Emergence of Anti-Fan Group Targeting T1 in LCK
As previously noted, in recent days, the most notorious anti-fan group within the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) has been T1Gall. This group has taken drastic actions to escalate their protests. Specifically, they have publicly called for donations and have raised hundreds of millions of won to organize a massive demonstration against T1, which is the largest in LCK’s history aimed at opposing T1’s increased prize money and Gumayusi. Moreover, recently, this group has announced that they have successfully negotiated with T1’s management for a meeting.
Furthermore, on the post from the involved individual, it was described as the “main focus” of this protest. The T1Gall group is exerting pressure not only on T1’s management but is also prepared to disrupt any scheduled meetings, continuing their actions against T1 if any requests from the fans are not met. It can be said that even K-pop has never recorded an anti-fan group as aggressive and relentless as T1Gall, making it difficult for the League of Legends community to endure.
In many discussions, no one understands why the T1 management would email an anti-fan group to request a meeting instead of addressing their complaints about the public assaults like a normal entity would, especially since no esports organization has conducted such a meeting until now. Notably, one fan remarked: “The anti-fan group is quick to respond, while the complaints from T1 fans remain silent.”
A Dark Cloud Looming Over T1
With the current “best practices” approach taken by T1 management, especially CEO Joe Marsh and the coaching staff, T1 is likely to undergo many changes after this season, not only in terms of roster but potentially a complete overhaul of their “chop bu” strategy. Historically, T1 has also faced challenges with their management and performance. CEO Joe Marsh notably began his career in 2019 – the year T1 officially parted ways with the name “SKT”.
According to many opinions, Joe Marsh’s greatest achievement has been maintaining a close relationship with Faker, which helps T1 remain competitive in the esports investment arena. However, there have been some controversies, and currently, it seems that both he and T1 are heading in the wrong direction. Nevertheless, with the announcements from T1Gall, T1 has yet to respond to the situation adequately.
