T1’s 2025 season: Can the reigning world champions still reach MSI?

T1’s 2025 season is light years away from previous ones. After winning back-to-back championships, the most successful team in the world is clearly struggling. The season started off on the wrong foot with the whole double ADC situation, and even after locking in Gumayusi in April as the sole starting ADC player, the team wasn’t able to bounce back and compete with the other Korean powerhouses.

With only two slots up for grabs at the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational and T1 struggling to find form, is there still a chance they will make it to Vancouver? Or are we looking at another international tournament without the reigning world champions? We break down what’s been going wrong for T1 and what would need to change for them to pull off a mid-season miracle.

T1 ended the first part of the LCK season with an 11-7 record in third place. While the position in the standings is respectable and in line with previous seasons, the team’s performance was characterised by ups and downs, including losses to several teams below them in the standings, such as BNK FearX, OK BRION, and Nongshim RedForce (NS). 

In particular, NS defeated T1 in the closing match of the double round robin, putting serious doubt on T1’s performance heading into the playoffs. If we add the heavy defeat T1 took against fellow playoff contender Hanwha Life Esports (HLE), things are looking very gloomy for the world champions. 

Throughout the first part of the LCK season, T1’s biggest weakness hasn’t been mechanical execution – it’s been the drafts. Not only has the team not stuck to the meta picks, but there were several instances where the team tried to force team compositions with tough win conditions.

Even in the latest series against HLE, T1 had a major gold lead in Game 1, but slowly handed it back to the other team due to its worse team fighting composition.

It’s unclear whether it’s the coaching staff’s poor preparation or the players having too much agency over the champion selection. Regardless, T1 have hindered themselves a lot by going for sub-optimal drafts throughout the season, and that handicap will likely haunt them once again in the playoffs if a fix is not found. 

We all knew that Doran was not going to become a Zeus 2.0, especially given how past teams have often struggled to carry through his lane. That being said, Doran is not living up to the expectations set, and he has often performed even below the standards we were used to seeing. 

Aside from a strong series against BNK FearX that earned him a POM, there haven’t been many highlights. His stats are close to the mid-tier top laners, and largely behind the likes of Zeus, Kiin, but also Kingen and Siwoo.

In a league where having two strong carry lanes is no longer enough, Doran’s struggles limit the team’s ceiling. While drafts can be fixed if a winning formula is found, expecting Doran to magically become a top-tier player again in a short amount of time is pure fantasy.

The main reason why T1 sits third in the standings is still mainly thanks to the mid-jungle duo of Oner and Faker. 

Oner, in particular, has been consistently the best player on the roster for the last year or so. In a meta where junglers are a pivotal reference since they dictate the tempo and early-mid game macro, Oner has been able to shine. 

There are two underlying issues with having Oner as the star player, however. The first is that while junglers are crucial, most of the champions played in the meta do not pack enough carry potential. The second is that by being so dependent on him, if Oner has a poor game, the team will completely crumble. 

T1 has to hope Oner maintains his level of form and has both Gumayusi and Faker ready to lead the team later in the game. The mid laner and ADC have performed decently for the majority of the time, but another step up must happen if they want to have a shot at the title.

Let’s not beat around the bush: the chances are slim. Given Gen.G’s dominance and HLE’s current form, it’s nearly impossible for T1 to finish in the top two at the end of the playoffs. 

There might be a chance T1 gets a game against one of the two Korean powerhouses, but taking a full best-of-five seems unlikely. There are far too many weak points compared to the title contenders and too little time to adjust.

T1’s Spring Split has been quite underwhelming by their standards. Despite being the third seed heading into the playoffs, there are still several issues with the team that haven’t been solved since the start of the season. 

Drafts will be the main focus point for the coming weeks, even though Doran’s underperformance and his identity within the team will be the long-term problem to fix for the remainder of the season.

It would be great for the esports scene to be proven wrong, but T1’s chances at an MSI qualification are marginal. Unless something clicks fast, MSI 2025 will likely go on without them.