The play-ins and the first week of the Swiss Stage are over – here are the highlights.
The first week of Worlds has come to an end. In addition to upsets that no one expected, there were moments when we were able to marvel at the highest level of League of Legends pro play. Here are some of the highlights.
BLG vs 100 Thieves – Big Dhokla
China always enters the tournament as a strong region and favorite for the world championship title. So absolutely no one expected 100 Thieves to play such a clean game that streamers shaved their heads and even the then world champion, Doinb, suffered a mental breakdown.
BIG DHOKES pic.twitter.com/IN3HYbAE3W
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 15, 2025
With questionable plays and no respect for their opponents, BLG lost the game and earned a lot of flak from their own ranks. Although BLG won their next game against Fnatic, if something like this happens again, it could spell disaster. Not only has Dhokla, top laner for 100 Thieves, gained some new fans (especially in China), but another, initially inconspicuous player has delivered a masterful performance and exceeded all expectations.
CFO vs T1 – The Underdog(go) Story Lives
It was hard to believe what was happening here: in the game against the reigning world champions, T1, Doggo, CFO's ADC and absolutely crazy, simply pulled out the Draven pick. What followed was a game in which you might have thought the teams had swapped places: Oner seemed extremely confused in the jungle, and only Faker briefly gave fans a glimmer of hope with a triple kill.
HUGE fight for @CTBC_cfo! #Worlds2025 pic.twitter.com/WTJd126SMy
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 16, 2025
But CFO's sometimes risky, sometimes confident team play brought T1 to its knees and certainly earned CFO some new fans (here I am!).
AL vs HLE – Top Tier Gameplay
The match between Anyones Legends and Hanwha Life Esports brought us back down to earth: one of the most exciting games of the past week showed us good gameplay throughout. You almost feel sorry for Viper, with 11/4/0 and a quadra kill on the losing team. But anyone who lets the dragon be stolen from support is probably already mentally shaken.
well pic.twitter.com/c5r5mSW6i1
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 15, 2025
Flandre played perhaps the best Rek'Sai toplane game we've seen so far. Zeus put in a great performance, but after the engage in the 34th minute, Flandre proved that AL deserves to go far.
KT vs TES – Business As Usual
Some predicted a 2-0 result – unfortunately, they got it backwards. The third seed from China is showing us the same thing every year: Top Esports looks in top form, only to disappoint us again. In the first game, there is no notable engagement from Kanavi and Creme, and teamfight after teamfight is lost. Hang leaves the game with 0/7/4, and at times you wonder if TES even want to play the game.
"just play safe" pic.twitter.com/MrF8Z7FBks
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 17, 2025
Kanavi surprises us again in the second game with his Zed Jungle pick. KT's teamfighting is just too good, and they've proven their strength in this game.
CFO vs AL – Peak Gameplay Series
Although AL has performed exceptionally well at Worlds so far, it is CFO who have delivered another upset. Despite losing the first game, AL show how champion selection works. Maokai was chosen because he is a Wukong counter, and with Trundle banned, AL knew that CFO would go for the Sion pick. But what works in theory is not always the case in practice: the first game goes to CFO because AL simply lacked damage and CFO played the game almost perfectly.
CFO find a HUGE fight! #Worlds2025 pic.twitter.com/tO74EBGQzf
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 17, 2025
The second game was also a feast for the eyes. Few would have expected CFO to put in such a performance against one of the tournament favorites. The Dragon Fight looked very evenly matched, but the battle for Atakhan, which AL won decisively, largely neutralized CFO.
DELETED pic.twitter.com/ooYR1qpRHF
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 17, 2025
The third game was just super exciting. For the first 16 minutes, you would have thought CFO had it in the bag. However, a bloody battle for Atakhan turned the tide. AL took control and it was all over for CFO. What does the community say? Some believe that CFO are the winners of hearts, as few expected them to put up such a fight. But Team AL also showed what they are capable of – could they perhaps win the world championship title?
What was your favorite game of the first week?