en
League of Legends LPL unveils new format for 2025
Following the rest of the major leagues, the LPL will undergo new format changes for the 2025 season. Traditionally held as a two-part tournament, the LPL will introduce a total of 3 stages now across 2025, stretching from January all the way until November, introducing a new system that promises a singular connected season.
- Stage 1: January to March
- First Stand: March
- Stage 2: March to June
- MSI 2025: June
- Stage 3: July to September
- Worlds 2025: October to November
Author note: the terms used for some of the Stage sections have not been announced officially and are subject to change.
LPL Introduces Hard-Core Fearless Draft
2024 was the year of experimentation for Fearless Draft. With positive feedback received, it has now entered the League of Legends competitive playbook, featuring prominently in all the major leagues’ Stage 1 in 2025.
To briefly summarize, Fearless Draft is a specific game mode that differs from traditional League of Legends in one key aspect: champions played before are now banned for the rest of the series.
This version the LPL will adopt in 2025 Stage 1 will lean even harder into the concept. For the majority of the test runs for Fearless Draft, they made use of ‘soft’ Fearless, meaning that only the team that made use of the champion, would now be locked out of use of the champion for the rest of the series.
In ‘hard’ Fearless, both teams will be locked out of the champion, opening up a lot more strategic avenues to target-ban specific players’ champion pools.
LPL 2025 Stage 1 Format rewards a strong prior season
Stage 1 is set to run from January until March, culminating in the ‘First Stand’ tournament in March. It is split into 2 portions - the regular split and the elimination stage. In the Regular Split, 16 teams will be distributed across 4 groups, seeded based on their 2024 standings into seed pools and randomly drawn into those 4 groups.
The format will be kept as Bo5, single round robin. The top 2 teams from each group will advance to the Elimination Stage.
In the Elimination Stage, the top 8 performing teams for Stage 1 will compete in a double elimination bracket (Bo5 format). There will be a loser and winner’s bracket (M1/M2 and M3/M4 respectively). The winner of this stage will advance to First Stand.
Players will 1 v 1 for side selection??
In Stage 1, side selection will be decided differently. This is especially true for the Regular Split, which will see a solo match take place between 2 chosen representative players from each team. The winner will decide the side for Game 1. For the rest of the series, the loser of the previous game will get side selection.
The Elimination Stage meanwhile, will largely see the side selection decided by coin toss for Game 1. Much like the Regular Split, the loser of the previous game will decide side selection. However, it only applies from Games 2 to 4. In Game 5, a solo game will be held to determine the side selection.
LPL 2025 Stage 2 Format Will End the season for 2 teams in June
Stage 2 is by far the most complex of the 3 stages coming into 2025, so stick with us. We open with a Group Stage, predetermined based on the teams’ results from Stage 1. There will be 4 groups and it will be played in single round robin Bo3 format.
Based on the results from the Group Stage, the 16 teams will be separated into 2 groups: Group Ascend (upper group) and Group Nirvana (lower group). The top 2 performing teams from each group from the Group Stage will go into Group Ascend. The bottom 2 will be placed in Group Nirvana. Both groups will play in the Rumble Stage, in single round robin Bo3 format.
8 teams on Group Ascend and 8 on Nirvana. The top 4 from Ascend will get to advance to the elimination stage. The bottom 2 performing teams on Nirvana, meanwhile, will end their 2025 season right here.
Results will matter throughout and the repercussions can be massive
In the Knights Rivals section of Stage 2, the bottom 4 from Group Ascend and the top 4 from Group Nirvana will contest for 4 slots to the Elimination Stage to join the awaiting 4 for a total of 12 teams.
In the final stage of Stage 2, the Elimination Stage, the 8 teams will compete in a double-elimination bracket in Bo5 format. The top 4 performing teams from the Ascend group will get to pick their opponents in the 1st round.
The top 2 best performing teams in this stage will qualify for MSI 2025 in Canada.
An All-Out Battle for Worlds Qualification in Stage 3
In Stage 3, the Rumble Stage will split the remaining 14 teams into Group Ascend and Nirvana once again. The teams that participated in the Elimination Stage of Stage 2 will be placed automatically into Group Ascend, while the remaining teams will join Group Nirvana. Format will be played as a single round-robin in Bo5 format.
Top 4 teams from Group Ascend qualify for LPL Season Playoffs.
Same as in Stage 2, the bottom 4 teams in Group Ascend and the top 4 teams in Group Nirvana will play against one another based on their standings at the time to determine the remaining 4 qualifying for Playoffs. It will be played in Bo5 format.
To recap, a total of 8 teams will qualify for the LPL Season Playoffs. The top 4 teams from Group Ascend will be given the advantage of selecting their Round 1 opponents. Depending on whether the LPL wins MSI 2025 (or earn the runner-up region slot), either the top 4 or top 3 teams will qualify to Worlds 2025.
Riot Continues to keep On-Brand with their Format Changes
In keeping with the spirit of Riot's approach to competitive League of Legends in 2025, the new format for the LPL is meant to encapsulate one long journey and is reflected in how the results from each Stage carries into the next.
Noteworthy highlights for the new season format includes an increased number of Bo5 games, faster elimination of the bottom tier teams (making for more high-octane matches), and an overall polishing and rewarding for teams that maintain their form throughout the year.
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.
For more League of Legends rostermania news, check out our LEC, LCK, LPL and LTA North/South rostermanias for all the latest shuffles. To check when your favorite league will kick off again in 2025, check out our schedule here.
Featured Image Credit: LoL Esports // Riot Games
Read More:
Fnatic bids farewell to Caedrel as he embarks on new ventures
