“There was a lot to prepare for the Worlds best-of series, but my teammates and I communicated well about which champions to play,” said Choi ‘Doran’ Hyeon-jun.
The protagonist of T1’s first best-of series securing their advancement to the 2026 League of Legends World Championship (Worlds) quarterfinals was top laner ‘Doran’ Choi Hyeon-jun. Rescuing his team at every critical moment, Choi shared his joy of victory after an intense first series alongside his thoughts on advancing to the quarterfinals.
T1 faced Movistar KOI in the 4th round of the Worlds Swiss stage on October 29 (local time) at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas, claiming a 2-0 sweep. With this victory, T1 recorded a 3-1 Swiss stage record, grabbing a ticket to the knockout stage quarterfinals. They became the third LCK team to secure a quarterfinal spot, following Dplus KIA (DK) and Gen.G.
Exhibiting brilliant prowess in both offense and defense, Choi was selected as the Player of the Series (POS). During a tense tug-of-war in the early-to-mid game of Set 1, amid a massive clash for the dragon soul at the 39-minute mark, Choi executed a bold ultimate engage with Ambessa, serving as the catalyst for the team’s teamfight victory. He sniped the opponent’s core carries and orchestrated an ace to successfully seize early momentum.
In the following Set 2, he locked in Gwen, gained a matchup advantage over the enemy Ornn, seized control of the side lanes, and freely disrupted the enemy backline in every teamfight to help seal a decisive victory.
Reflecting on his performance in the post-match stage interview, Choi shared, “Overall, I think we played to our team composition well and executed our game plan smoothly.” When asked about the most memorable moment, he smiled brightly and said, “The moment I initiated with my ultimate in the final teamfight of Set 1 is the most memorable.”>
Choi also opened up about experiencing a best-of-three series for the first time in this tournament. He explained the strong teamwork and communication process, stating, “Since it was a Worlds best-of series, there was a lot to prepare, but my teammates and I talked extensively about what champions we should draft.”>
Finally, Choi expressed deep gratitude toward the onsite and domestic fans. “The local fans cheered so passionately, which really heightened the energy of playing on stage,” he remarked, adding, “I also want to sincerely thank the fans who sent their support from afar in Korea.”>
