From 12 September to 5 October, VALORANT Champions will take over Paris. In the lead-up to the event, Sheep Esports will present one of the 16 qualified teams each day. This Wednesday, the countdown continues with T1, who are representing VCT Pacific as the region’s third seed.

T1's 2025 campaign has swung between exhilarating highs and corrective lows. The year began promisingly with a second-place finish at Pacific Kickoff, earning them a place at Masters Bangkok. There, T1 delivered their standout performance: after successfully navigating the challenging Swiss stage, they advanced through the playoffs, ultimately defeating G2 in a five-map final to secure the organization's first international trophy. This victory validated the roster revamp built around veterans Kim “stax” Gu-taek and Yu “BuZz” Byung-chul, the rising firepower of Ham “iZu” Woo-ju and Kang “DH” Dong-ho, and the steadying presence of Kim “Meteor” Tae-oh.

Domestic play was less forgiving, however. Stage 1 saw them struggle against familiar Pacific opponents, ultimately resulting in an early playoff exit. Ahead of Stage 2, T1 tightened the rotation, committing to a refined five. The response was encouraging: solid group play, a resilient lower-bracket push and competitive series against regional heavyweights. Although they ultimately fell short of the title, their collective body of work, capped by the Masters trophy, secured Champions qualification on circuit points and established a clear identity ahead of the Paris tournament.

First international trophy for T1 VALORANT

T1’s ceiling isn’t hypothetical anymore, it has a date and a trophy etched on it: 2 March 2025, Masters Bangkok. Their performance in Paris speaks for itself. After recovering from an opening loss to Vitality in the Swiss phase (2–1), T1 dropped their upper semifinal to EDward Gaming 1–2, before flipping the bracket on its head with victories over Vitality 2–1 in Lower Round 1 and EDG (3–1) in the lower final. They finally secured a 3–2 victory over G2 Esports in one of the year’s most intense Grand Finals. The decider was a chess match of vetoes and tempos.

G2 picked Lotus and Abyss, to which T1 responded with Haven and Split. Pearl remained, and T1 repeatedly kept their nerve in the late rounds to claw back from deficits and close the door on Map 5. This wasn't just a one-map victory, it was a testament to their system. Stax's mid-round calling remained effective under pressure, while BuZz and iZu delivered timely multis. Meteor's performance was worthy of a finals MVP, providing the stability needed for every retake and post-plant. More than just a line on their CV, winning in Bangkok validated T1’s identity: composure on LAN, belief in their strategy and the ability to win from the lower bracket against top-class opponents. That’s the version of T1 that everyone in Paris has to plan for.

Player to Watch - Kim “Meteor” Tae-oh

2025 has established Meteor as T1’s defensive anchor. Since arriving late last year, he has transitioned from his earlier duelist pedigree to become a hybrid Sentinel/Controller, underpinning T1’s economy of errors. Throughout the season, his numbers steadily increased, with ratings climbing from below 1.00 in the early stages to comfortably above average by Stage 2. His KAST stability reflects his involvement in critical moments during the rounds. He primarily split his agent reps across Cypher and Vyse to secure sites and deny lanes, making appearances as Astra and Viper when T1 opted for smoke-led control.

What stands out is how Meteor’s utility translates into tempo control. On defence, he is the metronome: tripwires, cameras, mollies, and star placements buy the extra seconds Stax needs to rotate pieces and spring retakes. On the offensive, he provides a safety net in the form of lurks that pinch space, late-round flanks that punish rotations and lineups that transform post-plants into territory where the outcome is not determined by chance. The result is a player who rarely posts impressive entry figures, but who consistently adds to the team's win probability in the margins: clean first-kill/first-death splits, clutch conversions in 1vX and sequencing that enables iZu and BuZz to take on tougher opponents. If T1 are to rediscover their Bangkok form at Champions, Meteor’s Sentinel/Controller discipline will be the quiet engine that makes it possible.

Statistical highlights

Throughout 2025, T1’s map pool evolved into a pragmatic formation. At their best, they appeared composed on Icebox and Ascent, while Bind frequently served as a controlled, utility-first battleground. Lotus and Split hovered around the break-even mark, depending on the matchup and initial positioning, whereas Pearl remained their most volatile pick and was often vetoed. The common thread was an emphasis on clean mid-rounds and site retakes rather than all-out pace.

Philosophically, the team favoured structured control over constant double-duelist chaos: iZu took primary responsibility for space-taking and early pressure. BuZz adapted to fill whatever gap the composition demanded, Stax orchestrated decisive mid-round calls from Initiator; and Meteor anchored as Sentinel/Controller, converting information and utility into low-error rounds. The late-season rotation, Icebox out, Abyss in, removes one of T1’s comfort levers and forces them to rapidly adapt to Abyss. Expect them to retain Lotus and Sunset as structural pillars while accelerating set pieces for the new map to preserve their veto leverage.

T1 arrive in Paris as the Pacific hopefuls, who have already proven that they can win. Winning the Bangkok title boosted their confidence and provided a blueprint: patient defaults, trust in mid-round calling and a willingness to adapt compositions series-to-series. The challenge has been to reproduce that peak performance consistently across a long league schedule and through the minefield of the tournament bracket. With a clear identity, renewed cohesion and a map pool that still offers familiar options even after the rotation, T1 look like a dangerous opponent: they are resilient in lower-bracket runs and battle-tested under the pressure of best-of-five matches.

T1 roster heading into Champions 2025