T1 took down KT Rolster 2–0 in Week nine of the LCK 2026 season, with a wild Game two comeback turning the latest Telecom War into one of the most chaotic matches of the split.
Game one went smoothly enough for T1, who closed out the opener despite an underwhelming showing from top laner Doran. The real drama started in Game two.
KT came out swinging. PerfecT’s Jayce ran over Doran’s Olaf in the top lane, opening up a gold gap reported to be as wide as 2,800 at one point. KT’s overall lead pushed past 5,000 gold before the 20-minute mark, and the team racked up early objectives while threatening Mountain Soul.
Faker’s Akali tried to slow the bleeding by repeatedly diving PerfecT’s fed Jayce in the side lane. Most of those duels ended badly, including a tower dive that gifted KT another kill, but the constant pressure stopped Jayce from snowballing across the entire map.
Then T1 made the call that defined the series. Rather than throw bodies at a losing Mountain Soul fight, they gave it up. It was a cold-blooded macro decision few teams would even consider, banking everything on their late-game teamfight scaling with Olaf, Xin Zhao, Akali, Ashe, and Seraphine.
KT walked straight into the trap. Multiple Baron attempts went wrong, and the worst one came when KT started the pit just as Elder Dragon was about to spawn. Doran’s Olaf, suddenly relevant again, ripped through KT’s backline for a triple kill that flipped the gold lead. By the late game, the top laner who started 2,000 gold down was 2,000 gold up.
Keria pulls the trigger
The finishing blow came from Keria. His Seraphine ultimate, set up with a flash, clipped four KT members at once and ended any hope of a Game three. Aiming’s Mel had nothing left to answer with, and T1 cleaned up the fight and the Nexus.
A big talking point post-game was KT’s draft and itemization. With Mel bot and Annie mid, KT lacked the sustained damage to chew through Olaf and Xin Zhao, especially with Seraphine pumping out heals and shields. No early Grievous Wounds buys made the problem worse.
PerfecT was outstanding individually, landing clean Shock Blasts and surviving multiple low-HP duels, but KT couldn’t translate his lead into a Nexus.
T1 walks away with another 2–0 in the Telecom War rivalry and a stronger grip on the top of the standings. KT walks away wondering how it lost a game it was winning for 25 minutes.
