100 Thieves upsets BLG as LEC teams falter at Worlds 2025 Swiss Stage day one

In the organisation’s last run in League of Legends esports, North America’s 100 Thieves has already created an early Worlds 2025 upset, defeating LPL first seed Bilibili Gaming (BLG) in the Swiss Stage. 

Other notable storylines on the opening day include the success of the Pacific’s LCP, which went 2-0, and an unfavourable start for the LEC, which failed to record a single victory. 

Esports Insider takes a look at the biggest talking points from a surprising Swiss Stage round one at League of Legends’ season-ending event.

Arguably, the most surprising result of Swiss Stage day one came at the hands of LTA’s third seed 100 Thieves, as the team toppled BLG in its home nation. Opting to play with jungler Yang ‘Beichuan’ Ling for its first series, BLG failed to gain much momentum in the BO1 series. 

On the other hand, 100 Thieves showed good early game prowess, securing first blood in a seventh-minute skirmish, which was immediately followed by a rare blunder from BLG’s top laner Chen ‘Bin’ Zebin. Following its early game success, 100 Thieves went on to mitigate BLG’s mid-game pressure, which included the Chinese team securing two dragons, a herald and the first tower. Despite this pressure, BLG only guaranteed a minimal 2,000 gold lead.

The turning point of the series occurred around the Atakhan as 100 Thieves won a crucial team fight to take the objective in the 24th minute and snowballed its way to a surprisingly dominant 22-6 victory.

In the end, 100 Thieves’ mid laner Lim ‘Quid’ Hyeon-seung recorded a 9/0/9 KDA on Aurora while ADC Victor ‘FBI’ Huang’s Ziggs scored a 9/1/5 KDA.

After securing a favourable Swiss Stage draw, hopes were high for League of Legends’ European representatives. However, Fnatic, G2 Esports and MKOI have been immediately placed on the back foot in their Worlds 2025 campaigns following losses to CTBC Flying Oyster, Top Esports and KT Rolster, respectively. 

It was almost a dream start to MKOI’s Worlds 2025 campaign, with the LEC team recording a solid early game that included mid laner Joseph ‘Jojopyun’ Pyun securing first blood, slaying three dragons, and generating a 3,500 gold lead at the 23rd minute mark. 

However, momentum shifted dramatically in KT Rolster’s favour as the LCK team won a crucial team fight around Atakhan. Despite Javier ‘Elyoya’ Prades managing to steal the objective, MKOI lost four members, which helped KT regain control of the Rift. After securing Baron in the 26th minute, KT Rolster didn’t falter and walked into MKOI’s base to secure the victory around the 33-minute mark. 

Despite coming in as the LEC’s first seed, G2 Esports was unable to utilise its regional momentum, losing to China’s third seed Top Esports. The 32-minute match ended 22-7 in Top Esports’ favour, with its jungler Seo ‘Kanavi’ Jin-hyeok ending the match deathless on Trundle with a 9/0/8 KDA. One of the biggest moments of the match came from Bai ‘369’ Jiahao’s Aatrox, staying alive against five members of G2 before turning the fight with his team. 

Earlier in the day, UK-based esports organisation Fnatic suffered a hard 5-18 loss to LCP first seed CTBC Flying Oyster (CFO). With CFO recording the first blood and first tower, the BO1 match-up showcased the power of the Pacific League. In particular, bot laner Chiu ‘Doggo’ Tzu-Chuan walked away with an impressive 7/1/7 KDA on Caitlin.

On the flip side, round one was a day of celebration for Pacific fans with both representatives, CFO and Team Secret Whales, securing impressive victories. Team Secret Whales opened up the Swiss Stage with a consistent — and aggressive — 22-8 performance against Brazil’s Vivo Keyd Stars.

Despite 100 Theives’ surprise result, FlyQuest’s match against T1 followed a more predictable script. 

In a previous interview by Sheep Esports, T1 support Ryu ‘Keria’ Min-seok praised FlyQuest strength. However, he also issued a warning to FlyQuest’s jungler Kacper ‘Inspired’ Słoma, if his team was able to play Bard. With T1 locking in the support champion, Keria ended the series with an impressive 4/3/20 KDA, whilst Inspired failed to secure a single kill in the game. In the end, T1 followed up on its play-ins victory the day prior with an impressive 34-minute 29-12 win.

Outside the rift, it’s important to note that FlyQuest has also launched a Worlds 2025 charity campaign alongside its fellow opponents, T1. 

It wasn’t a completely successful day for Korea’s LCK as LPL’s Anyone’s Legends won a fierce back-and-forth 29-14 game against Hanwha Life Esports.

Meanwhile, in the final game of the day, Worlds 2025 favourites Gen.G got its first win on the board, defeating the LCP’s third seed PSG Talon. Despite PSG Talon recording the first blood and putting up a valiant effort, the LCK team walked away victorious in 27 minutes with a 20-9 scoreline.

Day two of League of Legends Worlds 2025 Swiss Stage will see the 0-1 teams face off in the hope of regaining some momentum and avoiding a huge lower bracket run. Meanwhile, the 1-0 teams will be aiming to be one step closer to the Knockout Stage.

All matches will be streamed live on League of Legends’ official esports Twitch and YouTube channels, alongside accepted co-streamers. Games will kick off on October 16th at 6AM BST.

The Round Two draw is as follows:

1-0 Matches

0-1 Matches