Thursday, May 3rd, marked a highly anticipated moment in the world of competitive gaming. T1, the reigning world champions in League of Legends, featuring the legendary Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, kicked off their MSI 2025 journey. Most fans probably expected an easy win. Instead, they got a nail-biter against CTBC Flying Oyster (CFO), a team from the Pacific region.
CFO, led by an 18-year-old rookie, Tsai “hongQ” Ming-hong, gave the champions a serious scare. T1 found themselves down 2-1 in the best-of-five series. It was a real test of their strength. In one game, hongQ even managed to make Faker, widely known as the greatest player ever, end with a score of just 1 kill and 7 deaths. That doesn’t happen often.
This matchup was a true clash of generations. When Faker won his first world championship back in 2013, hongQ was just six years old. Yet, in 2025, the young CFO player pushed T1 to five full games. He delivered some incredible performances that made many wonder if CFO could actually pull off the upset. They almost advanced through the upper bracket.
In the end, T1 found their championship form and fought back to win the series 3-2. CFO, despite their incredible effort, moved to the lower bracket. They will face KOI, the European champions, on Saturday, May 5th, at 4 PM. This match will decide who stays in the tournament. T1, on the other hand, will go up against Bilibili Gaming in the upper bracket semifinal, right after the first game.