Superstar bot laner Gumayusi is back in the T1 starting lineup for the upcoming LCK split following fan outrage, but T1 CEO Joe Marsh’s intervention to request the change completely undermines the side’s decorated coaching staff.
Image credit: Riot Games
Smash’s introduction, Gumayusi disrespected?
T1 first made the shock decision to play academy bot laner Smash part-way through the season-opening LCK Cup, making his debut in a series win over rivals KT Rolster. Smash remained a starter for the rest of T1’s tournament campaign, winning another two series before his side faced defeat to eventual winners Hanwha Life Esports.
Head coach kkOma pointed to the need to try various strategies during the “long” season as the reason for Smash’s introduction. This came at a time when a number of Gumayusi’s less-favoured champions like Ezreal and Kai’Sa were considered meta, with T1’s coaching staff evidently believing that adding Smash to the starting lineup would give the team the best chance at winning during that period.
Image credit: Riot Games
The decision to bring in Smash enraged large portions of T1 fans. Many felt that the decision to have Gumayusi split time with a rookie was disrespectful to the two-time Worlds winner. On top of that, T1 failed to make any sort of official announcement of Smash’s introduction before he made his debut, presumably in anticipation of the backlash that the change would cause, adding to the claims of disrespect.
Even if he hasn’t shown it publicly, the player himself does have a right to feel somewhat aggrieved, particularly having just re-signed with T1 in the past off season at a time when the organisation was reportedly looking to market itself off of the ZOFGK World Champion roster. Just a few months later Gumayusi has found his place in the roster in jeopardy.
Continued fan revolt
Smash’s positive performances have meant that almost none of the ongoing criticism is actually around the comparative ability of the two players.
Some of T1’s criticism could be justified, particularly around a late change to a fan meetup that took place shortly after Smash’s debut. On January 12th the team announced a series of fan meetups at LoL Park, one of which was to take place on January 26th, with the announcement specifically naming each of the T1’s DOFGK (Doran, Oner, Faker, Gumayusi, Keria) starting roster. However, on January 24th, following Smash’s debut, T1 posted an update clarifying that the players present on the 26th would be those who play on the day.
It would eventually be Smash that played on the 26th and not Gumayusi, leading to complaints on behalf of fans who may have bought tickets and travelled to the arena specifically in the hopes of meeting Gumayusi only for him to be removed from the event.
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While T1’s handling of the communication around the changes could have been better, the ongoing outrage has veered into the parasocial. Some fans have gone so far as to call for a return to the DOFGK roster regardless of performance, outlining their support of that specific lineup over the team on the whole.
This stan culture sees fans latch on to their favourite stars and become loyal followers of those individuals rather than necessarily rooting for the team itself. This has led to such fans interpreting Gumayusi’s situation as an attack on the player, and, thus, they’ve felt the need to defend him fiercely.
A result of this has seen a downplaying of Smash’s ability with questions as to how deserving he is of a chance on the main roster in the first place, while simultaneously proclaiming that Gumayusi’s history with T1 should mean that a benching — or temporary substitution — should never have been considered.
Home-grown promotion in T1’s DNA
Those with criticism of Smash’s introduction itself fail to see the bigger picture and have presumably forgotten how Gumayusi himself got his chance on T1’s main roster.
Part of the T1 identity is growing talent; filtering the game’s next superstars through their robust academy infrastructure to eventually have them perform at the highest level in the LCK and beyond. This was the case for Gumayusi. The player joined T1 — then SKT — as a trainee way back in 2018 and waited almost two years before he made his LCK debut in the 2020 Regional Finals, taking over from bot laner Teddy who had played the whole season up until that point.
Teddy was a three-time consecutive LCK winner before the 2020 Summer split but suddenly found himself making way for newcomer Gumayusi. The two shared bot lane responsibilities for most of 2021 before Gumayusi was firmly decided as the sole AD carry ahead of that season’s World Championship. He would go on to win two world titles in the coming years.
For all the fanfare around the ZOFGK (now DOFGK) roster and the drama surrounding the potential benching of one of its members, it’s worth pointing out that three players from that legendary lineup made their debuts in a comparable fashion to Smash. Following Gumayusi’s first appearances in late 2020, the 2021 Spring split saw much tinkering of T1’s LCK roster, leading to the debut of two then-unknown players; Zeus and Oner.
Part of what made the ZOFGK roster so special was that all but Keria were home-grown talents and had only ever played for T1. For that legacy to continue, the team must always look for their next stars and do all they can to ensure that they flourish, even if that does mean that some of their established starters must go through some periods away from the main roster to accommodate. That is, as long as it doesn’t negatively impact the immediate success of the team.
This need to gradually transition and replace star players with upcoming talent is nothing new in sports, or even T1, but is at odds with diehard stan culture.
Joe Marsh’s intervention disrespectful to T1’s coaching staff
Eventually, T1 did make a firm announcement, explaining that Gumayusi will be the starting bot laner moving forward while Smash will share practice time and may reappear later on in the season. This was announced through an open letter from CEO Joe Marsh in which he explained that “while Gumayusi will be starting the season, he and Smash will be competing in practice and pushing each other throughout the year,” adding that the coaching staff will decide which player gives the team the best chance at success in the long run.
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But Marsh oddly revealed that it was he who asked for Gumayusi’s presence, explaining that while he has “complete trust” in the coaching staff, he “requested that Gumayusi be part of the starting lineup”.
“This decision was not made lightly—but as CEO, it is my responsibility to take a long-term view and ensure the best interests of T1.”
The admission that it was the CEO’s intervention that led to Gumayusi cementing his place as the starter implies that, without Marsh stepping in, the bot laner would have continued sharing the spot or may been benched altogether. Though some fans have seen this as T1’s boss coming in to make things right, the move completely undermines the coaching staff who have more than earned the right to make such calls themselves.
Head coach kkOma is a T1 legend, second only to Faker in terms of legacy within the organisation having led four of the five World Championship victories and both MSI wins. He was the coach who oversaw Faker and Easyhoon’s mid lane switches during their 2015 Worlds win and Bengi and Blank’s jungle changes in the 2016 Worlds victory. If any coach deserves backing when making such decisions, it’s him.
Having his boss step in to request changes at the behest of angry fans not only undermines the coach’s authority but also shows such fans that the team will crumble under pressure and give in to fan demands rather than stand behind kkOma and defend his positions. The move implies that the staff’s decision about Gumayusi was wrong, opening the door for continued criticism from fans about any changes made moving forward.