League of Legends Worlds 2025 Swiss Stage has already caused some shocks, with reigning champions T1 finishing round two in the 1-1 bracket after an unexpected loss to LCP representatives CTBC Flying Oyster.
T1 qualified for the Swiss Stage after defeating Invictus Gaming in the tournament’s play-ins, and after defeating FlyQuest, the team appeared to build momentum towards a third consecutive world title. However, CFO — a team that had already pushed T1 to five games at MSI 2025 — proved to be a formidable opponent, this time securing the win in a tense best-of-one match.
In an interview with Esports Insider, T1 jungler Mun ‘Oner‘ Hyeon-jun opened up about the loss to CFO, sharing his honest thoughts on the team’s preparation. He also spoke about the sacrifices behind T1’s sustained success, the current jungle meta, and what it truly takes to stay on top when every team is chasing your legacy.
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Esports Insider: Thank you Oner for taking the time for this interview. I understand that it’s not the best time right now, but I want to hear your thoughts on the game against CFO.
Oner: Since last year, I always felt like CFO was such a great team. They play so well, and I was just reminded that they’re such a strong team. Because it’s best of one, there is always a chance that you can run into variables, and of course, you can win or lose. And from this loss, I believe that we have more to learn and gain.
ESI: Last year at MSI, we had an interview, and you said to me that condition matters even more than feedback sometimes, and that the condition of the team results in what ultimately is the performance in the game. Can you tell me about the preparation that you and your team did for today’s match against CFO, and what the conditions were you in when you went on stage today?
Oner: Well, as we are all in a marathon going on to stage constantly, I feel like the number one priority should be maintaining your best condition. And I can’t speak for my own team, but I have a sore throat, and of course, some people may think that it’s just a petty excuse, but I also think that it’s such a bummer that I didn’t take good care of myself, my own health.
Personally, I also felt a little regretful that I didn’t get good sleep last night. And that also leads up to I had a lot of mistakes, team-wide mistakes that were showing up in the game today, just gameplay-wise, which leaves a lot of regret. So that’s just something that we need to work on.
ESI: I’m sorry to hear that you’re not feeling well. I hope you get better soon. Something that you said really stuck with me because more often than not, T1 sets the standard for every other team. How do you improve yourself knowing that, typically, there isn’t someone you wouldn’t look up to because you’re considered the best?
Oner: Yeah, honestly, as a back-to-back champion last year, of course many teams, maybe everyone is thinking that way.
But I feel that in every meta, there are always certain teams that end up showing up better, and they end up performing better than us. And that’s why, with those teams that adapt so well to those meta, there’s just someone to learn from. So I believe that as teams go through those changes, they also climb up or down. So I feel like there are always teams to learn from.
ESI: I have a few questions on meta, but before that, I wanted to ask you about this year’s Worlds Anthem, ‘Sacrifice.’ It commemorates the sacrifices pros need to make to even make it to Worlds. I’m curious to know, what sacrifices did you have to make in your personal life to get where you are now?
Oner: As a pro gamer, I feel like you end up devoting your whole 20s, early 20s to mid-20s to your career.
So I believe that I also have sacrificed my early to mid-20s. You also end up sacrificing your own health and your soul really. So I think if I looked deeper into it, I’m sure there’s a lot more that I have sacrificed, but I think those are the biggest things that I have sacrificed to be here.
ESI: Going to the meta, Riot tried to push a lot of AP Junglers during this Worlds patch, but we haven’t seen many play. Do you think they will be more available and come up more when best-of-threes and best-of-fives arrive?
Oner: Honestly, right now because of the nature of Best of One, I feel like that’s why you keep seeing higher-tier AD jungles, and these are some picks that we cannot ban in the very first game.
So I think that’s why you end up not seeing AP ones, because in the current meta, you have so many AD jungles that are strong that have been performing so well on stage. So I think you need to have them sort of denied or eliminated before you start seeing [AP ones].
I would expect to see more of them in a Best of Three or Five, maybe one to two games in those Best of Fives.
ESI: As a last question one from the community, can you tell me how you feel your form is right now compared to other junglers at Worlds?
Oner: Personally, to be honest, I feel like it’s just too early, maybe too soon to decide how my form is right now, because it’s just the nature of best of ones.
It could be luck. Maybe it’s just that your opponent was playing really well. I think there are just way too many variables to consider. So in a best-of-one, I don’t think I can decide how my form is, but as we go along in Worlds and reach best-of-fives, I think that’s when I should be able to certainly say something about my form.
Source: https://esportsinsider.com/
