The first international event of the year, League of Legends esports is about to see its first ever First Stand tournament take place. Introduced to add a third global event to the calendar, First Stand will see the winners of each of the game’s five regions compete to become early season champions.
The first iteration is set to take place in Seoul, South Korea, between March 10th and March 16th, with all matches to be held at LoL PARK, the home of the LCK.
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Qualification to First Stand 2025 was earned through each region’s respective Winter split, with the champions from each earning a spot.
Hanwha was the talk of the off season when they snatched superstar top laner Zeus away from T1’s clutches. They were crowned LCK champions once again as they lifted the inaugural LCK Cup. They undoubtedly enter First Stand as the favorites.
As a team from one of the ‘Big Two’ regions, Top Esports have struggled to ever pull together a decent international tournament run. Though HLE will be the favourites, Top, with its star-studded LPL roster, come in at a close second.
Team Liquid were crowned as the maiden Americas champions in the LTA. Under the guidance of coach Spawn, Liquid became one of the world’s best in terms of macro last season, they continue to show up after keeping their entire roster unchanged for 2025.
Karmine Corp stunned EMEA to win their first-ever LEC trophy, beating heavyweights G2 in a dominant 3-0 finals win. Botlaner Caliste was promoted to the team’s LEC roster this year as the league’s most hyped rookie since Caps.
CTBC Flying Oyster makes its return to international competition for the first time since 2023 after winning the LCP, the first iteration of yet another inter-region league. They beat regional heavyweights GAM, Vikings, and TALON on their way to becoming champions.
First Stand will be split into two stages; Groups and Knockouts. The Group stage will be used to whittle the five teams down to four, while the Knockouts will then crown the overall winner.
The Group stage will employ a straight-forward single round-robin where each matchup is decided through a best-of-three series. After all teams have played each other once, the top four teams will advance to the Knockouts, while the fifth-placed side will be eliminated.
In the Knockouts, the final four teams will be drawn into a simple single-elimination knockout bracket where games are decided through best-of-fives.
For the very first time in League of Legends history, an international event is set to use Fearless Draft for its best-of series. Fearless drafting sees champions unable to be picked more than once throughout a given series. This means that a final game in a best-of-five series will see a total of 50 champions banned: the usual ten bans as well as the 40 previously-played champions.
The total prize pool for First Stand 2025 sits at a cool $1m, with the winnings split between the five sides depending on their placing. The overall winner will earn $300k.
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As well as lifting the First Stand trophy and taking home $300k in prize money, the tournament winners will also earn a benefit for their region at the Mid-Season Invitational. Currently, each of the five regions will see one team qualify directly to the MSI Bracket stage, while their respective second seeds will instead start in the Play-Ins. However, for the winner of First Stand, their region will earn a second spot in the Bracket stage with their second seed skipping the Play-Ins entirely.
Read also: All LoL international tournaments locations for 2025
First Stand will take place from March 10th to 16th; the first five days for the Group stage and the final three days for the Knockouts.
Matchdays for the Groups will start at 17:00 local time (01:00 PDT / 09:00 CET), kicking off with a classic rivalry; NA vs EU, Team Liquid vs Karmine Corp.
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The Knockout stage will be carried out over the final two days of competition, with two best-of-five semi-finals on Saturday followed by Sunday’s grand final. While times for these matches are confirmed, the participants themselves will be determined by the results of the Group stage.
