T1 vs KT Rolster – The Greatest Telecom War of All Time – Worlds 2025 Grand Final Preview

After five weeks of upsets, heartbreak, and highlight reels, we’ve reached the grand finale: T1 and KT Rolster will face off at the Chengdu’s Dong’an Lake Arena for the Summoner’s Cup. Which team will earn its legacy this season and who is more likely to win it all? Find out what are going to be the key factors of the series in our preview.

T1 vs KT – The LCK Civil War

Always considered a classic match in the LCK, the Telecom War has now transcended the borders and will decide this year’s world champions.
The two squads kicked off their LoL Worlds 2025 in two completely different forms but both are seemingly peaking at the most important moment of the year. The T1 vs KT match is set to be a classic in LoL Esports history.

T1 – The first ever triple consecutive champions?

There are almost no words to describe T1 anymore. Four world championship finals in the last four years and this could be the organization’s sixth title. The defending champions made it once again on the big stage, despite all the initial worries about T1’s chances heading into the tournament.

After a rough swiss stage, T1 crawled its way back by clinging the last spots in the Knockout stage and then proceeded to take down the LPL rivals Anyone’s Legend, in what was probably the best series of the entire tournament, and Top Esports, who were dominated in the semifinals.

TWO MID LANE LEGENDS: Who's your pick for the #Worlds2025 Finals?

— LoL Esports (@lolesports) November 6, 2025

Despite the top lane roster change, T1 have found a new dimension with Doran and the current meta is also well aligned with the team’s playstyle, which heavily revolves around Oner and Keria’s playmaking. Paired with the Fearless Draft mode that takes advantage of T1’s wide champion pool across all roles, the LCK #4 seed is in great form to win it all. That said, their opponent seems to have a similar pattern going for them…

KT – Is this a similar run to 2022 DRX?

While KT’s playstyle is nothing but like the DRX roster that took down T1 in 2022, there are some similar patterns.
Not only are there players who were barely considered as top players during the season, such as ADC deokdam or top laner perfecT, KT’s main strong point is without a doubt their mid laner Bdd, who has consistently carried the team throughout the whole year.

We are potentially looking at the best mid of the season, considering the downfall Gen.G’s mid laner Chovy had in the semifinals against KT.
Chasing his first championship in nearly 10 years, Bdd’s rise this season reminds me of Deft when he lifted the Summoner’s Cup in Los Angeles.

🤝 Faker on Bdd and KT:

"I didn't expect to face KT in the finals. To have such a classic matchup again is exciting.

"I also appreciate Bdd's kind words about me and hope he delivers an honourable performance in the final. https://t.co/YA01PbBRau pic.twitter.com/Tz0AiVaLse

— Hotspawn LoL (@hotspawnlol) November 4, 2025

From a gameplay perspective, KT’s comfort zone also happens to be the optimal draft approach and playstyle in the Worlds 2025 meta: a weakside top laner with a strong skirmishing jungle-supp duo, paired up with heavy scaling carries in mid and ADC.

KT’s individual players happen to shine exactly in those roles, which is also probably why KT had great success from the start of the championship. They sticked to how they played and considering the great success rate, KT has been mainly just fine tuning their gameplay.

Who is destined to lift the Summoner’s Cup?

While T1 would be the easy answer, KT’s form and gameplay, especially in the series against Gen.G, have greatly increased their stocks heading into the final.

Just like every Knockout stage series, a lot will come down to how the teams prepare their drafts. From KT’s side, the main goal will be to shut down Keria’s champion pool, especially Neeko and Bard, by either early picking or perma banning it.

On T1’s side, the main goal will be to maximize the value of their pocket picks and then outdraft KT. Whoever will do a better job will likely be taking the series. Predicting the exact score line for the Worlds finals is always tough due to how the pressure and the week of preparation can impact the match. On paper, however, Faker’s leadership and T1’s experience in high stakes matches over the past years will play a major role.

If we were to go to five games, T1 will likely have an edge. KT, however, is not an underdog here: they could literally come out with a 3-0 or 3-1 victory. The team’s run has been nothing but outstanding and having nothing to lose might give them an extra edge.

You know the rule: do not get excited about KT… but this is probably the time it’s worth doing it. The Telecom War will end the 2025 season with a banger and it could be one of the best ways to celebrate 15 years of LoL Esports.