T1 finish 2026 without Riot Games title for first time since 2021

T1 finished the 2026 League of Legends season without a Riot Games tournament title after Bilibili Gaming defeated the team 3-1 in the Worlds 2026 semifinals on Nov. 8. The result marked T1’s first season without a Riot Games title since 2021 and its first without a tournament final since 2018.

T1 entered Worlds as the defending champion but lost its chance to win a fourth consecutive title. The semifinal defeat also ended the team’s run of four straight Worlds final appearances from 2022 through 2025. T1 won the championship in 2023, 2024 and 2025 after finishing as runner-up in 2022.

The loss was T1’s first defeat to an LPL team in a best-of-five series at the World Championship. It ended the team’s 13-series unbeaten record against LPL opponents at Worlds. T1 had reached at least the semifinals in all 11 of its Worlds appearances after beating Karmine Corp 3-1 in the quarterfinals.

T1’s 2026 season began with a 5-0 group-stage record at the LCK Cup. The team then lost 3-1 to BNK FearX in the playoffs. Dplus KIA followed with a 3-2 comeback win after falling behind 2-0, eliminating T1 in fourth place and keeping it out of First Stand.

At the Mid-Season Invitational, BLG beat T1 3-2 in the opening upper-bracket series. G2 Esports then defeated T1 3-1 in the lower bracket, ending its tournament before the final weekend.

T1 finished fourth at the independently organized Esports World Cup in July. It beat Hanwha Life Esports in the quarterfinals before losing 2-1 to Karmine Corp in the semifinals. Gen.G then beat T1 2-1 in the third-place match.

T1 reached the lower-bracket final of the LCK 2026 playoffs but lost 3-1 to Hanwha Life Esports. The result placed T1 third, while Gen.G went on to win the domestic championship.

T1’s previous trophyless Riot Games season came in 2021, when DWG KIA beat the team in the LCK Summer final. T1 won the LCK Spring title in 2022 by beating Gen.G 3-1, then won the 2023, 2024 and 2025 World Championships. The team also won the 2024 Esports World Cup.

After the loss to BLG, Ryu “Keria” Min-seok described the team’s results: “Looking back at the year as a whole, we didn’t make it to any finals.”

Keria also discussed his first season with Kim “Peyz” Su-hwan, who replaced Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong in T1’s bot lane before 2026. “I hoped to win a title with Peyz,” Keria said. He added that he wanted the team to perform better next year.

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Reviewed and fact-checked by Alex Panasenko on November 9.