KT vs CFO – The unexpected quarterifinal matchup – Worlds 2025 Knockout Stage Preview

KT and CFO came into Worlds surprising everyone with their convincing performances. Now, one of them will have the chance to get to the top four as they will face the winner between HLE and Gen.G. Who is more likely to advance and which are the key factors that will decide the series? It’s time for our Worlds 2025 preview.

KT vs CFO – Worlds 2025 Quarterfinals

KT Rolster continues to surprise everyone this year after an incredible Swiss stage run where they went undefeated and were the first team to lock a qualification spot. Led by their star mid laner Bdd, KT is a team that loves to fight in the early skirmishes and use their side lane pressure to create opportunities on the map. While they don’t have the most talented players on paper, the team has shown great synergy and consistency in the past weeks.

Similarly, CFO has also shown a similar gameplay, with the main difference that they have shown great ability to teamfight later on. They might not be the best team when it comes to pushing early game leads, but they make up for it through their drafts and double-carry team compositions.

The top side trio will be the key to victory

While most will set their eyes on the outstanding Doggo and his bot lane matchup against deokdam, the attention for this series will actually be on the other side of the map, especially in the top lane.

CFO’s victories have been heavily revolved around utilizing both Driver and Rest to maximize the value of their tank picks, such as Sion and Rek’Sai. PerfecT, on the other hand, seemed a lot more comfortable on skirmish-heavy champions like Rumble and Renekton, with only one other Ornn game.

2025 월즈니폼 단체샷#KTRolster pic.twitter.com/Qnal3lgXzJ

— 포니 (상태 : KT fighting) (@_deokdam) October 5, 2025

The key will lie in how these two players are able to play around their early skirmishes and avoid from getting punished by the enemy team. Junjia and Cuzz share a similar champion pool so expect both of them to burn each other’s champion pool over the course of the series.

Mid lane will also have a similar trend, but Bdd will likely have more pressure on him due to how KT has been heavily reliant on his plays and teamfighting. I don’t think HongQ will be able to give him that much of a hard time but Fearless Draft will lower Bdd’s impact over the course of the series. Champions like Azir, Orianna, and Ryze are expected to be used in the first two games so KT must have other trump cards ready if they happen to lose out in the first few games.

Prediction

The series could literally go either way, given how volatile KT has notoriously been throughout the seasons. They are currently peaking hard, which will make the series a lot more exciting, but CFO comes with much more confidence and has built a lot more experience while playing on stage in the Swiss stage.

For this reason, I’m leaning towards CFO for this series. It won’t be a one-sided series for sure, and KT is expected to at least get one game. But CFO’s latest gameplay and overall experience in Fearless Bo5 drafts throughout the year will likely prove to be difference maker for two teams that are on a similar level.