The 2025 League of Legends World Championship Final is an upcoming League of Legends (LoL) esports series on 9 November 2025 at the Dong'an Lake Sports Park Multifunctional Gymnasium in Chengdu, China between KT Rolster and T1. It marks the fifteenth final of a LoL World Championship and the first championship series to take place under the new three-split structure and competitive calendar for the game's esports ecosystem implemented by the game's developer Riot Games since 2025.[1][2] Both T1 and KT are two of four representatives from the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) at the tournament, the others being Gen.G and Hanwha Life Esports. It will be T1's fourth consecutive finals appearance since the 2022 final, while it is KT's World Championship finals debut.
It will be the LCK's fourth consecutive World Championship victory and sixth straight international title dating back to the 2023 World Championship, as well as the first China-hosted World Championship final in an indoor arena as the previous two editions of the event held in the country were held in stadiums – 2017 at the Beijing National Stadium, and 2020 at the Pudong Football Stadium.
The series will be a best of five and will be the first World Championship final to feature the Fearless Draft format, after it was implemented by Riot Games for the rest of the 2025 competitive calendar as a result of "overwhelming" positive feedback during the first split and the 2025 First Stand Tournament.[3]
Host selection
During the media day for the 2024 World Championship Final at The O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom on 1 November 2024, Riot Games announced that the 2025 Final will be held in Chengdu (where the 2024 Mid-Season Invitational had been hosted). The Dong'an Lake Sports Park Mulifunctional Gymnasium, which has a capacity of 18,000 people, was selected as the venue for the finals on 25 July 2025.[4][5] Opened in May 2021 as part of the Dong'an Lake Sports Park, the venue hosted various sports during the 2021 Summer World University Games (rescheduled to 2023) and the 2025 World Games.
Route to the final
KT Rolster
Bdd will make his first World Championship final appearance in 2025.
Prior to its entry into League of Legends esports, KT Rolster was one of the most successful organizations in the Starcraft esports scene, winning the game's domestic professional league in South Korea on three occassions. The organization joined the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) in 2013, when the league was then known as The Champions. In its first year in the league in 2014, the organization fielded two sister teams - KT Rolster Bullets and KT Rolster Arrows, the latter of which would win the Summer Split in the same year, beating Samsung Galaxy Blue with a 3–2 scoreline. A year later, both sister teams would merge due to rule changes that prohibited organizations from owning two teams. The team also made its first League of Legends World Championship appearance in the same year, held in Europe, where they finished first in their group and made the quarterfinals.[6] The team would not win a domestic title in the next few years, finishing as runners-up in the 2015 and 2016 Summer Splits, and the 2017 Spring Split - two of which were against SK Telecom T1, with the SKT-KT matchup continuously being dubbed as the "Telecom Wars". KT would break the drought in 2018, winning the 2018 Summer Split and qualifying for the 2018 World Championship in China, where they would again lose in the quarterfinals to Invictus Gaming of the League of Legends Pro League (LPL), 2–3. The series is widely known for its third game where both teams would race to each others' bases to destroy the nexus, commonly known as the "base race."[7]
From 2019 to 2022, KT would struggle to finish in the top three in the LCK and would miss four consecutive World Championship appearances. During the said period, the team's highest ranking was 5th place in the 2020 Spring Split and would almost qualify for the 2022 World Championship, but they lost to eventual world champions DRX in the second round of the regional finals in the same year, 2–3.[8] Prior to the 2023 LCK season, KT re-acquired mid-lander Gwak "Bdd" Bo-seong, who joined the team from 2018 to 2019, transferring from Nongshim RedForce,[9] joining jungler Moon "Cuzz" Woo-chan, who had been with the team since 2022. Prior to that year's Summer Split, the team called up substitute top-laner Lee "PerfecT" Seung-min from the organization's academy team, as the main top-laner at the time was Kim "Kiin" Gi-in. KT finished third in both the Spring and Summer Splits, while also qualifying for the 2023 edition of Worlds through the regional qualifiers, after a five-year drought from the tournament.[10] The team would finish the swiss stage with a 3–2 record, qualifying for the quarterfinals in its third appearance. However, it would suffer a 1–3 defeat to the LPL's JD Gaming.[11] Following Kiin's departure from the squad, PerfecT became the starting top-laner, while Cuzz transferred to Kwangdong Freecs and was replaced by Hong "Pyosik" Chang-hyeon for the 2024 LCK season.[12] KT would finish 5th in both Spring and Summer Splits and also failed to qualify for the 2024 World Championship after a 2–3 defeat to eventual champions T1 in the fourth-seed decider of that year's regional finals in the LCK.[13]
Heading into the 2025 LCK season and following Kim "Deft" Hyuk-kyu's entry into mandatory military service, ADC Seo "deokdam" Dae-gil joined the team, transferring from FunPlus Phoenix, while Cuzz was also re-acquired.[14] KT would finish 5th-6th in the 2025 LCK Cup, losing in a 0–3 sweep to Nongshim RedForce in the first round of the playoffs. Before the first two rounds of the league's regular season, support Jeong "Peter" Yoon-su was called up from the academy team, swapping with Han "Way" Gil, who was the team's support player during the LCK Cup.[15] KT finished 5th in Rounds 1 to 2 and were two wins away from qualifying for the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational after two 3–0 victories against Dplus Kia and Nongshim RedForce in the first two rounds of the Road to MSI tournament, but would lose to T1 in the third round, 1–3.[16] In the final three rounds (Rounds 3-5), the squad finished 4th place in the Legend Group, taking into account its record in Rounds 1-2, qualifying for the season playoffs. KT would beat BNK FearX in the first round, 3–1, before securing an upset victory against tournament favorites Gen.G in the next round, 3–2 - qualifying for the 2025 World Championship in the process.[17] The team would finish third after losing in a 0–3 sweep to Gen.G, who would eventually win the 2025 LCK championship, in the lower bracket final
KT Rolster won their first game against Movistar KOI in the first round of the tournament's Swiss stage. In the second round, they would win against Secret Whales, before defeating Top Esports to advance to the knockout stage. In the quarterfinals, the team secured a 3–0 sweep against CTBC Flying Oyster,[18] and repeated its feat against Gen.G in the semifinals with a 3–1 scoreline to advance to their first League of Legends World Championship Final.[19]
Faker will make his eighth World Championship finals appearance.
Since losing the 2022 League of Legends World Championship final, T1 has seen mixed results in the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK). During the 2023 LCK season, the squad placed second to Gen.G in both Spring and Summer Splits, qualifying for both the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational and the 2023 World Championship in the process. In MSI 2023 in London, T1 started the bracket stage with a 3–0 sweep against MAD Lions, before defeating Gen.G in the second round, 3–2, in a rematch of the Spring Split finals in the second round. However, T1 would suffer two consecutive losses in both the upper and lower bracket finals to the League of Legends Pro League (LPL)'s JD Gaming and Bilibili Gaming, respectively. During the World Championship in South Korea, T1 finished their swiss stage campaign with a 3–1 record, losing only to the LCK's first seed, Gen.G in the 1–0 bracket. Having qualified for the knockout stage, T1 went through teams from the LPL, winning against LNG Esports in a 3–0 sweep in the quarterfinals, defeating 2023 Mid-Season Invitational champions JD Gaming in the semifinals, 3–1,[20] in a rematch from the 2022 edition, and scoring a 3–0 sweep against Weibo Gaming in the finals to win their record-extending fourth world championship in their sixth finals appearance.[21] T1 was famously the only team from the LCK to qualify for the semifinals, as fellow quarterfinalists Gen.G and KT Rolster failed to advance, losing to Bilibili Gaming and JD Gaming, respectively.
The 2024 LCK season saw T1 have an up-and-down season in both Spring and Summer Splits. In Spring, T1 placed 2nd with a 15–3 win-loss record, qualifying for the playoffs. Despite being releated to the lower bracket following a 0–3 defeat to Hanwha Life Esports, the team won its next two matches to qualify for the split finals and the 2024 Mid-Season Invitational in Chengdu. However, T1 would lose to Gen.G in the finals, 2–3. During the Summer split, T1 had a 5–5 win-loss slate after the first five weeks but would go on to have a 6–2 record in their last eight games to finish the split, 11–7, placing fourth upon the completing of the regular season. After winning its first playoff series against KT Rolster, the squad was defeated by Hanwha Life Esports, 0–3, in a repeat result from the Spring split. Staving off elimination in their first lower bracket series against Dplus Kia, T1 would eventually be eliminated from the Summer split by Hanwha Life Esports with a 1–3 scoreline.[22] The team was still able to qualify for the 2023 edition of Worlds through the regional qualifier, winning in the fourth-seed playoff against KT Rolster. In Worlds 2024, T1 would finish the swiss stage with a 3–1 record, qualifying for the knockout stage. The team would go on a 6–1 game score across the quarterfinals (vs. Top Esports) and semifinals (vs. Gen.G) to make its third straight finals, in which they would beat Bilibili Gaming with a 3–2 scoreline to win its fourth World Championship. Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok would win his second Finals MVP honors alongside his fifth world title.[23]
T1 kept four of its five players heading into the 2025 season, as Choi "Zeus" Woo-je transferred to Hanwha Life Esports.[24] Top-laner Choi "Doran" Hyeon-joon was announced as his replacement on 19 November 2024, transferring from the same team Zeus joined.[25] In the 2025 LCK Cup, the team finished first in their group and qualified for the play-in stage, where they would win against Nongshim RedForce, 2–0, to qualify for the playoffs. However, T1 would suffer a 2–3 loss to Hanwha Life Esports.[26] In the first two rounds of the regular season (Rounds 1-2), T1 finished with an 11–7 win-loss slate and received a bye in the third round of the Road to MSI tournament, winning two matches against KT Rolster and Hanwha Life Esports to qualify for the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational in Vancouver.[27] T1 started in the bracket stage at MSI 2025 with a nail-biting 3–2 win against CTBC Flying Oyster in the first round, and a 3–0 second round sweep against Bilibili Gaming in a rematch of the 2024 World Championship final. However, the team would be relegated to the lower bracket after a 2–3 defeat to Gen.G in the upper bracket final. Despite winning with another 3–2 scoreline against the LPL's Anyone's Legend in the lower bracket final, T1 would again lose to Gen.G in similar fashion,[28] losing its first international final since the 2022 World Championship, when they lost to DRX. In Rounds 3-5, the squad finished the regular season with a 20–10 record, qualifying for the first round of playoffs, where they would beat Dplus Kia, 3–2. However, T1 would again be relegated to the lower bracket after suffering an 0–3 sweep against Hanwha Life Esports. Despite winning its first elimination series againt Dplus Kia, T1 would eventually be eliminated by eventual LCK champions Gen.G in a 2–3 defeat, but still managed to qualify for the 2025 World Championship.
T1 won its first Swiss stage match against FlyQuest, but would lose two consecutive matches to CTBC Flying Oyster and Gen.G, putting them in the 1–2 bracket and on the brink of elimination. The team would win two consecutive best-of-three series against 100 Thieves and Movistar KOI to qualify for the knockout stage. In the quarterfinals, T1 would mount a comeback victory against Anyone's Legend, 3–2, after facing a 1–2 deficit.[29] T1 would score a 3–0 sweep against Top Esports in the semifinals to reach its eighth League of Legends World Championship Final,[30] setting up an all-LCK final against KT Rolster.
G.E.M., TEYA, and Anyma will perform at the opening ceremony.
Against the Current lead vocalist, Chrissy Costanza will perform at her third World Championship final, after her appearances in 2017 and 2019.
KT Rolster and T1 were alongside Gen.G and Hanwha Life Esports in representing the LCK. The rivalry between the two organizations, dating back to StarCraft: Brood War, is known as the "Telecommunications Rivalry" (or the "Telecom War"), as they are owned by two of South Korea's largest telecommunications companies in KT Corporation and SK Telecom respectively.[31]Comcast Spectacor, a subsidiary of the American telecommunications company Comcast, has also held a minority ownership stake in T1 since 2019.[32]
Before the finals begin, an opening ceremony (known as the Opening Ceremony presented by Mastercard for sponsorship reasons) will take place at 14:00 CST (UTC+08:00), featuring performances from Chinese and Hong Kong singer-songwriter G.E.M., Italian-American electronic music producer Anyma, Austrian singer-songwriter TEYA, and American singer-songwriter and Against the Current lead vocalist, Chrissy Costanza.[33] Anyma will also serve as the co-creative director of the opening ceremony.[34]
G.E.M. will perform the tournament's official song "Sacrifice", while TEYA will perform "Bite Marks", which was released in conjunction with the start of League of Legends' first thematic season of 2025 entitled "Welcome to Noxus". "Here, Tomorrow" by Lilas Ikuta and Kevin Penkin, released for the "Spirit Blossom Beyond" thematic season, was performed during the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational final and some regional split finals of some regions.
Broadcasting
The English broadcast will be cast by Daniel Drakos of the League of Legends EMEA Championship, Maurits "Chronicler" Jan Meeusen of the League of Legends Champions Korea, and Sam "Kobe" Hartman-Kenzler of the League Championship Series. Drakos will be casting his first World Championship final, having cast the 2024 Mid-Season Invitational final, also held in Chengdu. It will also be Kobe's fourth finals cast in five years, having been on the broadcast for the 2021, 2022, and 2024 finals previously, and the second and last finals cast for Chronicler following his decision to retire from esports at the end of the 2025 season.[35]
Livestreaming of the series will be primarily on the official LoL Esports website, the Riot Games Twitch channel, and the LoL Esports YouTube and TikTok channels for the English broadcast. In China, South Korea and Vietnam, the finals will be streamed live via select streaming platforms, while official broadcasts on multiple languages will be available via Twitch, YouTube and TikTok. Co-streaming by several streaming personalities will also be included in the finals' broadcasting. Across certain countries, viewing parties have also been set, which include the following confirmed locations:[36]
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