LCK 2025 Season: Format, Schedule, Opening Matches, and More

The region that triumphed at First Stand is ready to pick up where it left off with the start of the LCK 2025 Season. The first stage of the tournament, Rounds 1-2, are right around the corner, with teams taking to the stage for the opening match on Wednesday, April 2nd.

With a long format, LCK 2025 Season will decide both of the league's MSI representatives as well as which teams will attend Worlds 2025 further down the road. So, let's take a look at everything there is to know about the LCK 2025 Season, including the schedule and opening matches, as well as a detailed explanation of this brand new format.

Teams

• Hanwha Life Esports
• Gen.G
• T1
• Dplus KIA
• KT Rolster
• DRX
• DN Freecs
• BNK Fearx
• Nongshim RedForce
• OKSavingsBank BRION

Format

The LCK 2025 Season will take place across a long format which will be divided in five stages: Rounds 1-2: Round Robin, Road to MSI, Rounds 3-5: Group Stage, Play-In Stage, and the Playoffs.

Let's go over how each of these five stages is expected to work:

• Rounds 1-2:
  • Double Round-Robin
  • All matches are Bo3
  • Fearless Draft
  • Top 6 teams qualify for 'Road to MSI'
• Road to MSI:
  • #1 and #2 seeds play a match: winner qualifies to MSI 2025
  • Seeds #3, #4, #5, and #6 go through a gauntlet:
    • Last team standing will play the loser of #1 vs #2 to qualify for MSI 2025
  • All matches are Bo5
  • Fearless Draft
• Rounds 3-5:
  • Teams are divided into two groups:
    • Legend Group: Top 5 teams from Rounds 1-2
    • Rise Group: Bottom 5 teams from Rounds 1-2
  • Triple Round-Robin
  • Teams retain their records from Rounds 1-2
  • All matches are Bo3
  • Fearless Draft
  • Top 2 teams from Legend Group receive a bye into Playoffs Round 2
  • #3 and #4 teams from Legend Group advance to Playoffs Round 1
  • Last placed team from Legend Group advances to the Play-In Stage
  • Top 3 teams from Rise Group advance to the Play-In Stage
  • Bottom two teams from Rise Group are eliminated
• Play-In Stage:
  • Double-elimination bracket
  • All matches are Bo5
  • Fearless Draft
  • Top two teams advance to Playoffs Round 1
• Playoffs:
  • Double-elimination bracket
  • All matches are Bo5
  • Top three teams qualify for Worlds 2025

Credit: LCK

Schedule

The first stage of competition at the LCK 2025 Season takes off on Wednesday, April 2nd. Here's a detailed look at the schedule for Rounds 1-2 leading to MSI 2025:

• Starts Wednesday, April 2nd, and ends on Sunday, June 1st
• Match days are on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays across nine consecutive weeks
• A total of two matches are played every day
• Matches start at 9 am CET and 11 am CET

Once Rounds 1-2 draw to a close, the Road to MSI will take place, until the final LCK team to qualify for MSI 2025 is decided on Sunday, June 15th.

Note: More details regarding the schedule for the ensuing stages of the LCK 2025 Season are yet to come.

Opening Matches

The matchups that will launch the LCK 2025 Season have now been revealed, and Day 1 of competition will deliver us an absolute banger to start things off. Let's take a closer look at the two opening matches of the LCK 2025 Season.

Hanwha Life Esports vs Gen.G [Wednesday, April 2nd - 1 am PT / 9 am CET]

The rivalry between Hanwha Life and Gen.G is growing by the minute. A repeat of the last two consecutive LCK Finals, these two teams know each other well by now, and never fail to deliver a spectacle. During the LCK Cup Grand Finals, just over a month ago, Hanwha Life and Gen.G pushed each other to the limit in a thrilling series where the First Stand Champions managed to persevere in the end.

With the two squads packed to the brim with individual talent, games between these two teams often come down to the finest of margins. Whichever team manages to execute their plays with greater precision should be able to take the first match of the LCK 2025 Season. After losing two consecutive finals to Hanwha Life, however, expect Gen.G to come into this match hungry to take down their rivals and prove they still belong at the top.

DRX vs DN Freecs [Wednesday, April 2nd - 3 am PT / 11 am CET]

At the LCK Cup, both DRX and DN Freecs finished in fourth place in their respective groups, ultimately failing to qualify for the Playoffs.

The truth is that neither one of these two squads looks ready to make a splash at what is an incredibly competitive LCK 2025 Season. That said, their opening matchup will be a good way for each team to gauge their own strength relative to the rest of the competition, and make adjustments where they see fit.

The last time these two teams met, DRX came away with the 2-0 victory. Now, however, a competitive DN Freecs roster will be expecting to have elevated their level of play since then.

Ticket Sales

The LCK 2025 Season will be played the LCK Arena inside the LoL Park in Seoul, South Korea. Tickets for matches of Rounds 1-2 will go on sale exactly 48 hours before the start of each match.

This means that if you would like to catch Hanwha Life Esports take on Gen.G on the opening day of the tournament, tickets for the match will go on sale starting March 31st, at 9 am CET / 5 pm KST.

The LCK 2025 Season ticket prices are as follows:

• Weekday matches: 20,000 KRW (approximately $14 USD)
• Weekend matches: 25,000 KRW (approximately $17 USD)

Note that there is a 2 ticket limit per person. Tickets can be found at the official Global Interpark website.

The LCK Arena in Seoul will host Rounds 1-2 of the LCK 2025 Season. (Credit: LCK)

Where to Watch

The start of the LCK 2025 Season promises the return of some of the very best League of Legends gameplay there is. To catch all of the action live, tune in to the official LCK channels on Twitch or YouTube.

Don't miss out on the stellar start of the LCK 2025 Season, beginning Wednesday, April 2nd, 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 credit: LCK

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