SK Telecom T1 Arrive on Schedule (2013)

SK Telecom T1 used the Season 3 event to secure Korea's first world championship and introduce themselves to the world, and it was here that a 17-year-old Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok announced the start of his legacy. Together with teammates Bengi, Impact, Piglet, and PoohManDu, they swept China's Royal Club 3-0 to win and start an era of Korean dominance. Korea would not lose the title to another region until 2018.

Samsung White Set the All-Time Bar (2014)

The 2014 World Championship was held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, which also hosted the 2002 FIFA semifinal, and hosted 40,000 fans for its opening ceremony. Featuring an act as big as Imagine Dragons, it showed how big the tournament had grown.

Samsung White won the Summoner's Cup that year with a lineup that many consider to be the strongest five-man squad ever assembled at Worlds. Looper, DanDy, PawN, Imp, and Mata recorded an 88% win rate in the event, and Mata took home the Finals MVP award. Samsung White never repeated, though, as the team was bought out by LPL teams in China along with the 2014 mass exodus.

SK Telecom T1 Reclaim the Throne (2015)

The 2015 Final was held at Berlin's Mercedes-Benz Arena, and SK Telecom T1 cruised to an easy win, capping off their performance with a 3-1 victory over the KOO Tigers with 36 million viewers watching. MaRin won Finals MVP with a performance that set the standard for how top-lane is played.

SK Telecom T1 Three-Peat the Hard Way (2016)

Worlds 2016 had a crowdfunded prize pool of $6.7 million and is considered one of the best Worlds final games ever played. SK Telecom T1 was almost eliminated by Samsung Galaxy, but made a comeback. Faker won his first MVP, but SKT would not win another world title for seven years.

Samsung Galaxy Gets Its Revenge (2017)

The 2017 World Championship was held at Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium, which hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics, and drew a crowd of 40,000, with a tournament viewership of 60 million. The finals featured the same two teams as the previous year, but while everyone expected a coronation of the SKT dynasty, Samsung Galaxy instead swept 3-0.

This final game was the first since 2013 to see a sweep, and any talk of continuing SKT's dominance was over.

Invictus Gaming Breaks the Korean Streak (2018)

Worlds 2018 saw the event return to South Korea at Munhak Stadium in Incheon, with a $6.45 million prize pool, but it was won by Invictus Gaming, a Chinese team, after a 3-0 sweep of Fnatic, claiming the first Worlds trophy for the LPL region. It was also here that the virtual K-pop group K/DA's “POP/STARS” opening ceremony kicked off.

FunPlus Phoenix Make It Back-to-Back for China (2019)

Another Chinese team won at the Worlds 2019 final at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris. FunPlus Phoenix, representing the League of Legends Pro League, dismantled G2 Esports in front of a home crowd with a 3-0 sweep. This matchup also proved that a shift had come, as there was no Korean team in the final for the second straight year. It was also notable that FunPlus Phoenix was the first team since SK Telecom T1 in 2013 to win worlds in their debut appearance.

The Korean mid laner Doinb finally got his due after years of grinding at the LPL, and jungler Gao “Tian” Tianliang took home Finals MVP honors.

DAMWON Gaming Bring Korea Back (2020)

Worlds 2020 was held across two venues in Shanghai amid COVID lockdowns, with a crowd capacity limited to just 6,000 for the final, most of whom were Chinese and cheering for Suning. DAMWON Gaming closed out the series 3-1 in around 140 minutes of play. Canyon won Finals MVP.

EDward Gaming Pull off the Iceland Upset (2021)

The Worlds 2021 final was held without an in-venue audience due to COVID protocols, but it reached a peak viewership of 73.86 million, breaking every League of Legends Worlds record at the time. Edward Gaming, a Chinese team, won the final against the defending champs. This marked the third Worlds title for China in the last four years. Lee “Scout” Ye-chan won Finals MVP, and it was the first time since 2016 that a mid laner won the award.

DRX Ran the Greatest Cinderella Story in Worlds History (2022)

Despite going on to win the final, DRX had to qualify for Worlds as the League of Legends Champions Korea's fourth seed, the lowest possible seeding for any LCK team. This meant starting from the play-in stage, which no true contender had to go through. They were even pushed to the brink by Edward Gaming before winning 3-2 in the quarterfinals.

DRX went on to win the Worlds 2022 final over T1, who were the overwhelming favorites with Faker on their team. Along with their win, Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu became the oldest player to win the tournament at 26, and Kingen won Finals MVP. The team never repeated, though, with half the roster leaving afterward.

T1 Finally Get Faker His Fourth (2023)

The Worlds 2023 returned to Korea at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, and the host country's fans were in for a treat. At LoL Worlds 2023, T1 swept Weibo Gaming. Faker won his fourth world title ten whole years after his first worlds title, when he was 27, at an age when others are expected to retire. As for Finals MVP, Zeus won it thanks to standout performances on Yone, Gwen, and Aatrox across three games.

T1 Defend in London (2024)

Bilibili Gaming set the stage for the 2024 World Championship final held at the O2 Arena in London. They were the dominant LPL team for the entire year, and they beat T1 at the mid-season Invitational, though they lost that event's final to Gen.G, making them the favorites to win the final. But T1 won 3-2. Another notable detail was Faker's second Final MVP win, cementing his legacy in LoL.

T1 Three-Peat in Chengdu (2025)

The LoL Worlds 2025 final in Chengdu saw two Korean teams compete with a peak viewership of 6.75 million. T1 won the series 3-2 and became the first team in League of Legends history to win three consecutive worlds titles, with Faker becoming the first player to claim six world championships. The team's bot laner, Gumayusi, won Final MVP.

Korea, China, and Everyone Else in LoL Esports

There have been fifteen LoL World Championship tournaments so far, spanning a diverse roster of LoL Worlds winners. Among all League of Legends world champions, Korean teams have won 10, while Chinese Mainland teams have won 3. Beyond that feat, Taipei Assassins has won 1 for Taiwan, and Fnatic has won 1 for Europe. North America is yet to win the championship, and the same goes for the rest of the world.

But while T1 and Korea are the undisputed heavyweights, the history of League of Legends esports shows that underdogs have a good chance to win as well. Wildcard teams from Vietnam, Latin America, and the PCS have qualified, yet never reached the final, but there's a first time for everything. Albus NoX Luna in 2016 is still the closest to having gotten to the final among non-major-region teams

League of Legends continues to grow globally, and it may just be a matter of time before we see a team that can rival the current giants 10 years from now.