T1 bot laner Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong is a special player. He appeared like a comet in solo queue one day and was immediately bathed in the praise of all the scene. The hype around his character even led to a contract signing with T1 — League of Legends’ most distinguished powerhouse — but since T1 already had a start ADC in Park “Teddy” Jin-seong, Gumayusi couldn’t start right away.

Even so, Gumayusi stayed with T1 when the 2021 season rolled out saying “T1 is where the best players should be.”  And after a long wait, he has finally become the starting bot laner of T1.

Gumayusi’s ambition and competitive spirit are unmatched — maybe because he was influenced by his brother, the Starcraft 2 legend Lee “INnoVation” Shin-hyung. Gumayusi has always shown confidence in his spicy interviews and the amount of practice and hard work he puts in support his confidence.

The high-risk-high-reward plays from his debut show what kind of player Gumayusi is. Since then, he’s only improved to become an even more solid player, perfecting his bot lane style.

Gumayusi’s next opponent is Jang “Ghost” Yong-jun, the defending world champion. Ghost has had some ups and downs after winning Worlds in 2020, but he has returned to his best form during Worlds 2021. Although he still doesn’t make those super plays that are sometimes required as a bot laner, the meta is smiling at Ghost. If DWG KIA block out Aphelios in the draft, Ghost could have an advantage in the matchup.

Although the top side is more impactful at Worlds 2021, carrying through the bot lane is still possible. Having lane priority in the bot lane ripples to other lanes and this could decide the outcome of the game rather easily. If Gumayusi shows more influence than Ghost from early on, it could lead to an upset elimination of the tournament’s heaviest favorites.

Gumayusi has already recorded his career-high by reaching the semifinals at Worlds 2021, but he’s only just fired up his engine. If he dominates Ghost on Saturday, he might very well be on the way to his first Worlds title — before he’s even won a domestic gold.