LoL - Worlds: KT-TES, A Historic First for the Underdogs

The second day of BO1s at Worlds has come to an end. KT Rolster took down Team Secret Whales, while Top Esports crushed 100 Thieves. Both teams now stand at 2-0 after their respective Day 1 victories over Movistar KOI and G2 Esports, and have been drawn to face each other in a BO3 that will decide who advances to the knockout stage.

Throughout the history of League of Legends esports, KT Rolster and Top Esports have never faced each other. The two teams will meet for the very first time on Friday, October 17 at 10 AM CET, in the opening BO3 of Worlds 2025. Both come into the matchup in solid form; as the third seeds from their respective regions, few expected them to reach this stage—especially with teams like Gen.G and Bilibili Gaming already out of contention.

Although both teams enter as third seeds with 2-0 records, TES clearly look ahead. Back in the Summer Split, after their surprise win over Gen.G that qualified them for Worlds, KT showed signs of a slump, getting clean swept by Hanwha Life Esports and then Gen.G in the lower bracket. TES, on the other hand, reached the Summer final and came very close to winning it.

The format forced them through the Regional Finals, but they had clearly outperformed Anyone’s Legend, China’s second seed by Championship Points. At Worlds, neither team has yet faced an LCK or LPL opponent. KT defeated MKOI and TSW, while TES beat G2 and 100T—a slightly tougher path—but overall, neither side has faced a significantly harder challenge than the other.

Clearly, this BO will likely be decided around the two mid‑jungle duos, who are also the only players in the matchup with prior head-to-head experience. Seo "Kanavi" Jin-hyeok, Moon "Cuzz" Woo-chan, and Gwak "Bdd" Bo-seong faced each other in 2023 during a Worlds quarterfinal BO5—back then Kanavi wore JD Gaming’s jersey and won 3-1. For this BO, these four players (along with Lin "Creme" Jian) will be pivotal to their teams’ chances of victory. They are probably the in‑form players for their squads at Worlds.

On TES’s side, Kanavi remains the playmaker he’s been all year in the LPL, delivering a 9/0/8 Trundle game and a 4/2/11 Qiyana, cementing his status as a top jungler this Worlds. For Bdd, he has played two Orianna games so far, including a critical performance against Movistar KOI, with 92% KP and a game-changing Shockwave that helped KT recover from a seemingly lost BO. TES will need to contain Bdd if they hope to win, as he clearly comes in as the best midlaner on the Rift.