First Stand 2025: Format, Schedule, Teams, and More

The game's new international tournament is set to begin. Featuring only the first seeds from the LTA, LEC, LCK, LPL, and LCP, First Stand 2025 will be a battle to crown the ultimate champion at Seoul, South Korea.

Starting this Monday, March 10th, five teams will compete at the inaugural edition of First Stand for a chance to lift the first international trophy of the year. Who will be the last team standing at this clash of champions?

But before we get ahead of ourselves, let's take a look at everything there is to know about First Stand 2025, from the teams and format, to the schedule and on-air talent.

Find out everything there is to know about the new international tournament, First Stand. (Credit: LoL Esports)

First Stand Teams

• Team Liquid (LTA)
• Karmine Corp (LEC)
• Hanwha Life Esports (LCK)
• Top Esports (LPL)
• CTBC Flying Oyster (LCP)

To find out more about all of the teams at First Stand and how they got get there, check out our full guide to all teams qualified for First Stand 2025.

The champions from each Tier-1 league across the world will converge at First Stand 2025. (Credit: LoL Esports)

First Stand Format

To start things off, the five teams at First Stand will battle it out through a Single Round Robin. At this stage, every team will play each other once in a Bo3 series, after which the team with the worst record will be eliminated from the tournament.

The top four teams from at the end of the Round Robin Stage will move on to the Playoff Stage, which will take place through a single-elimination bracket. All playoffs matches (the two Semifinals and the Grand Finals) will be best-of-five series, so as to deliver the most amount of action between some of the best teams in the world.

First Stand 2025 will feature the use of Fearless Draft throughout the tournament, meaning no champion can be picked more than once in a series. This means to deliver fresh action to the viewers with every new game as teams and players are forced to dig deeper into their champion pools the longer a series goes.

* First Stand will be played on Patch 25.5, which will include the new Lane Swap Detector. To find out everything new about this patch, check out our cover on the changes. 

Fearless Draft will ensure that no two games look the same in a series. (Credit: LoL Esports)

First Stand Schedule

The tournament begins on March 10th, and will run across six days until the champions are crowned on March 16th. To start things off on a high note, the very first match of the tournament will see LTA Champions of Team Liquid take on the brand new LEC Champions of Karmine Corp to write a new chapter in the NA vs EU storybook.

The complete First Stand 2025 schedule will look as follows:

• Round Robin Day 1:
  • Karmine Corp vs Team Liquid [March 10th - 12 am PT / 9 am CET]
  • Hanwha Life Esports vs Top Esports [March 10th - 3 am PT / 12 pm CET]
• Round Robin Day 2:
  • CTBC Flying Oyster vs Karmine Corp [March 11th - 12 am PT / 9 am CET]
  • Team Liquid vs Top Esports [March 11th - 3 am PT / 12 pm CET]
• Round Robin Day 3:
  • CTBC Flying Oyster vs Hanwha Life Esports [March 12th - 12 am PT / 9 am CET]
    
  • Karmine Corp vs Top Esports [March 12th - 3 am PT / 12 pm CET]
• Round Robin Day 4:
  • Team Liquid vs CTBC Flying Oyster [March 13th - 12 am PT / 9 am CET]
  • Karmine Corp vs Hanwha Life Esports [March 13th - 3 am PT / 12 pm CET]
• Round Robin Day 5:
  • CTBC Flying Oyster vs Top Esports [March 14th - 12 am PT / 9 am CET]
  • Team Liquid vs Hanwha Life Esports [March 14th - 3 am PT / 12 pm CET]
• Playoffs:
  • Semifinal #1  [March 15th - 8 pm PT (day before) / 5 am CET]
  • Semifinal #2 [March 15th - 1 am PT / 10 am CET]
  • Grand Finals [March 16th - 12 am PT / 9 am CET]

First Stand On-Air Talent

On-air talent from major leagues across the world will converge to provide the best viewer experience at First Stand 2025. Here is the complete list of talent joining us for the event:

• From the LEC:
  • Laure "Laure" Valée
  • Daniel "Drakos" Drakos
  • Andrew "Vedius" Day

• From the LTA:
  • Sam "Kobe" Hartman-Kenzler
  • Isaac "Azael" Cummings-Bentley
  • Clayton "CaptainFlowers" Raines
  • Emily "Emily Rand" Rand

• From the LCK:
  • Max "Atlus" Anderson
  • Dan "Aux" Harrison
  • Maurits "Chronicler" Jan Meeusen
  • Lee "Wolf" Jae-wan
  • Brendan "Valdes" Valdes
  • Park "Jeesun" Jee-sun

Where to watch First Stand 2025?

As the first international tournament of the new season, First Stand promises to deliver some top-notch League of Legends. Don't miss out on any of the action and tune in to the official Twitch and YouTube channels for First Stand 2025 to find out who will be crowned the champion among champions.

Alternatively, you can catch the games live with your favorite streamers by tuning in to any of the official co-streamers' channels. Whichever your preference, make sure you are there for the start of the tournament on March 10th, at 9 am CET.

Follow Strafe Esports for all the latest League news and our X account for the latest content and coverages. Also, stay tuned to Strafe YouTube for exclusive interviews, press conferences, and more.

Featured image source: LoL Esports / Riot Games

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