Every League of Legends Worlds Winner: A Year-by-Year History (2011–2025) | RFT.GG
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Every League of Legends Worlds Winner: A Year-by-Year History (2011–2025)
Photo Credit: Riot Games
The League of Legends World Championship is the most prestigious and most-watched tournament in all of esports. It has crowned 15 champions across 15 editions since 2011, and the story they tell is the story of competitive League itself — Europe's brief opening act at DreamHack, Korea's two great dynasties, China's rise, the Cinderella runs, and T1's three-peat to close the run-up to 2026. Here's every Worlds winner, year by year, with the scores, venues, rosters and storylines that defined each edition.
DreamHack Summer, Jönköping, Sweden. Fnatic beat fellow European side against All authority 2–1 in a Bo3 final to lift the inaugural World Championship, with the late Polish midlaner Maciej "Shushei" Ratuszniak taking MVP. Eight teams, a $100,000 prize pool spread among the participants, an arena vibe closer to a fan convention than a global event. The Fnatic roster gave Europe its first and, to date, only Worlds title.
Galen Center, Los Angeles. Taipei Assassins beat South Korea's Azubu Frost 3–1 in a sold-out final, becoming the only Taiwanese team ever to win Worlds. The roster entered as a wildcard and outplayed European favorites Moscow 5 and Korean side Azubu Frost in succession. The $2 million prize pool — a 20x jump from 2011 — confirmed Worlds as a serious esports event, and the Summoner's Cup itself was lifted for the first time.
Staples Center, Los Angeles. SKT swept China's Royal Club 3–0 in front of 11,000 spectators, with a 17-year-old Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok announcing his arrival on the biggest stage opposite a 16-year-old Jian "Uzi" Zihao on the other side of the map. The 32-million-viewer broadcast was the most-watched esports event ever at the time. Korea's first World Championship — and the foundation stone of the T1 dynasty.
Seoul World Cup Stadium (Sangam). Samsung White beat Star Horn Royal Club 3–1 in a home final, with support Cho "Mata" Se-hyong taking MVP. The roster is still cited as one of the most dominant ever assembled, dropping just two maps across the whole tournament. Within weeks of lifting the Cup, most of the team had signed lucrative contracts in the LPL, scattering the dynasty before it could compound.
Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin. SKT beat LCK rival KOO Tigers 3–1, with toplaner Jang "MaRin" Gyeong-hwan taking MVP. Faker's second Worlds title arrived in a year SKT also won the LCK Spring and Summer splits and finished runner-up at MSI — one of the closest brushes with the Golden Road in League history, falling a single game short against EDG in a 2-3 MSI final. The first European-hosted Worlds since the inaugural 2011 edition, and the start of three straight finals appearances for the org.
Staples Center, Los Angeles. SKT beat Samsung Galaxy 3–2 in a five-game classic, with Faker taking his first Finals MVP. Back-to-back titles and SKT's third Summoner's Cup in four years — the most dominant peak of the original SKT era. The 14.7 million peak concurrent viewers set a new record at the time.
Beijing National Stadium (the "Bird's Nest"). The rematch went the other way: Samsung Galaxy beat SKT 3–0 in front of 40,000 offline spectators, with ADC Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk taking MVP. The lasting image was Faker in tears at his desk, head in hands — a moment that defined the limits of even the greatest player and traveled further than any score line could. Worlds' first edition hosted in China, and the fifth straight LCK title.
Munhak Stadium, Incheon, South Korea. Invictus Gaming beat European side Fnatic 3–0, with jungler Gao "Ning" Zhen-Ning taking MVP. The IG roster ended five consecutive years of LCK titles and gave the LPL its long-awaited first World Championship. Fnatic, featuring Caps, sOAZ, Bwipo, Broxah, Rekkles and Hylissang, became the first Western team to reach a Worlds final since 2012.
Accor Arena, Paris. FPX swept G2 Esports 3–0, with jungler Gao "Tian" Tian-Liang taking MVP. Midlaner Kim "Doinb" Tae-sang ran unconventional engage picks — that the rest of the world had no answer to. G2, riding their MSI win earlier that year, lost in the most decisive way possible. Back-to-back LPL titles, back-to-back EU loss in grand final 0-3.
Pudong Football Stadium, Shanghai. Held in a pandemic-era China with a limited in-arena crowd. DAMWON beat China's Suning 3–1 to return the title to Korea after two LPL wins, with jungler Kim "Canyon" Geon-bu taking MVP. The roster became the new face of the LCK overnight and ended what had looked like the start of a sustained Chinese era.
Laugardalshöll, Reykjavik, Iceland. With Chinese cities still closed to international travel due to COVID, Worlds 2021 took place behind closed doors in Iceland — a strange, quiet edition with no live audience for the final. EDG beat DAMWON KIA 3–2 in a five-game series, handing the LPL a third title in four years. Midlaner Lee "Scout" Ye-chan took MVP.
Chase Center, San Francisco. The biggest underdog run in Worlds history: DRX qualified through Play-Ins as the LCK's fourth seed, fought through the whole bracket, and beat T1 3–2 in the final to give veteran ADC Kim "Deft" Hyuk-kyu his first Worlds title after a decade of trying. Toplaner Hwang "Kingen" Seong-hoon took Finals MVP with a series-defining Aatrox in Games 4 and 5. Faker’s first final since 2017 ended in another defeat.
Gocheok Sky Dome, Seoul. The king has finally reclaimed his crown. T1 swept Weibo Gaming 3–0 in a home final, ending a six-year title drought for Faker and earning him a fourth Summoner's Cup. In semis they crushed JDG dreams of completing the first Golden Road of LoL Esports history. Toplaner Choi "Zeus" Woo-je took MVP at 19. The T1 roster had finally arrived, settling years of "when will T1 win again" anxiety in the loudest possible way.
The O2 Arena, London. The same five-man roster went back-to-back, beating Bilibili Gaming 3–2 in a five-game finale in front of a 14,700-capacity sellout. Down 2–1 with BLG at match point in Game 4, Faker stole the Rakan ultimate with Sylas, cleaned up the resulting fight, and flipped the series single-handedly. He took his second Finals MVP — his first since 2016 — and cemented his status as the undisputed GOAT not just of League of Legends, but of esports as a whole.
Dong'an Lake Sports Park Multifunctional Gymnasium, Chengdu, China. T1 came back from a 2–1 series deficit against LCK rival KT Rolster to win the all-Korean Telecom War final 3–2, completing the first-ever Worlds three-peat. ADC Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyeong took MVP; In his first season with T1 after replacing Zeus during the offseason, Doran also lifted the Summoner’s Cup. Faker secured his sixth world title. KT, appearing in their first Worlds final ever, came close to ending the dynasty.
What the numbers say
Fifteen editions, nine different champion organizations. The LCK leads with 10 titles, the LPL has 3, the LMS one (Taipei Assassins, 2012), and Europe one (Fnatic, 2011). T1 alone account for 6 — more than all other regions outside South Korea combined — and Faker has been the throughline since 2013, the only constant across a competition that has otherwise reshaped itself half a dozen times. The road to a 16th champion runs through Los Angeles, Allen, and Brooklyn this October.
