With only one news: Rekkles joined T1 Challengers, fans received 3 major changes. One, Rekkles will leave Lec when only half a month is the 10th anniversary of his professional play in this area. Two, he joined T1 but played for Challengers, ie team 2. And finally, it is the fact that people no longer see a Rekkles holding Sivir, Ezreal or Tristana. Instead, this former gunner will play in the support position.
That was the change that happened at the same time, causing the world's League of Legends community to constantly ask dozens of questions. A legendary gunner, one of LEC's “banyan trees and trees”, one of the European “monuments”, why accepted to Korea and played in team 2, where there were young teammates. Because, when Rekkles stormed in a professional arena, the remaining members of T1 Challengers like Poby, Dal or Smash were just a 10 -year -old boy.
The audience wondering about this decision of Rekkles is completely grounded. Look to see what this former gunner has brought to South Korea: the title of runner -up World Final 2018, 4 EU championships LCS, 2 title of LEC runner -up and impressive rankings at MSI, other world finals. With such a “terrible” record, Rekkles is one of the most successful players in Europe. And now, at the age of 28, Rekkles started his journey from a LCK 2 team. Although it was the second team of a huge organization like T1, the community still judged: “Rekkles has had a step back.”
However, what Rekkles shared in interviews, along with the analysis and comments of the fans about T1's strategy in the near future, this “handshake” seems to contain more meaning than what we think. In an interview with a recent reporter, Rekkles suddenly revealed: T1 is the one who proactively contacted this Swedish player.
Rekkles recounted: “Actually, Becker – the general manager of T1 – contacted me since mid -October. Other teams also asked me to talk about that time, but when talking to Becker, I really felt I needed to seize this opportunity. Experience the differences. I want to know about the professional life in Korea, want to meet Korean friends, want to understand more about their culture …
When asked about the reason for switching to the supporting position, the former gunner shared: “In my player's career, I don't want to say” if “even once. I don't want to repeat everything throughout my career. Moreover, I don't want to retire with the question of my heart:” What if I go to another team, and do something different? ” Everything: My style of playing, the way I communicated, so on, and everything seemed to be suitable.
Rekkles added: “I was enlightened when playing in the support position, like just reborn. When LEC Spring closed, I felt that I was completely adaptable to the support position. At that time, I thought other teams would contact me, but I did not expect T1 to be interested. Now look back, if I continue to be a gunner, they will not be the most popular, I have to contact. Phuc ”.
Talking about T1, Rekkles did not regret praising: “My dream when changing your location, if I was chosen an area or any organization, I wanted to go to T1. It seems that I have done it. Compared to my teammates, it seems that I am older and more experienced, but in T1's 2nd team, I am a true rookie, because I have only played for 7 months.”
The age difference does not seem to hinder Rekkles when joining the team. He shared: “I like to play with young people. Normally, I will feel disappointed if my teammates are not hard. Here, my teammates are not only younger, but they also put the League of Legends as a top priority. They really have no other concerns. I feel that both me and my teammates have the same direction and efforts for this game, actually because of the difference in age, we will not play the difference between our age, we will not play the difference between our age. But for me, it is not a problem, just need in common in the game, we will harmonize and understand each other. “
It can be seen that Rekkles is fully enjoying her new challenge on the land away from the Swedish homeland. T1 will be the place where he entered a completely new page in his career, after nearly 10 years of hard work in Europe.
So, with T1, is the decision to bring Rekkles here to be confusing?
First of all, let's take a look at the parking lot of the former European gunner when coming to T1 – the Challengers team. As the most achievement and reputation in Korea in particular and Asia in general, T1's 2nd team is also expected to be the dominant in the Challengers tournament. The strength of this team is probably in the ability to train excellent young talents. But if considered on the achievements and results, T1 Challengers proved to be inferior to other competitors at LCK.
Founded in 2020, T1 Challengers quickly won the championship at LCK Challengers in the spring of 2021. But unfortunately, this is all the remarkable things that this team has done during the period from that time. They could not even go even even once in the past 3 years, the achievement in the last tournament was the summer of 2023 is only the top 8 final. Contrary to the world champion, the 2nd team is going through diving time in the last group, underestimated than the 2nd team of Nongshim, Kia Dplus or Drx.
The appearance of Rekkles is expected by the community to bring a new wind to the gloomy context of T1 Challengers. Although changing to the support position, Rekkles has experiences and knowledge accumulated through hundreds of battle throughout the regional and world arena. In particular, T1 also needs a reserve with enough bravery and talent, because this position has always been looking for a suitable name for too long. The appearance of Rekkles is expected to fill that space, helping T1 even more confident and stronger when entering the tournament.
At the same time, if you look at the overview, there is a clear link between what T1 is doing in recent years and proactively asking to bring Rekkles. Let's take a look at some activities of T1, or more wider SK Telecom in recent years: In 2019, SK Telecom and Comcast Spectacor – a US sports and entertainment company has reached a general agreement. Since then, T1 Entertainment & Sports is no longer owned by SK Telecom, they have more comcasts as new investors. Also here, T1 has shown the ambition to become the global number 1 game team, stepped out of the Korean boundary. In 2022, Comcast expressed his desire to merge with Electronic Arts (also known as EA) – one of the big players of the world gaming industry.
In the most recent T1 schedules, the most notable is probably the visit to Berlin of the entire T1 squad to attend the Red Bull League tournament. After winning the championship at the World final, the first public event of T1 took place in Germany – a remote European country. T1 has come, interact with his players and fans here. Finally, the contract with the veteran gunner of Rekkles recently took place. All are aiming for a single answer: “T1 is aiming to expand its own influence in particular, and the entire LCK in general to the West.”
The signature of Rekkles is the next touch of T1 in bringing its reputation to the West. Now, they have more followers from Rekkles fans, or widely are Western audiences. Perhaps, with T1, this country gives them a lot of benefits, and the plan to expand the influence of this leading Esports organization in Asia is being conducted faster than ever.
The “handshake” between T1 and Rekkles is not merely a transfer contract, but also a win-win agreement between the two sides: Rekkles is pursued passion, burnt hard with his career as he always wishes. As for T1, they took one step more on their development. But for the audience of League of Legends, everything is not so complicated. The only thing we wait for, is the eye -catching performance of the players and big teams in this LCK 2024 season.
