The most shocking upsets in LoL Worlds history
Tomorrow, the League of Legends World Championship will crown a new winner. After four weeks of competition where numerous teams stood out as potential champions, the two strongest ones remain. Besides a few hiccups, this World Championship has mostly gone according to plan, but this isn’t always the case. Here are the most shocking upsets in LoL Worlds history.
The most shocking upsets in LoL Worlds history, in chronological order
2014: Kabum shuts down Alliance
KaBuM! Esports pulled off the first major upset in “modern” LoL Esports history (read: 2013 onwards), to the point where it’s still brought up to this day. In 2014, Alliance was the first European superteam, the team that finally managed to dethrone Fnatic.
On their penultimate Group Stage day, Alliance scored a perfect game against the Korean representative Najin White Shield. NJWS didn’t get a single kill, turret, objective, not even jungle buffs past the starting two.
Then on the next day, the Brazilian team KaBum! Esports beat Alliance. Their first and only win at the 2014 World Championship locked ALL out of playoffs contention, even after they dismantled a Korean team. This was the CBLOL’s first ever game win at Worlds.
2016: Albus NoX Luna reaches the playoffs
Albus NoX Luna became the first Wildcard team to advance from the group stage at LoL Worlds. Image Credit: Riot Games
In 2016, the Russian team Albus NoX Luna found themselves in a group with G2 Esports, Counter-Logic Gaming, and ROX Tigers. At LoL Worlds, teams from minor regions are free wins for the rest of the group. Except, not this time.
ANX went on to 2-0 CLG and 1-1 G2. The CIS representative even scored a game against ROX, and wound up in a tiebreaker for first place. ANX was the first and only Wildcard team to ever reach the Worlds Knockout Stage.
2018: Gen.G and the LCK’s crash and burn
In 2018, LoL Esports had gotten time to establish itself and one thing was obvious. South Korea is the best region. Nigh unbeatable, the past three finals opposed two LCK teams each. Before that, it was still Korea that won the two previous years.
That year, everything changed. In group B, the opposition destroyed Gen.G. While no Korean team had been eliminated in groups since 2013, Gen.G not only failed to advance, but also finished last at 1-5.
Afterwards, Cloud9 3-0’d Afreeca Freecs in the quarterfinals, while Invictus Gaming beat KT Rolster. As a result, no Korean teams reached the semifinals. Two EU teams, one from NA, one from China, LoL Esports was entering a brand new era.
2019: Europe’s entire performance
G2 almost achieved the golden road in 2019. Image Credit: Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games
2019 was the year of hope for Europe. Fnatic reached the grand final in 2018, G2 Esports won the Mid-Season Invitational. Still, China and South Korea stood strong. The 2019 LoL Worlds then kept on subverting expectations.
After a rocky beginning, EU went 8-1 in the second round robin, before both G2 and Splyce lost their tiebreakers. As a result, all three LEC teams were in the quarterfinals – more than LPL representatives.
At the same time, Fnatic’s heroics took out Royal Never Give Up, a potential favorite. Then, G2 achieved the unthinkable again by going through SKT in the semifinal. In a beautiful match, they reached the final, and that’s all that happened in 2019.
2022: DRX’s storybook run
2022 was the story of one team, DRX. The team barely qualified for LoL Worlds, going through the lower bracket of the regional final and scoring 3-2 twice.
At Worlds, they weren’t particularly brilliant either. Until they were. As complete underdogs, DRX removed the reigning champions in EDward Gaming, beat Gen.G, and faced T1 for the title. In a five-game series, DRX claimed the Summoner’s Cup and finally gave Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu a title after ten years.
2025: KT vs Gen.G
KT Rolster beats Gen.G in the most shocking upset in LoL Worlds history. Image Credit: Riot Games
In 2025, Gen.G was the undisputed best team in the world. With a 32-2 series record across the 2025 LCK season and playoffs, nobody faced them and expected to win.
However, Gen.G has a problem at Worlds. No matter what happens, they find a way to lose in the quarter or semifinal. In 2025, it happened again. KT Rolster, the unexpected challenger, demolished them out of nowhere in the 2025 semifinal.
Analysts didn’t even expect KT to win a game. Their presence in the semifinals was already a surprise. Somehow, they won 3-1 and stopped Gen.G from reaching the LoL Worlds final for one more year.
Featured Image Credit: Lance Skundrich / Riot Games
Yapping non-stop about League of Legends since 2012, Naerlyn brings his knowledge and passion for the game as a writer for Win.gg. From esports history to Mordekaiser bugs, he is interested in everything related to LoL and will do his best to ensure that you are too.
Games aside, Naerlyn is also a dedicated musician, trying to learn as many instruments as he plays esports titles — this has had varying degrees of success!
Read Also
League of Legends
Esports Betting
GTA
Counter-Strike
Pokemon
Esports Betting
League of Legends