Team [spoiler] is the first ever team to make an international finals despite a negative map differential
It's always a big achievement when a western team makes an international final (last happened with G2 at 2019 Worlds), so I wanted to see if KC's First Stand run is an outlier compared to previous finalists. Here's a quick data dump of international tournament finalist records (not including the actual games in the finals). Would you say this shows how KC have ramped into the tournament, or is it just a product of the format?
Data was manually recorded from the wiki, so it's possible there are errors here and there.
| Event | Team | Pre-Finals W-L | Games Played | Pre-Finals WR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 Worlds | FNC | 7-3 | 10 | 70% |
| Season 1 Worlds | aAa | 8-4 | 12 | 67% |
| Season 2 Worlds | TPA | 4-1 | 5 | 80% |
| Season 2 Worlds | AZF | 7-1 | 8 | 88% |
| 2013 Worlds | SKT | 12-3 | 15 | 80% |
| 2013 Worlds | RYL | 5-1 | 6 | 83% |
| 2014 Worlds | SSW | 12-1 | 13 | 92% |
| 2014 Worlds | SHR | 11-5 | 16 | 69% |
| 2015 MSI | EDG | 7-1 | 8 | 88% |
| 2015 MSI | SKT | 8-2 | 10 | 80% |
| 2015 Worlds | SKT | 12-0 | 12 | 100% |
| 2015 Worlds | KOO | 10-3 | 13 | 77% |
| 2016 MSI | SKT | 9-5 | 14 | 64% |
| 2016 MSI | CLG | 10-4 | 14 | 71% |
| 2016 Worlds | SKT | 11-4 | 15 | 73% |
| 2016 Worlds | SSG | 11-1 | 12 | 92% |
| 2017 MSI | SKT | 11-2 | 13 | 85% |
| 2017 MSI | G2 | 7-6 | 13 | 54% |
| 2017 Worlds | SSG | 10-3 | 13 | 77% |
| 2017 Worlds | SKT | 11-5 | 16 | 69% |
| 2018 MSI | RNG | 10-3 | 13 | 77% |
| 2018 MSI | KZ | 9-5 | 14 | 64% |
| 2018 Worlds | iG | 11-3 | 14 | 79% |
| 2018 Worlds | FNC | 11-2 | 13 | 85% |
| 2019 MSI | G2 | 8-7 | 15 | 53% |
| 2019 MSI | TL | 7-7 | 14 | 50% |
| 2019 Worlds | FPX | 10-4 | 14 | 71% |
| 2019 Worlds | G2 | 11-3 | 14 | 79% |
| 2020 Worlds | DWG | 11-2 | 13 | 85% |
| 2020 Worlds | SN | 10-4 | 14 | 71% |
| 2021 MSI | RNG | 10-4 | 14 | 71% |
| 2021 MSI | DK | 11-4 | 15 | 73% |
| 2021 Worlds | EDG | 10-6 | 16 | 63% |
| 2021 Worlds | DK | 12-2 | 14 | 86% |
| 2022 MSI | RNG | 17-2 | 19 | 89% |
| 2022 MSI | T1 | 16-3 | 19 | 84% |
| 2022 Worlds | DRX | 10-5 | 15 | 67% |
| 2022 Worlds | T1 | 11-2 | 13 | 85% |
| 2023 MSI | JDG | 9-2 | 11 | 82% |
| 2023 MSI | BLG | 16-6 | 22 | 73% |
| 2023 Worlds | T1 | 10-2 | 12 | 83% |
| 2023 Worlds | WBG | 11-5 | 16 | 69% |
| 2024 MSI | GEN | 9-3 | 12 | 75% |
| 2024 MSI | BLG | 10-8 | 18 | 56% |
| 2024 Worlds | T1 | 10-2 | 12 | 83% |
| 2024 Worlds | BLG | 11-4 | 15 | 73% |
| 2025 First Stand | HLE | 11-2 | 13 | 85% |
| 2025 First Stand | KC | 7-8 | 15 | 47% |
| Average (MSI) | 10.2-4.1 | 14.3 | 78% | |
| Average (Worlds) | 10.0-3.4 | 12.9 | 72% | |
| Average (Total) | 10.0-3.4 | 13.5 | 75% |
Some interesting notes:
Historically it has only been slightly easier to make finals in MSI vs Worlds (78% vs 72% average win rate).
The only team to get to finals without dropping a map is SKT at 2015 worlds. They would finally drop a map while winning the finals 3-1 against KOO.
The best win rate by a western team making it to a final is FNC at 2018 Worlds, going 11-2 (85%).
The bottom five international finalists by win rate are:
- KC | 2025 First Stand | 7-8 | 47%
- TL | 2019 MSI | 7-7 | 50%
- G2 | 2019 MSI | 8-7 | 53%
- G2 | 2017 MSI | 7-6 | 54%
- BLG | 2024 MSI | 10-8 | 56%