LoL - Worlds: KT Rolster, capable of the best and the worst (6/17)

The League of Legends 2025 World Championship kicks off in Beijing on the 14th of October. A total of 17 teams will compete to, succeed T1 again at the top of the Riot Games MOBA world hierarchy. On this occasion, Sheep Esports brings you a daily feature on one of the teams taking part. On October 3rd, the sixth episode of our series focuses on KT Rolster.

KT Rolster qualified for Worlds very early, during the upper bracket semifinal against Gen.G, in a match where most considered the Mid-Season Invitational champions the heavy favorites. KT pulled off the upset of the year with a 3-2 victory, locking in their spot at Worlds. This win had a major impact on the LCK, as a Gen.G victory would have directly secured Worlds qualification for both Hanwha Life Esports and T1. But Gwak "Bdd" Bo-seong and his teammates had other plans.

KT Rolster’s year has been anything but easy. It started with the LCK Cup, where they were knocked out in the first round of playoffs by Nongshim RedForce in a clean sweep. During Rounds 1-2, they finished the regular season 10-8, tied with NS and Dplus KIA. With fifth place being crucial to enter the legend group in Summer, they had to play a tiebreaker against DK, where they came out on top 2-1.

This split also saw several roster experiments: Shin "Casting" Min-je stepped in for Lee "PerfecT" Seung-min in a few series, Park "Paduck" Seok-hyeon replaced Seo "deokdam" Dae-gil for some games as well, and Jeong "Peter" Yoon-su permanently took over Han "Way" Gil’s spot.

During the Road to MSI, KT went on a remarkable run, first sweeping DK and then Nongshim, before facing T1 just two best-of series away from qualifying for MSI. The wall, however, was still too high to climb. Still, the roster began to take shape ahead of the Summer Split, with PerfecT in the toplane, the legendary Moon "Cuzz" Woo-chan in the jungle, Bdd in mid, and a Deokdam–Peter botlane.

In Summer, the legend group was heavily dominated by Gen.G, T1, and Hanwha Life Esports. To secure fourth place and therefore a playoff spot, KT had to overcome Nongshim—and they did so three times. The playoffs couldn’t have started better: a 3-1 win over BNK FearX, followed by the famous 3-2 victory against Gen.G that secured their Worlds ticket and completely shifted the expected qualification picture. The team then lost momentum, suffering back-to-back clean sweeps against HLE in the upper bracket and Gen.G in the lower. But what mattered most was achieved: qualifying for Worlds 2025 in China.

The roster struggled throughout the year, as seen earlier with changes in the toplane. PerfecT had his ups and downs, often criticized by KT fans and LCK viewers, though he did deliver some strong performances in the playoffs. The botlane also went through periods of doubt, with even a permanent change having to be made at the support role.

The two untouchable roles within KT have been jungle and mid. The roster’s most experienced players, Cuzz and Bdd, have been playing together for years now—and it shows. Their synergy is flawless, they read each other perfectly, and they are the metronomes of the team. Everything runs through them: the tempo, the decisive plays, the flashes of brilliance. When the LCK All-Pro teams were announced, Bdd earned a spot on the second team, ahead of names like Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok and Kim "Zeka" Geon-woo—and it was more than deserved. He currently stands among the best midlaners in the world and proves it in every series. Bdd is a Korean legend, and he cemented that status even further this year by qualifying for his fifth Worlds.

As for Cuzz, he has made a successful return with KT after a difficult 2024 season on Kwangdong Freecs. This will be his third Worlds appearance, all of them alongside Bdd. In terms of champion pool, KT have shown no shortage of creativity. Bdd played 15 different champions throughout the Summer Split—Zoe, Lissandra, Tristana, Cassiopeia—often coming in clutch to save his team. Cuzz, meanwhile, stuck to a more traditional and textbook approach: Trundle, Xin Zhao, and Wukong, executing the meta perfectly.

KT Rolster are clearly not among the favorites for Worlds 2025. Gen.G, HLE, and T1 remain stronger contenders for the title, and in China, Anyone’s Legend, Bilibili Gaming, and Top Esports also appear to be in better form. Still, KT could try to pull off an upset. Advancing from the Swiss stage seems within reach, except in the case of an unlucky draw, as KT appear to be at a level well above Western or LCP teams.

A quarterfinal appearance would not be surprising for Bdd and his teammates, but going further looks difficult. The key will be whether they can create something special and go as far as possible in a tournament that Bdd would surely like to add to his trophy cabinet alongside his two LCK titles.