The thrilling T1 vs Gen.G showdown at MSI 2025 has become the most-watched League of Legends match of this year’s tournament to date, reaching a peak of 2,676,718 viewers (excluding Chinese platforms) according to Esportscharts.com. It’s also the second-most-viewed T1 vs Gen.G match ever, only surpassed by their legendary Worlds 2024 semifinal that drew a record-breaking 4.9 million viewers.

The two Korean powerhouses have faced each other countless times in recent years, dominating the LCK and the international stage alike—even if Hanwha Life Esports managed to break their streak by winning the LCK Summer title in 2024. Yet no rivalry in League of Legends sparks as much excitement as T1 vs Gen.G, especially when the stakes are high.

This year, anticipation was even greater because the new LCK format meant the teams hadn’t clashed in a grand final match by the end of Split 2. Fans were eager to see who truly stood on top, and the series didn’t disappoint: it went all the way to five games, keeping everyone on the edge of their seats until the very end.

History for the clubs and the tournament

With this result, the series not only tops MSI 2025 so far but also becomes the second most popular in the history of MSI itself. The only MSI series ahead of it remains last year’s lower bracket final, where T1 faced Bilibili Gaming and peaked at 2,829,728 viewers.

While those numbers don’t yet reach the heights seen in other esports — like this year’s MP Indonesia Season 15 of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, which peaked at 4,132,224 viewers — they highlight once again the unmatched global pull of T1, led by the legendary Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok, and the electric rivalry with Gen.G. And with three best-of-five series still left to play at MSI 2025, fans may yet witness even bigger numbers before the tournament comes to an end.