📝 T1 vs. Geekay Esports Full Match Recap

With elimination on the line, the clash between regional third seeds, Korea’s T1 and North America’s Geekay Esports met in a best-of-three where even the faintest lapse could mean the end of their Stockholm journey.

With elimination on the line, an early exit that would be deeply disappointing for either roster. The match delivered tension, momentum swings, and one of the most dramatic finishes of the tournament’s opening phase.

Map 1 Ilios (T1 pick), T1 ban Winston, Geekay Esports ban Tracer

T1 opened the series on their map pick with Kim “DONGHAK” Min-sung on Wrecking Ball, a Kiriko-Lucio backline, and Hong “Proud” Suk-jin and Kim “ZEST” Hyun-wooon Sombra and Freja. Geekay answered with Hazard on tank, a Brig–Wuyang duo, and a mirrored DPS line.

On Ruins, T1 struck first with Proud, finding an early pick on Denis “Lethal” Tari and holding the point up to 51%. But Geekay fired back with a huge hack from William “Wmaimone” Maimone that isolated DONGHAK and gifted the flip. The teams traded long poke phases until T1 built both support ultimates. With Kitsune Rush and Sound Barrier rolling, a five-kill cleanup from Kim “skewed” Min-seok sealed the deal.

Well played out even more one-sided. Wmaimone switched to Echo and skewed to Wuyang, but it made no difference. ZEST opened with a pick on Riley “cuFFa” Brown, and from there, T1 never released pressure. Geekay failed to find a single clean engagement, and T1 completed a flawless 100%–0 shutdown to take the map 1–0.

Map 2 New Junk City (Geekay Esports pick), Geekay Esports ban Kiriko, T1 ban Ramattra

Facing tournament elimination, Geekay came alive. Lethal shifted to Sojourn, Wmaimone to Venture, supported by Wuyang and Juno, as T1 mirrored the DPS duo and ran DONGHAK on Mauga with a Baptiste–Lucio backline.

Point A was a scrappy tug-of-war until DONGHAK’s Cage Fight changed everything. T1 collapsed forward behind the ultimate and secured the cap. But Geekay found their footing immediately on Point E, locking T1 out completely with excellent front-lining from cuFFa.

Point D turned into pure chaos. Both teams traded ult rotations, flips, and counter-flips until Geekay committed a critical misstep. In a momentary lapse of awareness, they left the point entirely, accidentally C9ing and giving T1 a free point.

Yet the North American side refused to crumble. On Point B, T1 raced to 99% control and looked seconds away from ending the map. However, Geekay launched a stunning, all-in stand. Diving headfirst onto the point, they ripped T1 off control, absorbed multiple ultimates, and stabilised long enough to flip to 100%. A monumental comeback point tied the series 1–1 and forced a dramatic third map.

Map 3 Kings Row (T1 pick), T1 ban hazard, Geekay ban Venture

With Hazard banned, cuFFa transitioned to Ramattra, and Lethal picked up Freja. T1 mirrored the DPS choices, subbing in Jeong “Jasm1ne” Jong-min on Sigma and placing ZEST on Symmetra.

Geekay’s attack was methodical and patient. Bit by bit, they chipped away at T1’s first-point hold before taking complete control. Jasm1ne matched Ramattra for Point B, but the duel tilted strongly in Geekay’s favour. cuFFa repeatedly outmuscled T1’s frontline. A coordinated Overclock and Duplicate cracked open the second checkpoint, and Geekay rolled forward with three minutes in the bank.

T1 finally halted the momentum in the streets phase, forcing Geekay to push again with just a minute remaining. But on their final attempt, Geekay delivered one of the most brilliant plays of the tournament: cuFFa swapped to Wrecking Ball for a desperate touch, Wmaimone duplicated Kiriko to teleport to him and land a perfect Suzu, then built Kitsune Rush immediately. A clutch pick on ZEST from Lethal sealed it, and Geekay escorted the payload home in overtime.

T1, however, responded with absolute fury. Their attack blitzed through King’s Row as a team possessed. They wiped Geekay instantly on Point A, bulldozed through the streets, and never allowed the NA representatives to stabilise. The payload crossed the finish line with more than four minutes to spare, forcing a single-tick tiebreaker.

Holding T1 to zero ticks is a monumental ask for any team, and Geekay’s final stand, while valiant, was short-lived. Once T1 chained Sound Barrier, Kitsune Rush, Annihilation, and Overclock, the defence crumbled. T1 secured the tick, the map, and the series.

"I was a bit nervous, because on our defence, our opponents pushed all the way to the finish line,” said Jasm1ne after the match. “So I thought it was going to be a difficult fight, but in the end we got the win so it did feel really good."

With the 2–1 victory, T1 avoid a disastrous early exit and move forward in the bracket. Geekay Esports, after pushing the Korean giants to their limit, bow out of the tournament in heartbreaking fashion.