T1 pulled off a dramatic comeback against TLAW, turning around a game they had trailed throughout to secure victory in 36 minutes and take the second game of their Play-In Stage opener.

In the second game, the two teams took sharply contrasting approaches in the pick-ban phase. T1 opted for initiative and mobility with Ambessa, Vi, Ryze, and Kalista, while TLAW prioritized durability and late-game power with Rumble, Poppy, Taliyah, Senna, and Nautilus. The first skirmish came relatively early with a T1 dive in the bottom lane, but TLAW held firm, refusing to concede the advantage.

Even after the initial skirmish, T1 maintained an aggressive tempo, funneling kills into their primary damage dealer, 'Phase' Kim Su-hwan’s Kalista, despite suffering some losses in the process. The game’s momentum then took an unusual turn. While TLAW held the upper hand in the top half of the map—a necessity to keep the game even against a scaling Kalista—'Faker' Lee Sang-hyeok’s Ryze secured a solo kill in the mid lane and followed up with a top-lane roam to take down 'Morgan's' Rumble. This shifted the balance, giving T1 the edge in the bottom lane and neutralizing the top, ultimately tilting the overall game state in T1's favor.

However, the game flipped around the 13-minute mark. T1, despite their relative lead, got caught in a narrow-terrain teamfight and suffered a crushing 4-1 defeat, abruptly reversing their advantage. T1’s play became desperate. As the mid-game arrived and the team began to group, TLAW’s synergy and power surged. T1 lost a series of subsequent skirmishes, and by the 18-minute mark, TLAW held a gold lead across all positions. At the heart of TLAW’s success was 'Quid's' Taliyah; with 9 kills, the champion performed exceptionally well in teamfights against T1’s dive-heavy composition.

In a strange turn of events, TLAW—who should have been looking to stall—found themselves in the lead, while T1 was forced to play for time. T1 successfully snuck a Baron at 24 minutes, calmly waiting for a chance to turn the tide. In a teamfight near the Dragon pit around the 30-minute mark, T1 narrowly emerged victorious, secured the Dragon, and followed up by taking another Baron, slowly bringing the game back to even footing.

By the 33-minute mark, the game was clearly neck-and-neck. The global gold gap, which had once exceeded 5,000, narrowed to 1,000, and both teams prepared for another teamfight at the Dragon. At 35 minutes, T1’s counterattack ignited. After winning a decisive final teamfight against a TLAW side that had been ahead for most of the game, T1 secured the Dragon and marched straight into TLAW’s base, completing a massive comeback to take the second game.