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World Championship 2025 T1 Preview: Is the 3-Peat on the Cards?

Originally posted on Total Apex Gaming | By Devin Morris | Last updated Oct 9, 2025 12:15 PM ET

In the World Championship Swiss Stage teaser last year, Faker said no matter where the World Championship takes place, T1 is at their home ground. At the time, T1 entered as the fourth seed, and a month later, they were World Champions for the second consecutive year. That was T1’s and Faker’s fifth World Championship. They find themselves as the fourth seed a year later. First, they must get through the Play-In stage. They must defeat Invictus Gaming in a Bo5 to reach the Swiss Stage. Will they become the first team in League of Legends history to win three consecutive World Championships?

T1’s Roster

Choi “Doran” Hyeon-jun – Korean Top Laner
Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun – Korean Jungler
Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok – Korean Mid Laner
Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyung – Korean Bot Laner
Ryu “Keria” Min-seok – Korean Support
Kim “kk0ma” Jeong-gyun – Korean Head Coach

After three years with the same roster, drama ensued. T1 would lose their top laner Choi “Zeus” Woo-Je to Hanwha Life Esports. They replaced him with HLE’s top laner, Doran.

T1’s Road to Worlds

In the opening half of the year, T1 struggled to break into the top two of the LCK. GenG and HLE were levels above them. Heading into the Road to MSI, many expected GenG and HLE to qualify for MSI. However, in the final series for the qualification to the international event, T1 rose above HLE to win 3-0. They asserted themselves as the second-best team in the world, only losing to GenG 3-2 in the Upper Bracket Final and Grand Final.

They kept up their performance in the second half of the Regular Season, even defeating GenG 2-1, stopping GenG’s series win streak. They dropped off at the end of the Regular Season, losing 2-0 to KTRolster and 3-0 to HLE in the Playoffs. They qualified for the World Championship by defeating Dplus KIA 3-1. They fell 3-2 to GenG, ending as the LCK’s fourth seed.

Doran as the X Factor

Image of LTA North League of Legends, courtesy of Riot Games.

Doran is the only new player on the roster. He has big shoes to fill in the form of Zeus. In previous World Championship performances, Doran has faltered. He had one of the worst series in his career against Bilibili Gaming in the Quarterfinals of the 2023 World Championship. Doran has been a dominant domestic player, but has never done well on the international stage. He changed that storyline with better performances at MSI this year. He will need to shake off the questions surrounding him if he wants to help T1 win the World Championship.

T1’s 3-Peat

No team in professional League of Legends history has won more World Championship titles than T1. Their victory last year was the fifth time they have lifted the Summoner’s Cup. In 2025, they are aiming for an unprecedented third consecutive World Championship trophy. The last time T1 were in this position was 2017. They qualified for the Grand Finals, only to be defeated by Ruler and Samsung Galaxy 3-0 in the final. The roster is not the same as in previous years, but four of the five members remain. With Faker on the roster, you can never doubt T1 to perform at the World Championship, even if they faltered in the Regular Season.

Expectations

How can one predict T1 at the World Championship? Having been in this position before, no one can doubt that T1 will return to the summit again. Having been second-best to GenG throughout the majority of the year, T1 should at least qualify for the Grand Final if they manage to avoid the LCK giants before that stage. T1 has never finished lower than the Semi-Finals every time they have qualified for the international event. The first step is defeating IG in the Play-In stage.

Upcoming Journey

T1 is one of two teams to start the World Championship in the Play-In stage. They will face Invictus Gaming in a Bo5 to advance to the Swiss Stage. If they emerge victorious, they will face teams from the first pool: Bilibili Gaming, G2 Esports, FlyQuest, and CTBC Flying Oyster.

This article first appeared on Total Apex Gaming and was syndicated with permission.

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