T1 vs Top Esports Preview: Will Faker's Undefeated Streak Against the LPL at Worlds Live On?
Over time, T1 have grown synonymous with Worlds. Before they qualify for an incredible fourth consecutive Grand Finals at the biggest League of Legends tournament of all, however, they must go through Top Esports first. Representing the whole of the LPL, TES will no doubt be out for blood.
A top-level match is coming our way, and it's time to take a look at everything there is to know before T1 and Top Esports take each other in the Semifinals of Worlds 2025 this Sunday, November 2nd, at 8 am CET.
T1 and Top Esports are no strangers to the international stage. (Credit: Yicun Liu/Riot Games)T1: Chasing History
Making it to four Worlds finals in a row may be an incredible feat in its own right, but when it comes to T1, it's all about the trophy. The biggest team in LoL esports arrives at Worlds 2025 with one clear objective: become the first and only team to win three consecutive Worlds titles.
Despite T1's shaky year, this team always seems to lock in when it's time for Worlds, and this time is proving no different. For the first time ever, T1 had to start Worlds from the Play-In Stage after only just managing to qualify for this year's tournament as the LCK's fourth seed.
That was little over two weeks ago, but it feels like a lifetime. With every passing stage of the tournament, T1 continue to prove why they have earned a reputation as the most clutch team in the scene. Whenever T1 found their backs against the walls, they thrived. Clutch win after clutch win, T1 now find themselves just two matches away from rewriting League of Legends history... again.
Top Esports: In the Name of the LPL
When Top Esports climb onto the stage to take on T1 in this Semifinals bout, the entirety of the LPL (and every Chinese League of Legends fan) will stand behind them. While T1 are busy chasing history, TES' story centers around avenging their region from the very team they seem incapable of defeating.
As things stand, T1 is on an incredible 12-0 win streak against LPL teams in Bo5 series at Worlds. This is a run that dates all the way back to 2013, when Faker defeated Royal Club to grant the Unkillable Demon King his first Worlds trophy. Now, it falls unto TES to put an end to the LPL killers and their reign of terror.
A win on home soil wouldn't just secure the team a spot in the Grand Finals and a shot at the title; it would also establish Top Esports as national heroes. And who doesn't want to be a national hero?
Matchup to Watch: Oner vs Kanavi
This Semifinal match between T1 and Top Esports will pit our top two picks for the best Junglers at Worlds 2025 against one another: Mun "Oner" Hyeon-jun and Seo "Kanavi" Jin-hyeok. With everything on the line, whichever player manages to drag his team to victory in this match may very well also claim the title of the best Jungler of 2025.
So far at Worlds, while Oner has favored more traditional meta picks like Wukong and Xin Zhao, Kanavi has leaned more into his Trundle and Qiyana, showcasing not just their different champion pools, but also the two Junglers preferences in playstyle.
T1 have looked their most comfortable with Doran on a tank, which will likely mean that the LCK team will want to keep Trundle banned (or steal it away for Oner), a champion on which Kanavi is yet to lose a game at Worlds 2025 (3-0 record so far). That is, unless T1 have a few surprise picks tucked away still.
With both players being so important to their team's gameplan, there's no doubt T1 and Top Esports will spend a fair bit of attention on shutting the enemy Jungler down, whether that be through draft strategies or in-game pressure.
Can Kanavi be the man to stop T1's historic run? (Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)Prediction: Who Makes It to the Grand Finals?
Despite neither team looking particularly sharp coming into Worlds (or even throughout the Swiss Stage for that matter), one of these two squads will make it to the Grand Finals when all is said and done. In the end, the result of the series will largely come down to execution and managing the pressure.
With T1's remarkable record vs the LPL at Worlds in mind, the odds are stacked against Top Esports. Will they rise to the occasion and conquer their region's biggest demons, or will they crumble under the pressure of a seemingly insurmountable opponent?
Prediction: Faker and T1 look poised for a date with destiny. Top Esports will not go down without a fight, but we expect T1 to come away with a 3-1 victory in the end.
Given the sheer size of T1's fan base, as well as their apparent inevitability on this stage, it's no surprise that an overwhelming 88% of the Strafe fan votes also picked T1 to win the match.
Time shown in UTC-5Make sure you tune in to this historic match this Sunday, November 2nd, starting at 8 am CET.
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Featured image credit: Liu YiCun/Riot Games
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