The 2025 League of Legends World Championship will see T1 face off towards certainly one of its largest rivals, KT Rolster, in an occasion that has defied all predictions.
The unpredictable competitors sees LCK’s fourth and third seeds battle it out in Chengdu, China, on November ninth to be topped one of the best League of Legends crew on the earth.
While T1 will probably be in search of its third consecutive Worlds trophy, KT Rolster has made it to a Worlds ultimate for the primary time in its lengthy historical past.
What’s the Telecom Warfare?
T1 and KT Rolster have a deep-seated rivalry, generally known as the ‘Telecom Warfare’, that spans from each groups representing main telecommunications corporations in South Korea.
Each SK Telecom and KT Company have been main gamers within the esports scene for the reason that business began to develop inside South Korea. While in fashionable historical past the rivalry is thought inside League of Legends, it was really Starcraft the place the esports Telecom Warfare started.
Getting into the Starcraft esports scene, SK Telecom T1 (created in 2004) and KTF MagicNs (2001) would repeatedly face off in tier one occasions throughout the subsequent decade. This included KT beating T1 within the 2009-2010 and 2010–11 Shinhan Financial institution Proleague. In the meantime, T1 toppled KT within the 2011–2012 Proleague Season 1.
Nonetheless, KT has nonetheless had some notable accolades in League of Legends. This consists of profitable LCK 2018 Summer season and reaching the Worlds quarterfinals 4 instances (2015, 2018, 2023 and 2025).
Story of the Tape
Each KT Rolster and T1 have defied all expectations coming into the World Championship. In actual fact, no person was in a position to completely predict this 12 months’s Worlds 2025 decide’ems.
After beginning off with a 3-0 Swiss Stage file, albeit with some early sport worries, KT Rolster recorded an emphatic sequence win towards fellow underdogs CTBC Flying Oyster. Within the semifinals, nevertheless, stood KT’s hardest opponent but, the favourites Gen.G.
Regardless of Gen.G being the LCK first seed, Esports World Cup 2025 champion and MSI winner, it was surprisingly KT Rolster that walked away victorious with a 3-1 win.
KT Rolster’s veteran mid laner Gwak ‘Bdd’ Bo-sung was rightfully the participant of the sequence, recording a complete KDA of 24/9/24. For the midlaner, that is his first-ever Worlds finals look and solely his second main worldwide finals look since being topped runner-up at MSI in 2018.
On the opposite aspect, T1 has additionally stunned many with its run at this 12 months’s world championship. Regardless of being back-to-back champions, the crew simply barely certified for the occasion, getting into because the LCK’s fourth seed.
Nevertheless, as many have realised time and time once more, it’s at all times exhausting to rely T1 out. After a rocky Swiss Stage efficiency, T1 managed to make it to the knockout stage on the newest alternative, beating KOI 2-0 in spherical 5 to progress.
Within the quarterfinals, the South Korean aspect went toe-to-toe with certainly one of China’s shocking performers, Anybody’s Legend, leading to an exhilarating five-game sequence that went the way in which of T1.
Within the semifinals, T1 but once more confronted one other Chinese language crew, this time wiping Prime Esports 3-0 in dominant vogue. T1’s file towards LPL sides and Worlds in BO5 sequence is really unbelievable, with the South Korean aspect holding a 13-0 file.
Shifting on to the Worlds 2025 finals, when it comes to earlier conferences, it’s benefit KT Rolster. The LCK third seed not too long ago received its final sequence towards T1 2-0 in the course of the LCK 2025 season. Nevertheless, previously 5 match-ups, T1 has walked away victorious on 4 events.
Each KT and T1 will probably be trying to make historical past on November ninth. T1 will look to turn into back-to-back-to-back world champions, whereas KT will probably be trying to immortalise itself as a world champion. That is undoubtedly the most important Telecom Warfare but.
