The 2025 League of Legends (LoL) World Championship will kick off on Tuesday, the 14th, at the Beijing Smart Esports Center with a play-in match between T1 and Invictus Gaming.

T1 and Invictus Gaming are organizations that have left a significant mark on the history of LoL esports. T1 remains the team that has hoisted the 'Summoner's Cup' the most times in the world, winning five times across the 14 iterations of the World Championship. As the back-to-back champions of 2023 and 2024, they are the 'defending champions' of the event.

Invictus Gaming has also lifted the Summoner's Cup. In 2018, during the tournament held in Korea, they defeated powerhouses such as kt Rolster, G2 Esports, and Fnatic, becoming the first team from China (LPL) to reach the top of the World Championship.

Both T1 and Invictus Gaming are entering the 2025 World Championship as the 4th seeds from the LCK and LPL, respectively. The loser of the play-in match on the 14th will not advance to the Swiss Stage. This year's World Championship features 17 teams from five regions, with the LCK and LPL receiving an extra spot each due to their strong performance at the Mid-Season Invitational. However, as 4th seeds, both teams must compete in a best-of-five play-in series, where the winner joins the 16-team Swiss Stage and the loser is eliminated.

In their head-to-head record, Invictus Gaming holds a slight edge with three wins to T1's one (in terms of series). After winning at the 2018 Rift Rivals, they split their matches in the same group at the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational, and Invictus Gaming emerged victorious at the 2019 Rift Rivals.

Notably, T1 is currently on a 10-match winning streak against LPL teams in best-of-five series on the World Championship stage. In 2023, they defeated LNG Esports in the quarterfinals, followed by victories over JD Gaming in the semifinals and Weibo Gaming in the finals to win the title. In 2024, they continued this undefeated record against LPL teams in best-of-fives by beating Top Esports in the quarterfinals and Bilibili Gaming in the finals.

Following the play-in matches on the 14th, the Swiss Stage draw will take place. This year, the Swiss Stage draw will be conducted differently. The 3rd seed from the region of the team that wins the play-in will be promoted to the second pool. Pool 1 consists of the 1st seeds from the five regional leagues, while Pool 2 includes the 2nd seeds from each region and the 3rd seed from the play-in winner's region. Pool 3 consists of the remaining 3rd seeds and the play-in winner. In the first round of the Swiss Stage, Pool 1 will face Pool 3, and Pool 2 will face Pool 2, with teams from the same region not facing each other.

From the second round of the Swiss Stage, teams with the same record—1-0 teams face 1-0 teams, 0-1 teams face 0-1 teams—will be paired, and they will not face the same opponent again. If the same matchup repeats or a draw results in a duplicate matchup, the team will be re-drawn into the next available slot.

The 2025 LoL World Championship, which begins with the clash between T1 and Invictus Gaming, will be broadcast live via the official LoL esports website, SOOP, Naver Chzzk, and the LCK YouTube channel.