T1 rallied to take the last two maps and earn a 3-2 win over CTBC Flying Oyster on Thursday in an opening-round bracket-stage match at the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational in Vancouver.
In the day’s other first-round match, Bilibili Gaming defeated KOI 3-1.
The $2 million event began with two teams from each League of Legends region: China, Korea, Pacific, the Americas and Europe-Middle East-Africa.
Gen.G Esports, T1, Anyone’s Legend, CTBC Flying Oyster, FlyQuest and KOI were seeded directly into the bracket stage. The other four teams — Bilibili Gaming, FURIA, G2 Esports and GAM Esports — battled in the play-in stage for the final two bracket-stage berths that went to Bilibili and G2.
All matches in the play-in and the double-elimination bracket stage are best-of-five. The winner of the grand final on July 12 will earn $500,000 and a spot in the $5 million League of Legends World Championship, to be played this fall in China.
On Thursday, T1 opened with a 37-minute win on red, but CTBC took the next two maps, in 28 minutes on blue and 30 minutes on red. T1 recovered with a 38-minute triumph on blue and a decisive 25-minute victory on red.
South Korea’s Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun paced T1 with a 20/21/34 kill/death/assist ratio. Taiwan’s Chiu “Doggo” Tzu-chuan wound up at 33/13/24 for CTBC Flying Oyster.
After Bilibili registered a 36-minute win on red, KOI recovered for a 31-minute victory on blue. Bilibili then prevailed in 37 minutes on blue and 40 minutes on red.
In the two upper-bracket second-round matches, Gen.G Esports will oppose Anyone’s Legend on Friday, and T1 will face off with Bilibili Gaming on Saturday.
Lower-bracket action starts with G2 Esports vs. FlyQuest on Friday, then CTBC Flying Oyster vs. KOI on Saturday.
League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational prize pool:
1. $500,000, berth in League of Legends World Championship
2. $300,000
3. $240,000
4. $200,000
5-6. $160,000
7-8. $130,000
9. $100,000 — GAM Esports
10. $80,000 — FURIA
–Field Level Media
