T1 and 100 Thieves will face off on Friday, October 24, around 1 PM CET in an elimination best-of-three. The stakes are high for both sides: a loss for T1 would end the year for the most decorated organization in League of Legends history, which has never finished lower than the semifinals in nine appearances, including five titles. On the other side, this could very well be the final series in the history of 100 Thieves, who are competing in their last-ever tournament.

Both teams enter as the last seeds from their respective regions. T1 started strong with a win against FlyQuest, but then fell to CTBC Flying Oyster and Gen.G so far, T1 has only faced first seeds. Meanwhile, 100 Thieves have probably had the toughest path in these Worlds: they first faced LPL champions Bilibili Gaming, whom they managed to beat, before losing to Top Esports and Hanwha Life Esports, leaving them at 1-2.

Can the Thieves do it twice?

As this BO approaches, it’s clear that T1 are the heavy favorites. The two-time reigning world champions have been to the last three finals. Their LCK season had its bumps, but on this stage, few teams perform as consistently as they do. With just one player change, it’s largely the same roster that has been together for years, and the addition of Choi “Doran” Hyeon-joon has sometimes proven decisive. On the 100 Thieves side, the team has had its ups and downs but still managed to secure a Worlds spot, partly thanks to the arrival of Niship “Dhokla” Doshi in the Summer Split.

Against BLG, few gave them a chance — yet they pulled it off. For context, it was the opening match of the tournament and also a best-of-one, two key factors that make a huge difference. Worlds is a stage where the best teams scale over time, and T1 are living proof of that every year. BO1s are far more unpredictable, but in longer series, 100 Thieves’ chances naturally decrease. T1 haven’t lost to just anyone; if they play their game as usual on Friday and don’t get caught off guard, they should come out on top.

The midlane matchup

As mentioned earlier, both Doran and Dhokla are newcomers to rosters built around long-time teammates. In the jungle, Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun stands among the very best in the world right now, and Kim “River” Dong-woo will have a tough challenge ahead of him. The botlane matchup also seems to tilt in T1’s favor — Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong has shown solid form toward the end of the year, while Ryu “Keria” Min-seok is off to a strong start at Worlds, as evidenced by his Bard performance against FlyQuest.

If 100T are to find the key to unlocking T1’s defense, it will likely have to come through their midlaner, Lim “Quid” Hyeon-seung. At just 21 years old, he’s playing in his second Worlds and stands as the centerpiece of his team. When the 1st LTA All-Pro Team was announced, every player came from the champion squad, FlyQuest — except one: Quid, who earned the midlane spot after an impressive year.

The Korean midlaner has already faced Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok back in 2022 during his time at Gen.G, when he temporarily subbed in for Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon. That best-of-three ended in a 2-0 victory for T1. So far at these Worlds, the numbers are split. Faker shows higher kill participation and damage per minute, while Quid holds a better KDA and stronger farming stats. In lane, Faker maintains a higher gold difference at 15 minutes, which mirrors the superior objective control T1 has displayed overall compared to 100 Thieves.

Header Photo Credit: Aiksoon Lee/Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games