Coach KkOma’s Statement on T1’s Roster Has a Hint of “Self-Sabotage”
Recently, at the LCK Media Day preparing for the 2025 Regular Season, Coach KkOma made a new statement regarding the ongoing drama about T1 – Gumayusi – Smash. His comments came after the T1 CEO’s earlier remarks regarding the “data collection” which were deemed personal and raised concerns about the credibility of the CEO’s statements.
Specifically, Coach KkOma stated: “I believe the most important thing in this team is ‘performance’. Personally, instead of calling it ‘competition for the starting position’, I think everyone should work as one team. The season is long. Therefore, I think we need to focus on performance.”
However, this has a hint of “self-sabotage” and unintentionally contradicts the previous statement made by T1’s CEO. It’s clear that Smash’s performance at the LCK Cup 2025 has fallen short of expectations, if not poor. Yet, T1 still chose Smash for the 2025 Regular Season. Joe Marsh even emphasized that he must “negotiate and argue to include Gumayusi in the starting lineup for the 2025 Regular Season.”
Thus, it can be understood that the choice of roster based on “performance” was merely Coach KkOma’s statement while the team is entirely going against this. Because when a team does not have scrims or cannot participate in competitions, it is certain that there cannot be “performance” as Coach KkOma mentioned.
On the contrary, if a substitute player performs poorly at the LCK Cup 2025 yet continues to be selected, then the “performance” that Coach KkOma refers to will certainly face contradictions.
T1 Could Face More “Turbulence”
Clearly, Coach KkOma’s statement can be seen as merely a “temporary stance.” At this point, only the upcoming matches will reveal which roster is chosen and the results that follow, causing fans to be concerned. And not long from now, T1 will need to confront the reality that they are currently heading in the wrong direction rather than getting caught up in the ongoing drama.
