T1 edge KT 3–2 in telecom war classic, claim historic three-peat

On the final day of the League of Legends Season 15 World Championship, the grand stage witnessed the ultimate edition of the “LCK Telecom War”: T1 vs KT in a best-of-five for the Summoner’s Cup.

After five brutal games, T1 narrowly defeated KT 3–2, securing a historic three-peat and further extending their Worlds legacy. The Finals MVP (FMVP) was awarded to T1’s bot laner, Gumayusi, whose late-game teamfighting and Game 5 heroics sealed the series.

Over the past three years, T1’s dominance has been reflected in the FMVP awards as well:

• 2023 FMVP – Zeus
• 2024 FMVP – Faker
• 2025 FMVP – Gumayusi

Game 1 – T1 turns the tide with a perfect third-dragon fight

Result: T1 win → T1 lead 1–0
Game 1 MVP: Doran’s “Wolf Mother” pick

KT came into the series on fire and handled the early game perfectly. Their jungle–support roams and top-side setups gave them complete control of the opening minutes.

• 4’ – Oner goes to contest bot-side river Scuttle but is collapsed on by KT’s jungle and support. BDD picks up first blood, giving KT the early tempo.
• 5’ – In bot lane, Keria and deokdam trade aggressively to force a 1-for-1, but Gumayusi is then caught and killed by KT’s jungle/support, handing KT further advantage.
• 10’ – PerfecT’s Rumble baits in T1’s top and support. KT collapses and secures a double kill, taking firm control of the early game.
• 12’ (Second Dragon) – Deokdam’s Ashe arrow catches Oner to start the fight. No kills are secured after extended kiting, but KT secures the second dragon, stacking early drakes.

The game’s turning point came at the third dragon:

• 18’ (Third Dragon – Turning Point) – Oner’s Xin Zhao dives in and lands a perfect ultimate, splitting KT’s formation. Doran’s “Wolf Mother” immediately follows up, crashing into the back line.
  T1 wipes KT in a clean 0–4 teamfight and claims the dragon, breaking KT’s dragon tempo and flipping the game.

From there, T1 tightened its grip:

• 21’ (Ertahan fight) – After a long standoff around the primary neutral, Doran once again finds Deokdam with a massive ultimate, and T1 wins the battle decisively. Bdd trades his life for Doran in the re-engage, but Faker teleports in to take over, and T1 secures Ertahan.
• 24’ – Keria’s Poppy finds a perfect engagement; T1 wins 1–3 and takes their second dragon.
• 28’ (First Baron & Dragon) – Gumayusi starts a fight mid with his ultimate; T1 wins 1–3 again and secures Baron. In the following dragon fight, T1’s top jungle dives straight into KT’s back line, shattering their formation. Bdd tries to “drive” the team out, but PerfecT fails to get in and is left to die. T1 wins yet another 1–3 and claims their third Mountain Dragon.
• 35’ (Final Push) – With Baron, T1 force a sudden 0–3 mid-lane fight and end the game, taking the first win of the series.

Doran earns Game 1 MVP, repeatedly ulting deokdam and completely disrupting KT’s damage output in key fights.

Game 2 – Bdd’s Malzahar and PerfecT’s “excavator” tie the series

Result: KT win → Series tied 1–1
Game 2 MVP: PerfecT’s “excavator” in the top lane

In Game 2, KT struck back with a composition centered around Bdd’s Malzahar and a resilient frontline. The early game was scrappy, with both sides fighting constantly around the bot lane and the dragons.

• 4’ – Cuzz swindles bot lane; with Neeko transforming into a car-like engage form, they dive and kill Gumayusi under the turret for first blood.
• 7’ – T1 pick up the first dragon, momentarily stabilizing the map.
• 10’ – T1’s mid jungle duo attempt to start a fight mid, but Bdd’s Malzahar plays it flawlessly, turning the skirmish into a 1–2 trade favouring KT.
• 15’ – T1 tries to punish Bdd in the top lane. Although they kill him, KT’s top–jungle–support arrives in time to clean up, converting into another 1–2 and taking top-lane outer plus Rift Herald. KT moves ahead by around 3k gold.

At 18 minutes, dragon combat explodes:

• 18’ (Dragon Fight) – T1’s mid–jungle picks off Cuzz, but KT gambles on a 4v5 hard engage. T1’s bot lane survives to the end of the fight and T1 scrapes out a brutal 3–5 teamfight, slightly relieving pressure.

The mid–late game, however, belongs firmly to KT:

• 20’ – Another dragon fight: Faker dives deep to look for Deokdam, but the move splits T1’s formation. With space to operate, Bdd’s Malzahar completely takes over, enabling KT to win the fight and secure both the dragon and the neutral objective.
• 25’ – Doran ambushes Deokdam in mid-lane brush, then KT’s four-person squad rushes Baron, alleviating dragon pressure and later claiming their second dragon.
• 33’ – T1 invades KT’s blue side and is punished. Faker is focused and burst down by four members, while PerfecT somehow refuses to die. BDD then pilots Malzahar to perfection in the ensuing fight, and KT wins big, securing Baron.
• 38’ – KT takes a 2–2 trade and secures a full-HP Chemtech Dragon Soul, adding immense durability.
• 40 42’ (Close) – Doran is caught and killed while looking for a play, but KT still secures a second Baron. T1 tries a desperate engagement at 42 minutes, but KT wins the fight 5–3 and closes out the game.

PerfecT is awarded Game 2 MVP for his “excavator” top-lane pick, staying alive in multiple chaotic fights and anchoring KT’s frontline throughout the mid and late game.

Game 3 – Cuzz’s Dr. Mundo goes wherever he wants

Result: KT win → KT lead 2–1, reach match point
Game 3 MVP: Cuzz’s Dr. Mundo

With the series tied, Game 3 saw KT draft a terrifying triple frontline: K’Sante, Dr. Mundo, and Alistar. T1 finally managed to grab an early lead, but once KT’s tanks came online, the game flipped completely.

KT’s idea was simple: survive T1’s early game, let the frontline hit item spikes, then run them over in 5v5s. That is precisely what happened.

• 6’ – T1 secures the first dragon, then KT attempts a fight and chases into the mid lane, where they find Faker and secure first blood.
• 11’ – T1 initially takes a fight 0–2 in their favour, but Cuzz’s Dr. Mundo lands a clutch Smite and continues chasing, turning it into a 1–3 for KT, a giant swing that catapults Mundo ahead.
• 15’ – Doran finds a critical TP flank, Keria engages the enemy Corki, and Peter’s Alistar is also killed. T1 secure Rift Herald, trying to break the game open before KT scale.

However, by the mid-game, Mundo and K’Sante become unkillable:

• 23’ – T1 take another dragon, but KT’s top jungle is now totally unanswerable. In the ensuing fight, Mundo and K’Sante dominate the frontline, and T1’s teamfight collapses.
• 27’ (Baron) – KT start Baron. Doran’s Renekton is briefly caught, but it doesn’t matter—Cuzz’s Mundo is completely unstoppable. KT wins back-to-back 0–2 skirmishes and secures Baron.
• 33’ (Chemtech Soul) – T1 force an all-in, managing to kill Bdd instantly. Even so, Mundo stands in the middle of everyone without breaking a sweat. KT still wins the fight and secures the Chemtech Dragon Soul.
• 36’ (Finish) – KT rolls over T1 in a 0–5 ace and ends the game, going up 2–1 and taking the championship point.

Cuzz rightly claims Game 3 MVP – his Dr. Mundo, “going wherever he wanted,” was simply unkillable and dictated every major fight from mid-game onward.

Game 4 – Oner’s Nocturne drags T1 to Silver Scrapes

Result: T1 win → Series tied 2–2
Game 4 MVP: Oner’s Nocturne

Facing elimination, T1 put the game in Oner’s hands with Nocturne jungle, and he delivered. Despite early lane problems, two clutch Smite contests on dragons turned the entire match.

• 5’ – Faker’s mid-lane laning goes wrong; after his passive is forced out, Cuzz Flashes in to secure first blood. KT then attempts an early dragon, but Oner Flashes into the pit and smites it away, denying KT’s snowball.
• 11’ – T1 secures the second dragon, but KT wins the following fight 0–2. Peter’s Tahm Kench overchases and is punished, giving T1 a small consolation pick.
• 17’ – At the third dragon, Oner once again wins the Smite, securing Ocean Soul point for T1. KT still wins the teamfight 1–3, but T1 keeps the dragon condition alive.
• 21’ (Ertahan fight) – In the Ertahan fight, PerfecT dives straight onto Gumayusi and kills him, allowing Kalista to secure Ertahan and giving KT more tools to press their lead.

The game then hinges on the 23-minute Ocean Soul fight:

• 23’ (Ocean Soul fight) – The battle around the dragon pit is pure chaos. Oner survives on a sliver of HP, staying in range as the contest continues. In the end, Doran secures the Ocean Dragon, and T1 crushes the teamfight.
  Faker’s Anivia explodes in damage, dealing over 8,500 in a single teamfight, shredding KT’s lineup.

From that moment on, a Soul-powered T1 became nearly impossible to kill:

• 26’ – T1 pick off Mordekaiser, turn immediately to Baron, and win another 0–3 fight to secure it.
• 29’ (Final Fight) – Bdd throws out a desperate engage, trying to claw KT back into the game. But with Ocean Soul + Baron, T1 doesn’t lose a single member, wins a clean 0–5 ace, and ends the game.

Oner’s Nocturne takes Game 4 MVP for his two game-defining Smites and his unshakable presence in crucial moments, dragging the series to a do-or-die Game 5.

Game 5 – Gumayusi rises, T1 completes the three-peat

Result: T1 win → T1 takes the series 3–2, claims the S15 World Championship
Game 5 & Series MVP: Gumayusi

With everything on the line, Game 5 became the actual climax of the telecom war. Both teams drafted comfort and scaling: KT leaned again on intense mid-game fights and sturdy frontline, while T1 bet on a late-game teamfight composition built around Gumayusi.

The early game was tense and relatively controlled:

• KT found small advantages through early skirmishes and lane pressure.
• T1 traded back with cleaner objective setups, keeping the gold close and ensuring that Gumayusi could scale safely.

The match revolved around mid-game dragons and the first Baron:

• In multiple river skirmishes, T1 played front-to-back, using Faker’s control mage and Doran’s engage to create space.
• Gumayusi’s positioning was flawless—he consistently stayed just out of reach of KT’s engage tools, dishing out maximum DPS without being caught.

The game’s decisive moments came around the Soul fight and final Baron:

• T1 secured key dragons to put themselves on Soul point, then won a crucial 5v5 where Gumayusi cleaned up a multi-kill in the river, turning a narrow engage into a complete teamfight victory.
• On the last Baron, KT threw everything at T1’s back line, but Gumayusi once again sidestepped the initial burst and shredded KT’s tanks, forcing them to retreat. Baron went to T1, along with complete control of the map.

With Baron and Soul in their hands, T1 grouped mid for the final push:

• Gumayusi opened the last fight with perfect ult and kiting, deleting KT’s front line one by one.
• KT’s last attempt at a counter-engage fell short; their carries never got a stable angle to hit.
• T1 scored a decisive ace, marched into KT’s base, destroyed the Nexus, and sealed the series 3–2.

For his series-long consistency and Game 5 dominance, Gumayusi was named S15 World Championship FMVP, following Zeus (2023) and Faker (2024) in T1’s FMVP lineage.

Legacy Secured – T1’s New Era of Champions

With this victory:

• T1 completes a historic three-peat at Worlds.
• The FMVP trilogy – Zeus (2023), Faker (2024), and now Gumayusi (2025) – symbolizes the evolution of T1’s core, from top-side carry dominance to a truly four-lane threat.
• KT, in their first Worlds final, push T1 to the limit and prove that the telecom war is alive and well on the international stage.

From Doran’s Game 1 engage masterclass, to Cuzz’s unstoppable Dr. Mundo in Game 3, to Oner’s clutch Smites in Game 4. Finally, Gumayusi’s Game 5 takeover, this S15 final will be remembered as one of the most intense and story-rich series in Worlds history.

The above content is compiled by ModeZone, a fashion and entertainment magazine.