T1's London Comeback: Two Years On, a Fifth World Title Still Echoes
Two years ago today, on November 2, London’s O2 Arena hosted the League of Legends World Championship final. T1, the defending champion and the fourth seed from South Korea’s LCK, faced Bilibili Gaming (BLG), the top seed from China’s LPL. The series went the full five games, and T1 won 3-2 to lift the Summoner’s Cup for a fifth time in the organization’s history. For BLG, it was a first appearance in a world final and a runner-up finish that still stings.
The date has become a fixture in the esports calendar. Fans refer to it as the last stand of the ZOFGK lineup — Zeus, Oner, Faker, Gumayusi and Keria — the five players who defined T1’s modern era. The anniversary post that circulated on Chinese social platforms framed the match as a farewell to that roster, even though the lineup has since changed. The phrase ‘ZOFGK’s last battle’ captures how a single series can mark the end of a cycle.
For Chinese fans, the memory is double-edged. BLG reached the final as the LPL’s great hope and pushed T1 to a deciding game, but fell short. The loss became a reference point in debates about whether the LPL can close the gap with the LCK in high-pressure series. Two years later, those debates have not faded; they have simply moved to new tournaments.
That context matters because of what happened this week in Beijing. The IEM Beijing Counter-Strike 2 event opened with a harsh lesson for Chinese CS2 fans, according to the same outlet that marked the T1 anniversary. The parallel is not exact — different game, different scene — but the pattern is familiar: Chinese teams enter international events with high expectations and meet a gap in experience or depth.
The anniversary also highlights how esports history is written by its fans. The O2 Arena final drew a global audience and produced a defining narrative: T1’s veteran core, led by Faker, winning one more title against the odds. That story has been retold in highlight reels, anniversary threads and merchandise ever since. For T1, it was a fifth title; for BLG and the LPL, it was a near miss that became a motivator.
In China, the date is now part of the esports conversation. The anniversary post appeared on a major gaming outlet’s feed, not as news but as a reminder. It sits alongside coverage of the current IEM Beijing event, where Chinese fans are watching their teams try to close a different gap. The juxtaposition is unintentional but telling: the past is never far from the present in competitive gaming.
What the anniversary does not settle is the future. T1’s roster has changed, BLG has rebuilt, and the LPL has new challengers. The 3-2 scoreline remains a fixed point, but the meaning of that final is still being negotiated by fans on both sides. For now, the date is enough to bring the conversation back.