Worlds 2025: The teams everyone’s talking about ahead of playoffs

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What a Worlds it’s been! With the Play-In and Swiss Stage behind us, it’s time for the Knockout Stage — and not every favorite survived the cut. The first two phases delivered non-stop action and plenty of memorable moments, sparking huge discussions across the community. Esports Charts analyzed broadcasts from League of Legends’ biggest tournament of the year to reveal which teams got fans talking the most. Spoiler alert: Gen.G are not even in the top 10!

At Worlds, all eyes (and conversations) are on T1. The reigning champions have played more matches than any other team this tournament, putting fans through plenty of stress before finally securing their playoff spot. Across the Play-In and Swiss Stage, T1 generated over 209,000 chat mentions, a staggering 115% more than their nearest competitor.

In a surprise twist, second place went to Taiwan’s Flying Oyster, owned by CTBC, which also operates professional baseball and basketball teams. The squad endured a true rollercoaster of a Swiss Stage, facing opponents from every region and clinching a playoff berth by defeating FlyQuest in a decisive series. With such a diverse lineup of matchups (including one against T1), Flying Oyster racked up nearly 100,000 mentions overall.

G2 Esports emerged as the most talked-about European team and the only representative of the Western world to reach the Worlds playoffs. The squad wrapped up the Swiss Stage with a solid 3-1 record, taking down not only last year’s Worlds finalists but also North America’s top team, and as every fan knows, EU vs NA clashes never fail to ignite the community.

Among the teams that failed to reach the playoffs, Bilibili Gaming sparked the most discussion, and understandably so. They were last season’s runner-up and this year’s LPL champion, yet their Worlds campaign fell well short of expectations. The team suffered defeats not only to fellow Chinese side Top Esports but also to Western opponents. Interestingly, while fewer total messages mentioned them compared to G2, more unique users took part in the conversation about Bilibili.

KOI, who faced two of Europe’s heavyweights and drew the short straw by meeting T1 in the decisive series, rounded out the top five. While not as popular as G2 Esports, the team still generated plenty of buzz with 74,000 chat messages — and had they pulled off a historic upset in that last match, their numbers would likely have been much higher.

The rest of the top 10 teams each generated between 45,000 and 65,000 mentions. The lower half of the ranking featured both standout performers (like KT Rolster and Anyone’s Legend, who went undefeated in the Swiss Stage) and clear disappointments (with Fnatic dropping all three of its series). Closing out the list was 100 Thieves, the lone North American representative in the top 10.

Worlds resumes tomorrow, October 28, with a thrilling all-Korean quarterfinal between the powerhouse Gen.G and Hanwha Life Esports. The big question: can HLE recapture their early-season form? Keep up with the tournament and its viewership stats on Esports Charts.