2025 League of Legends World Championship

15th competition of the League of Legends World Championship

2025 League of Legends World ChampionshipTournament information

Sport| League of Legends
Location| China
Administrator| Riot Games
Host(s)| Beijing (play-ins, swiss stage)
Shanghai (quarterfinals, semifinals)
Chengdu (Final)
Venue(s)| 3 (in 3 host cities)
Teams| 17

<- 2024

2026 ->

The 2025 League of Legends World Championship is an upcoming esports tournament for the multiplayer online battle arena video game League of Legends, set to be held in China — in Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu. It is the fifteenth iteration of the League of Legends World Championship, an annual international tournament organised by the game's developer, Riot Games.

It will be the third time China will host the event after holding the 2017 and 2020 editions, the first to be held under Riot Games' new split structure and competitive calendar since 2025,[1] and the first to feature the Fearless Draft format.[2] Seventeen teams will qualify based on placement within their regional leagues and results gained in the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI).

T1 of the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) are the defending two-time champions heading into the tournament.

## Background and host selection

[edit]

China first hosted the League of Legends World Championship in 2017 with Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing serving as host cities. The 2020 edition of Worlds was China's second hosting of the event, but was held under restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, prompting Riot Games to stage the event through the use of an "isolation bubble" environment in Shanghai,[3] with the exception of the Final at the Pudong Football Stadium where a limited number of fans were allowed to attend.[4]

China was once again awarded the hosting rights to the tournament on 16 June 2021, when Riot Games originally announced the dates and locations of the 2021 League of Legends World Championship, with the event taking place in Shanghai, Qingdao, Wuhan, Chengdu, and the finals taking place in Shenzhen.[5][6] However, due to travel complications arising from the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, Riot Games announced Reykjavík, Iceland (where the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational had been hosted), as the new host city for the event.[7]

On 24 October 2024, alongside its announcement of an extended sponsorship agreement with smartphone manufacturer OPPO, Riot Games announced that the 2025 edition of the League of Legends World Championship will be staged in China, marking the third time the country has hosted the tournament[8][9] and the first since 2017 for China to host the event without travel restrictions.

## Venues

[edit]

During the media day for the 2024 World Championship Final at The O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom on 1 November 2024, Riot Games announced that the 2025 Final will be held in Chengdu (where the 2024 Mid-Season Invitational had been hosted).

In a development update video published by Riot Games on 8 January 2025 to begin the 2025 competitive season, Beijing and Shanghai were announced as the host cities for the play-in stage / swiss stage, and quarterfinals / semifinals, respectively.[10][11] Both cities previously hosted the Worlds Final, namely the 2017 and 2020 editions.

## Qualification and Format

[edit]

The League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), League of Legends Pro League (LPL), League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC), League of Legends Championship of The Americas (LTA), and the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP) will have three directly qualified teams to the Swiss stage. The winning team of the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational will earn an automatic slot in the tournament provided it reaches the playoffs of its region's third split,[a] while the second-best region in the said tournament will also earn another slot. One best-of-5 play-in match will be held before the Swiss stage between two teams.[12]

This will be the first World Championship featuring the LCP, a new Asia-Pacific league consisting of a merger between the Pacific Championship Series (PCS), Vietnam Championship Series (VCS), League of Legends Japan League (LJL) and League of Legends Circuit Oceania (LCO), and the LTA, a merger between the League Championship Series (LCS), Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends (CBLOL), and Liga Latinoamérica (LLA).

This will also be the first World Championship to adopt the Fearless Draft format, where teams cannot pick a champion that they've already played in a series, even if the opposing team already picked that champion. While Fearless Draft was intended to only be used during the first split of the season, Riot Games announced prior to the final of the 2025 First Stand Tournament that it would apply for the rest of the year, including MSI and Worlds, after it received "overwhelming" positive feedback during that period.[2] Fearless Draft will be used for all best-of-3 and best-of-5 series during the World Championship, while the best-of-1s during the Swiss Stage will remain as is.

## Notes

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1. ^ MSI 2024 champions Gen.G qualified for the 2024 edition after qualifying for the 2024 LCK Summer Split playoffs, but formally qualified through championship points, a Worlds slot pre-requisite provided for the LCK at the time.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "LoL Esports: Building Towards A Brighter Future". lolesports.com. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
2. ^ a b Ciocchetti, Cecilia (16 March 2025). "Fearless Draft is here to stay: "Overwhelmingly positive feedback," says Riot's global head of LoL Esports". Dot Esports. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
3. ^ Rand, Emily; Wolf, Jacob (1 September 2020). "Sources: Vietnamese teams won't attend League of Legends World Championship". ESPN. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
4. ^ Ocal, Arda (10 October 2020). "Limited number of fans to be allowed to attend worlds final in Shanghai". ESPN. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
5. ^ "2020 World Championship final heads to Shanghai". nexus.leagueoflegends.com. 10 November 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
6. ^ Esports, LoL (16 June 2021). "Riot Games Announces Multi-City Lineup for the 2021 League of Legends World Championship in China". lolesports. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
7. ^ Peters, Jay (9 September 2021). "League of Legends' world championships will take place in Iceland". theverge. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
8. ^ Lee Jones (24 October 2024). "2025 League of Legends World Championship heads to China". The Esports Advocate. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
9. ^ "LoL Esports, OPPO Extend Global Partnership". lolesports.com. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
10. ^ Ciocchetti, Cecilia (8 January 2025). "Riot just dropped the schedule and location for every LoL esports tournament up to 2027". Dot Esports. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
11. ^ "LoL Esports in 2025". lolesports.com. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
12. ^ Tan, Amanda (11 June 2024). "All LoL Esports 2025 biggest, most unprecedented changes | ONE Esports". ONE Esports. Retrieved 2 November 2024.

* v
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2025 in professional League of Legends competition

International|

* First Stand Tournament
* Mid-Season Invitational
* Esports World Cup
* World Championship

Regional|

* LCK
* LCP
* LEC
* LPL
* LTA

* v
* t
* e

League of Legends

* Riot Games
* Tencent
* Esports

World Championship|

* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019 (finals)
* 2020
* 2021 (finals)
* 2022 (finals)
* 2023
* 2024 (finals)
* 2025

Mid-Season Invitational|

* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* ~~2020~~ 1
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

First Stand Tournament|

* 2025
* 2026

Regional leagues|

| Current|

* South Korea (LCK)
* China (LPL)
* Americas (LTA)
* EMEA (LEC)
* Asia-Pacific (LCP)
* PCS
* Japan (LJL)
* Vietnam (VCS)

|

Former|

* Challenger Series
* CIS (LCL)
* Americas
* LCS
* CBLoL
* LLA
* Asia-Pacific
* GPL
* LCO
* LMS
* LST
* OPL

Other tournaments|

* All-Star
* Asian Games
* 2018
* 2022
* Esports World Cup
* 2024
* KeSPA Cup
* Rift Rivals
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* SEA Games
* 2021

Music|

* Pentakill
* "Warriors"
* "Legends Never Die"
* "Masterpiece"
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* All Out
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* Arcane League of Legends
* "Enemy"
* "Everything Goes On"
* "Star Walkin'"
* "Heavy Is the Crown"
* Arcane League of Legends: Season 2
* "Ma meilleure ennemie"

Characters|

* Jinx
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* Vi

Other games|

| Riot Games|

* Teamfight Tactics
* League of Legends: Wild Rift
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|

Riot Forge|

* Ruined King
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Tabletop games|

* Mechs vs. Minions
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Other|

* List of League of Legends media
* Arcane
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1 The 2020 Mid-Season Invitational was cancelled and replaced by the 2020 Mid-Season Streamathon due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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