeding T1 held from the LCK.

Peyz sets the tone early

The opening game warned Karmine Corp of what was coming, even though it started in their favour. Top laner Kim "Canna" Chang-dong drew first blood in the series with a solo kill on Choi "Doran" Hyeon-jun, his Rumble getting the better of Doran's Ornn in the top lane. T1 did not panic. Jungler Mun "Oner" Hyeon-jun started a fight near the dragon around the 15-minute mark with his Jarvan IV, Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok turned it decisively in T1's favour, and after securing the Baron Nashor buff T1 closed the first game in 35 minutes and 39 seconds.

Game two was even more one-sided: Peyz's Kai'Sa and Oner's Trundle powered T1 to a dominant win in 29 minutes and 42 seconds, catching Martin "Yike" Sundelin and Caliste Henry-Hennebert around the dragon as the European side never found a way back into the game.

Karmine Corp refuse to fold

Trailing 2-0, Karmine Corp changed their approach completely in game three. They slowed the game down, avoided early team fights and played for the late game, and for the first time in the series the plan worked. The first kill did not arrive until around the 19-minute mark, when Caliste used Ashe's ultimate to lock down and kill Doran.

T1 answered immediately, with Peyz and Ryu "Keria" Min-seok taking down Canna, but Karmine Corp held their nerve. They secured the Baron and then the Elder Dragon and used that advantage to break into the T1 base, taking the game in 36 minutes and 44 seconds to force a fourth.

The fourth game began ominously for T1, with Karmine Corp again drawing first blood by catching Doran at the six-minute mark. For 20 minutes the game stayed tense and finely balanced, with neither side willing to risk the series on a single fight.

One fight decides the series

Then, around the 21st minute, the series turned in an instant. Shortly after securing the dragon, T1 caught Yike out of position. Peyz, on Miss Fortune, killed him, then took down Caliste and Targamas for a triple kill as Karmine Corp's formation fell apart. Faker and Doran hunted down the retreating players, and T1 wiped out all five members of the opposing team, an ace, before marching down the middle of the map to finish the game in 35 minutes and 15 seconds.

Keria's contribution was just as important as Peyz's damage. The support player finished the fourth game with 14 assists and no deaths on Neeko, his flash and ultimate locking Karmine Corp in place as the fight began. Across the whole series he recorded 50 assists, a record of selfless play that allowed Peyz and Faker to do the damage.

Faker finished the series with 18 kills, seven deaths and 27 assists, playing four different champions in Viktor, Cassiopeia, Taliyah and Annie. After the match he credited the team's preparation and its coordination in the smaller fights, the kind of detail that has carried T1 through six consecutive World Championship semi-finals.

Oner, playing in his sixth World Championship, said that if T1 focus on the victory right in front of them, the fourth consecutive title will follow. T1 have already won the last three World Championships; a fourth in a row would stand alone in the history of the game.

Revenge complete, Bilibili Gaming await

The win also settled a score from the summer: Karmine Corp's 2-1 victory over T1 at the Esports World Cup in Paris in July was one of the biggest upsets of the year, and T1's revenge in Allen was emphatic. The French side leave the tournament in the fifth-to-eighth places, while T1 are guaranteed at least a third-to-fourth finish.

What awaits T1 in the semi-final is a heavyweight contest. Bilibili Gaming, who swept Dplus KIA 3-0 in their quarter-final, stand between the defending champions and the final, in a rematch of the 2024 World Championship final. The semi-final is scheduled for Sunday, 8 November, at 4pm Central Time in Allen; Gen.G face Invictus Gaming in the other semi-final on Saturday. The World Championship final takes place on 14 November at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and on this evidence T1 will take some stopping before they get there.