AL vs T1 – Who will slain who? – Worlds 2025 Quarterfinals Preview

It’s Worlds 2025 quarterfinals time and it’s once again an LPL vs T1 match: the current world champions will be fighting against the strongest Chinese representative of the year. Will the LPL finally get their revenge or will T1 destroy Chinese fans’ hopes? Let’s find out who has the greater chance of winning in our match preview.

Worlds 2025 Quarterfinals – AL vs T1 – it’s all about form… and draft

You can’t escape T1 at Worlds. That’s the only certainty we get every year. The Korean team, despite players’ non-optimal health conditions and poorer gameplay, have survived the Swiss stage to get to Shanghai as the last top 8 team.

The LCK #4 seed was the first to play in Beijing, taking down Invictus Gaming in the play-in stage, before playing seven more games in the Swiss stage. Even though T1 lost to CFO and Gen.G, the team was still strong enough to sweep 100T, FLY, and MKOI.

In comparison, Anyone’s Legend was much more dominant, even taking down Gen.G in the Bo1. Together with KT, AL locked the first qualification spot to the Knockout stage and their performance was very convincing, smartly using their drafts and composure to their advantage. They face now the real first test and it will probably be the most important one of the tournament: the match with T1 is not only a rematch from MSI, but it will also mean the end of T1’s second Worlds streak.

T1 – Improving the early game

While the team has seemingly recovered with the break, T1 showed some severe gameplay issues throughout the Swiss stage. Above all, the first player who has to step up is Doran, who has had some questionable games and was below what we would usually expect from him.

승리 후 회식 메뉴는 역시 뭐다?😎
The best dinner after a sweet victory is..😎#TogetherAs1 #T1atWorlds2025 pic.twitter.com/7XoKSbzBHC

— T1 LoL (@T1LoL) October 27, 2025

The meta picks might not be his comfort initially, so T1 will likely have to quickly burn the picks in the first games of the series, hoping that the following top lane picks will be more of his forte.

Keria and Oner are expected to work closely and make things happen on the map so picks like Neeko, Rakan, Xin Zhao, and Jarvan IV, are going to be contested between the two teams. Faker has actually been the most consistent member on T1: if he shows up like he did in previous matches, we’re bound for a banger series.

AL – Will they picks suffice?

The LPL #2 seed has great momentum from the Swiss Stage, where they showed great synergy between the players and even the ability to make comebacks with great teamfight execution.

AL advanced to the top eight of the 2025 League of Legends Global Finals!

Shanghai! We are back.#Worlds2025 #ALwaysWIN #LPL pic.twitter.com/T52QnazKye

— Anyone's Legend (@AnyonesLegend) October 17, 2025

Top laner Flandre is thriving in the current meta as he’s particularly comfortable when it comes to withstanding the pressure and then bringing utility later in the game. Tarzan excels on any champion and he’s probably going to be AL’s core. Similar to Keria, Kael has also been AL’s key to making things happen on the meta. The read is strong but AL has historically struggled with picks after the first three games: once the priority picks are removed, the team struggles more to keep the same level of gameplay.

Prediction – This could be the LPL’s chance

Even though T1 is still T1, especially at Worlds, AL’s latest form is convincing enough to make me put them as the winners of this Worlds 2025 quarterfinals series. If the LPL team shows up like they did previously, it could be a rather quick series.

That being said, AL must do it quickly: dragging the series out will not be beneficial for them as the champion pool will quickly shrink. If it goes to five games, T1 might have the upper hand. Overall, I’m expecting a 3-1 score for AL.