Look Sports Media – The first two titans have punched their tickets to the League of Legends World Championship 2025 playoffs, emerging victorious from the intense 2-0 Swiss stage showdowns.
The matches, a culmination of flawless performances in the initial Best-of-1 rounds, saw KT Rolster decisively conquer Top Esports, while Anyone’s Legend (AL) extinguished the fiery momentum of CTBC Flying Oyster (CFO).
With powerhouses like Gen.G, T1, Bilibili Gaming (BLG), and Hanwha Life Esports (HLE) all grappling with a 1-1 record, the opportunity to secure a clean qualification through the Swiss stage proved to be a monumental prize.
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KT Rolster’s Unlikely Ascent
KT Rolster, entering Worlds as the LCK’s third seed, defied expectations with a dominant 3-0 run. Their journey to the tournament itself was a surprise, highlighted by a stunning victory over Gen.G in the LCK playoffs’ upper bracket.
Despite the LCK’s fourth seed claiming the previous two World Championship titles (T1), KT Rolster was considered the least favored LCK representative. Now, they stand as the sole LCK team to achieve a perfect 3-0 record.
Their qualification feels almost destined, a direct consequence of Gen.G’s choice to face them, resulting in an unexpected defeat.
However, KT Rolster’s success is no accident. The team boasts exceptional talent, including Gwak "Bdd" Bo-sung and Moon "Cuzz" Woo-chan, both highly decorated players throughout the LCK season.
Their skill was on full display, with the duo amassing a combined 20 kills and 53 assists, while only falling six times.
Top Esports (TES) were simply unprepared for Seo "deokdam" Dae-gil’s performance. His Corki and Ezreal picks proved devastating in both games.
The bot laner thoroughly outmatched TES’s star Yu "JackeyLove" Wen-Bo, while TES’s own Worlds 2025 standout, Seo "Kanavi" Jin-hyeok, struggled to make an impact.
KT Rolster advance to the playoffs following their 2-0 series victory, while TES move on to the 2-1 bracket, promising a fierce competition with so many top teams vying for a spot.
Anyone’s Legend Tames the Flying Oyster
Anyone’s Legend entered the match riding a wave of momentum after victories against LCK teams Hanwha Life (HLE) and, most notably, the reigning LCK and Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) champions, Gen.G.
CTBC Flying Oyster (CFO) were equally impressive, having demolished Fnatic and then stunning T1.
CFO’s aggressive, fearless playstyle, characterized by constant engagements and dives, proved overwhelming for T1 in their Best-of-1 encounter.
In Game 1, AL experienced the full force of CFO’s aggression, as the PCS team swept over the LPL team.
Tsai "HongQ" Ming-Hong once again starred, delivering a 5/0/11 performance while constantly risking his life to create opportunities.
Game 2 was a different story, with AL successfully stifling CFO’s attempts to engage.
CFO frequently sought opportunities to dive AL, but found themselves in disadvantageous situations, neglecting their lanes in the process.
As a result, AL secured Rift Herald and the first tower.
A decisive dragon engagement gave AL the advantage, despite Chiu "Doggo" Tzu-Chuan’s Lucian holding a significant 3.7k gold lead over his counterpart at one point.
Ultimately, AL outscaled CFO and closed out the game in 30 minutes.
Game 3 was a back-and-forth affair, with CFO more carefully calculating their engagements, finding some success.
At one point, CFO won a teamfight in mid with a cleverly disguised Rift Herald spawn, used to mask a dive.
However, as the game progressed, AL gained more and more momentum, with CFO’s damage failing to keep up with AL’s tanky composition.
Cui "Shanks" Xiao-Jun’s LeBlanc, on the other hand, proved to be a destroyer for AL, with the champion’s damage eviscerating CFO and securing the 2-1 series victory.
CTBC Flying Oyster’s playstyle is now well-known, but the match against AL demonstrated that teams will still struggle to counter their aggression.
They move on to the 2-1 bracket. Whatever match they play next, it is sure to be entertaining.
Darragh Harbinson is a senior editor at looksports.media specializing in League of Legends. He has previously written for Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.
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