Despite winning multiple World Championships, T1 has a “hard to understand” statistic
As of before the 2025 World Championship, Faker has led SKT T1/T1 to a total of 5 championships at the highest level of professional League of Legends. Notably, Faker himself has twice been awarded FMVP at this tournament – a feat that may take a long time for anyone to match, let alone surpass. However, there is a “harsh” truth for Faker and SKT T1/T1 at the World Championship: they have only won as the number one seed once.
Winning multiple World Championships but with a ‘harsh’ truth about T1.
It was in 2015 when the mighty SKT T1 swept aside all their opponents to take the crown in both the LCK and the World Championship. The 2015 SKT T1 roster is still regarded as one of the strongest and greatest teams in League of Legends history. In fact, if EDG hadn’t had an extraordinary performance at MSI that year, combined with a certain overconfidence from the SKT T1 players, this team might have completed the Golden Road for League of Legends.
Furthermore, 2 out of T1’s 5 championships came when they were the lowest-seeded representative from the LCK (2013 and 2024). Of course, they also showed a completely contrasting face compared to their domestic league performance, giving rise to the concept of “T1 at the World Championship,” which always instills fear in their opponents.
SKT T1 2015 was the first and only year this team won the World Championship as the number one seed.
But the statistics reveal T1’s terrifying potential
In reality, there have been many years when T1 entered the World Championship under extreme skepticism and low expectations from both fans and experts. A prime example is 2024, when the meta shifts were overwhelming and T1 demonstrated how slowly they adapted to this new playstyle. But when the pressure of expectation was lifted, this already unpredictable team became even more terrifying.
T1 being underestimated is truly dangerous.
At the 2025 World Championship, T1 will start much earlier than their familiar opponents. However, the match against IG will also serve to test the strength of Faker and his teammates, as well as their determination this year at the World Championship.