A battle of the giants – but only one could advance to the Swiss Stage.
What a perfect start to Worlds 2025 – T1 vs. Invictus Gaming was an absolute spectacle! Here's a summary of the games and the results at the bottom!
Game 1 Draft And Game Summary
IG Bans: Bard, Azir, Jarvan IV/Caitlyn, Ziggs
T1 Bans: Yunara, Kaisa, Orianna/Renekton, Vi
IG | CHAMP | K/D/A | ROLLE | T1 | CHAMP | K/D/A |
TheShy | Rek'sai | 2-6-1 | TOP | Doran | Ambessa | 1-3-8 |
| Wei | Qiyana | 3-2-3 | JGL | Oner | Trundle | 4-2-8 |
| Rookie | Ryze | 3-2-4 | MID | Faker | Taliyah | 4-1-5 |
| GALA | Corki | 1-1-4 | ADC | Gumayusi | Sivir | 5-1-7 |
| Meiko | Neeko | 0-4-3 | SUPP | Keria | Alistar | 1-2-11 |
After just a few minutes, everyone realized that these teams were really serious. Right at the start, we saw a tower dive typical of TheShy, which rewarded not only him but also Gumayusi. Although IG really fought hard, with a clean Dragon soul and gold from split pushes with the Herald, the rest of the team couldn't carry TheShy anymore. His lead evaporated, death after death, but Gumayusi knew exactly how to use it to his team's advantage and decimate IG completely.
Huge fight for @T1LoL! pic.twitter.com/zaeGuKBg1k
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 14, 2025
After a failed Atakhan, T1 took down the Baron and simply marched through IG's base. That's how fast it can happen!
Game 2 Draft And Game Summary
IG Bans: Bard, Azir, Galio/Aurora, Xayah
T1 Bans: Yunara, Kaisa, Poppy/Lulu, Braum
IG | CHAMP | K/D/A | ROLLE | T1 | CHAMP | K/D/A |
| TheShy | Sion | 4-1-8 | TOP | Doran | K'Sante | 4-6-6 |
| Wei | Wukong | 5-2-14 | JGL | Oner | Jarvan IV | 1-6-9 |
| Rookie | Orianna | 8-2-15 | MID | Faker | Akali | 7-3-3 |
| GALA | Caitlyn | 7-4-12 | ADC | Gumayusi | Miss Fortune | 2-4-4 |
| Meiko | Karma | 1-5-21 | SUPP | Keria | Rakan | 0-6-9 |
IG went into the second game with a fresh mindset, and it showed. After securing first blood, they continued to play at the absolute peak of League of Legends. The Sion pick suited TheShy and allowed Rookie and GALA to deal good damage, paired with Weis Engages. The gold lead led the team to two Barons and thus also to the Nexus.
TRIPLE KILL for Rookie to tie the series! #Worlds2025 pic.twitter.com/ybYZ6V8Atn
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 14, 2025
But even in this game, it's clear that Faker is far from finished here. With 7/3/3, he shows throughout the game that T1 intends to win the rest of the series.
Game 3 Draft And Game Summary
T1 Bans: Kaisa, Pantheon, Braum/Rell, Aurora
IG Bans: Bard, Azir, Poppy/Ornn, Lulu
T1 | CHAMP | K/D/A | ROLLE | IG | CHAMP | K/D/A |
| Doran | Galio | 3-1-11 | TOP | TheShy | Rumble | 2-8-1 |
| Oner | Xin Zhao | 10-1-11 | JGL | Wei | Vi | 1-7-7 |
| Faker | Annie | 4-4-15 | MID | Rookie | Hwei | 5-3-4 |
| Gumayusi | Yunara | 10-3-8 | ADC | GALA | Smolder | 3-2-1 |
| Keria | Renata Glasc | 0-2-21 | SUPP | Meiko | Leona | 0-7-4 |
This game is a blueprint for good drafting. Everyone expected Galio on Faker, but Smolder would pose a problem. So Galio switches to the top lane in Doran's hands so that Faker can pick Annie. This probably led IG to play Smolder on the bot lane instead, allowing Rookie to pick Hwei.
CLEAN DIVE: First Blood for @T1LoL! #Worlds2025 pic.twitter.com/OQ3LjvC9oz
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 14, 2025
After a first blood and several kills on Oner, things are looking increasingly tight for IG: Smolder simply doesn't have enough time to get back into the game properly. Unfortunately, TheShy and Wei were struggling again here too.
Game 4 Draft And Game Summary
IG Bans: Bard, Lee sin, Braum/Rell, Seraphine
T1 Bans: Kaisa, Azir, Aurora/Yorick, Gwen
IG | CHAMP | K/D/A | ROLLE | T1 | CHAMP | K/D/A |
| TheShy | Varus | 2-6-3 | TOP | Doran | Ornn | 2-3-19 |
| Wei | Pantheon | 6-7-2 | JGL | Oner | Nocturne | 6-3-16 |
| Rookie | Sylas | 2-4-7 | MID | Faker | LeBlanc | 8-2-9 |
| GALA | Ziggs | 2-5-5 | ADC | Gumayusi | Ashe | 10-2-12 |
| Meiko | Nautilus | 1-7-10 | SUPP | Keria | Lulu | 3-3-18 |
Not only did TheShy play Varus top for the first time, no one else has dared to do so all season. Hats off for his courage! This game was basically a complete deathmatch, entertaining and exciting!
Disappointingly, this game follows the same pattern as most before it: initially, it looks as though IG might gain the upper hand, but shortly afterward, T1 puts a stop to the games and makes short work of it.
And with that, we have the play-ins! T1 advances to the Swiss Stage, and IG has been eliminated.
It's a real shame that one of the two teams had to be eliminated, but IG simply proved too inconsistent to maintain the upper hand in games. TheShy showed that he has not yet fully returned to his old form. Unnecessary deaths and risky picks made it much harder for IG to come out of this alive.
We'll continue tomorrow at 1:00 am EST/6:00 am BST.