The Storylines of LoL Worlds 2025

LoL Contributor

Publish Date: November 19, 2025

T1 is the winner of the 2025 League of Legends World Championship for the third time in a row. However, Worlds is also the story of 16 other teams. In this article we spotlight some of these teams memorable moments of the tournament.

Stats and records

Here are some interesting numbers about Worlds 2025.

Games

Lol Worlds 2025 had the second-most champions picked or banned of any Worlds. With 102 champions contested, it is only the second time that number is above 100. The record is held by 2022. Fearless obviously helps a lot, though 2025 also had far fewer games played with the near-absence of play-ins.
The longest game of Worlds 2025 was game 2 of HLE vs Gen.G. Ending at 58:48, it was the fourth-longest game at any Worlds, and the longest one since 2016.
There were no pentakills at Worlds this year, the same as in 2024. Beforehand, Worlds 2018 through 2023 each had 1 to 3 pentakills scored.

Teams

In 10 Worlds appearances, this was the first time T1 got more than one loss in Groups or Swiss. Their other records, however, remain intact. T1 has never finished below the top 4, and they’re 13-0 against LPL teams in BO5 at this tournament.
CTBC Flying Oysters came out swinging and started the tournament 2-0. The LCP’s first seed then struggled for their next two matches, but eventually got their third win by eliminating FlyQuest. CFO became the first team from the LCP (or previously LMS) to reach the quarterfinals since 2015. Fighting fearlessly against opponents of all levels, even beating T1, CFO made the world root for them.
G2 was also the first team from the LEC to make it to the Knockout stage since 2022. However, seeing Europe’s history, the surprising part there is rather this drought that they ended.

100 Thieves’ Last Heist

The 2025 Worlds was 100 Thieves’ last run, as the team earlier announced it would leave the scene after 2025. 100T qualified unexpectedly by beating Cloud9, and they sought to make it count.

The Thieves got along well together, and they started Worlds by beating Bilibili Gaming, the LPL’s first seed. With hindsight, BLG turned out to severely underperform at the tournament. Nevertheless, 100 won that game by playing great themselves, and going from losing to Vivo Keyd Stars to winning against BLG was a shock. This team, which was expected to be one of the worst at Worlds, suddenly became one to watch out for.

100 Thieves went on to have a terrifying road through the Swiss stage. The LTA’s third seed faced Bilibili Gaming, Top Esports, Hanwha Life Esports, and finally T1. Opponents from the best regions only, and they welcomed the challenge with a smile.

100’s road ended 1-3 as they lost to T1, but they went out fighting. The Thieves gave everyone in the community a reason to cheer for them during their final heist.

Big Dhokes goes for the intimidation tactics against Doran before their match. Image Source: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games

T1 vs Anyone’s Legend, the best match of the tournament

Most Best of 5s at LoL Worlds 2025 were great. T1 vs KT Rolster, Gen.G vs HLE, T1 vs Invictus Gaming, Gen.G vs KT – if you haven’t watched them, you’re in for a treat. However, the best among them was the T1 vs AL quarterfinals.

This match was a nailbiter that went the full five games. It pitted an AL at the top of their form against a struggling T1. However, like every other year, T1 acquired plot armor upon reaching the playoffs and suddenly became much stronger.

Every game was high quality between two teams playing well, with the final map being the best. Notably, though, Oner picked Dr. Mundo in game 5 despite having never played the champion before. T1 had to spend part of the champ select explaining his kit to their jungler.

KT Rolster’s incredible run

As runners-up of the tournament, KT deserve praise for coming one game away from hoisting the Summoner’s Cup. However, what’s even more impressive is that we’re talking about KT of all teams. A squad with two rather unimpressive players that never achieved great results or showed any consistency.

In the end, they showed up when it counted. KT was the only team to beat Gen.G in a Best of 5 since the start of the 2025 regular season, and they did it twice. The LCK’s third seed also suffered a single-game loss until the finals, and it was to the tournament favorites.

KT fell to T1 in the Worlds Finals, in a series that they came close to winning 3-0.

KT playing the most important game of their lives. Image Source: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games

Saying goodbye to legends

Beyond 100 Thieves, the 2025 LoL Worlds were also the send-off for three legends of the scene. LCK caster Chronicler retires to spend more time with his family after years of casting alongside Atlus.

HLE’s jungler, Peanut, also ends his career for his mandatory military service. Peanut was one of the world’s best junglers for 11 years.

Lastly, TES’ marksman JackeyLove might also have to retire for health reasons. The marksman stated that he has to go to the hospital for his hearing and can’t delay it longer. As of now, he isn’t certain whether he’ll actually need to retire, but he’s expecting to be at least forced to take a break.

The 2025 League of Legends World Championship has come to an end, and regional leagues will return mid-January!