The more the 2025 World Championship resembles the 2017 World Championship, the more Gen.G should be concerned
After the Swiss stage of the 2025 World Championship, many viewers have drawn parallels between this year’s biggest international tournament in the League of Legends scene and the 2017 World Championship. The similarities noted include T1 currently participating as the two-time reigning champion, the number one seed from LPL being eliminated early, Gen.G now and SSG back then both having Ruler on their roster, while T1 2025 and SKT T1 2017 both changed their Top Laner right after winning the championship.
Additionally, in the Quarterfinals, SSG 2017 faced a very strong LCK team at the time, Longzhu Gaming. Currently, Gen.G will meet HLE – one of the strongest LCK teams in South Korea and in League of Legends in general.
However, from these common points, while many Gen.G fans are eagerly anticipating an official championship similar to SSG – the predecessor of Gen.G from back in the day, they may have forgotten some important details. First, SKT T1 in 2017 was still a very strong team and they were the reigning MSI champions that year. In terms of performance, there is a clear contrast.
The next point is that SSG came to the World Championship as the third seed, while Longzhu was the LCK champion. Historically, except for SKT T1 in 2015, no other LCK representative has won the World Championship as the top seed. This is an important factor that Gen.G needs to pay attention to.
Gen.G is currently very strong but should not be complacent
Since Chovy’s arrival, Gen.G has continuously broken the title curses that have followed Chovy and Gen.G for many years. However, at the World Championship, they still show a remarkable “bad luck” despite being rated as one of the top contenders every year.
The 2025 World Championship is yet another tournament where Gen.G continues to be the top contender for the championship. However, the match against HLE will answer the question of whether Chovy is ready to become a true champion or continue to face regrets.