First Stand 2025 will be the first international League of Legends tournament of this year, as well as the inaugural event for one that is to become a staple in the League of Legends ecosystem. This year’s First Stand is a fairly small competition consisting only from the best teams of the biggest regional leagues, but the matches look to be fierce. Below you can find all information about First Stand 2025.
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First Stand 2025 Location
The first ever First Stand will be held in South Korea, the home of the last World Championship winner, T1 – even though Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok and his teammates won’t participate in the event. LoL Park will be the venue for the event with all of the matches played in Seoul.
First Stand 2025 Participants
The 2025 tournament will host the number one teams from all the major regions, so the Korean LCK, the Chinese LPL, the American LTA, the EMEA LEC and the Asia-Pacific LCP. The teams taking part are:
- Hanwha Life Esports as the winners of the LCK Cup,
- Top Esports as the winners of the LPL Split 1 Playoffs,
- Team Liquid as the winners of the LTA Split 1 Playoffs,
- Karmine Corp as the winners of the LEC Winter Playoffs,
- and CTBC Flying Oyster as the winners of the LCP Season Kickoff Qualifying Series.
First Stand 2025 Format
The tournament will use a Hard Fearless Draft, meaning that if either of the teams in a series picks a champion, that champion becomes unavailable for both of the teams in the subsequent matches.
First Stand will be divided into two Stages: the Group Stage and the Knockout Stage. The Group Stage will feature a Single Round Robin where all teams will face off against each other once in best of three matches. After everyone played versus everyone else, the top four teams will advance to Stage 2.
The Knockout Stage will feature a single elimination bracket, so no second chances for either team. All the series will be best of fives, which combined with the Fearless Draft will prove to be a challenge for the champion pools of the players.
First Stand 2025 Prize Pool
The winner of First Stand 2025 will receive $300,000, the second placed team will get $225,000, the third and fourth placed squads will earn $172,500 each, while the fifth placed team will get $130,000.
As an added bonus, the first placed team’s region will get a second direct spot in the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational’s Bracket Stage, meaning they can skip the Play-Ins altogether.
First Stand 2025 Schedule
We already have the schedule of the tournament up until the Knockout Stage. All the start times are in CET.
March 10
- 09:00 – Team Liquid vs Karmine Corp
- 12:00 – Hanwha Life Esports vs Top Esports
March 11
- 09:00 – CTBC Flying Oyster vs Karmine Corp
- 12:00 – Team Liquid vs Top Esports
March 12
- 09:00 – CTBC Flying Oyster vs Hanwha Life Esports
- 12:00 – Karmine Corp vs Top Esports
March 13
- 09:00 – Team Liquid vs CTBC Flying Oyster
- 12:00 – Karmine Corp vs Hanwha Life Esports
March 14
- 09:00 CTBC Flying Oyster vs Top Esports
- 12:00 Team Liquid vs Hanwha Life Esports
The Knockout Stage matches will take place on the 15th and 16th of March, as the winners will lift the First Stand trophy on Sunday.
First Stand 2025 Where to Watch
You can find the official English broadcast on lolesports.com, as well as the LoLEsports Twitch and YouTube channels. There are also broadcasts in various languages, you can find the list of national broadcasts here.
First Stand 2025 Predictions
There are two clear favorites in the 2025 First Stand tournament: Top Esports and Hanwha Life Esports. HLE has stirred the pot over in the LCK after they snatched Choi “Zeus” Woo-je from T1 after the organization won it’s fourth, while Zeus himself lifted his second Summoner’s Cup. Then, they managed to defy all odds, defeating T1 multiple times and proving that the quintet is a force to be reckoned with.
However, they were a strong team throughout the entire first split of the LCK, and that cannot be said about Top Esports. They got into the LPL Playoffs as a second seed, meaning they had to fight their way up from the Loser’s Bracket. They played five Fearless best of five series back to back and won them all 3-1, which means they know how to close out a Bo5.
Karmine Corp also surprised everyone by beating both Fnatic and G2 Esports on their way to organizations first LEC trophy. Everyone should remember Caliste “Caliste” Henry-Hennebert’s name, but can KC find their footing internationally as well?
Team Liquid is the team that has been a constant in American League of Legends. While there were some teams such as FlyQuest and Cloud9 that were also great in the past few years, Liquid has managed to come out of left field taking the title of the best team of NA – and now the entire Americas region.
The LCP – formerly known as the PCS – has always been a dark horse, with fans often reminiscing about the time when PSG Talon made it to the top four in the Mid-Season Invitational a few years back. This time around, CTBC Flying Oyster has the opportunity to repeat the success of the best team in their region, and with Tsai “HongQ” Min-Hong in their mid lane, they could surprise everyone.
Overall, the first ever First Stand looks to be a spectacle. While there are only five teams playing, they are truly the best of the best, and they should give us a week of hardcore League of Legends.
