League of Legends Worlds 2025 is slowly creeping in as Riot announced the much-awaited format details. This year’s competition will be split into three stages and feature the popular Fearless Draft mode, so let’s dive in and see everything. We will review the tournament itself and all the benefits that people can enjoy while watching.
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LoL Worlds 2025 League Information
Worlds is an annual event from Riot Games and the 2025 edition will take place in 3 cities in China – Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai. Players who have Worlds 2025 tickets can go to Dong’an Lake Sports Park Multifunctional Gymnasium (for the Grand Final), the Mercedes-Benz Arena (quarterfinals and semifinals) and the Beijing JD Esports Center (Play-In and Swiss Stage).
Worlds 2025 will feature a $5,000,000 prize pool, one of the largest we’ve seen. We expected the tournament to be held on patch 25.19, but it seems like this won’t be the case. Riot will release a new patch shortly before the event begins.
In terms of streams, we can expect to watch Worlds 2025 in at least several languages.
Worlds 2025 Format Explained
Worlds 2025 will begin on October 14, which is less than two weeks from now. Riot Games finally decided to speak out and shared details about how the teams will learn their place in the knockout stage.
For starters, Worlds 2025 will have a Play-In stage with 14 seeds from the top regions. Currently, we will see T1 from the LCK and Invictus Gaming from the LPL and they will play in a Bo5 single elimination series. The winner of the two will advance to the so-called “Swiss stage”.
The “Swiss stage” will be held in Beijing, China and will have 16 teams that will play in 5 rounds. League of Legends teams that secure three victories will advance to the next stage, whereas the squads that score 3 losses will be eliminated.
If you’re wondering how the first round will be decided, it will be via the seeding of each team. Squads from the same region won’t be able to play against each other. Another interesting fact is that the teams that played each other in round one won’t be able to face each other again in Round 2. However, we can see clashes of teams from the same region.
The first two rounds of the Swiss stage will be in Bo1, whereas rounds 3, 4 and 5 will be in Bo3. The best-performing LoL teams will advance to the Knockout stage, where a single-elimination Bo5 bracket will be used. If a given team secures a 3-0 record in the Swiss Stage, it will play against a team with a 3-2 record.
Once the Knockout Stage is over, the two remaining teams will travel to Chengdu and participate in the Grand Final. As always, it will have a Bo5 format and the winner will win League of Legends Worlds 2025.
League of Legends Worlds 2025 Teams
We already have a separate article about the Worlds 2025 teams, where we provide in-depth coverage of each team from each region, so we recommend checking it out. It is worth noting that the tournament will feature the world’s top names. Some of them will have their last Worlds for at least a few years, so we expect to see epic matches.
Country & Player Representation
Since Worlds 2025 will feature the best teams in League of Legends, we can expect to see players from all over the world. However, some countries seem to have a lot more representatives than others, so here are the top 5:
- South Korea – 30
- China – 14
- Taiwan – 9
- Spain – 6
- Vietnam – 5
In terms of players, Faker is the one who stands out because this will be his 10th annual competition. He is also the only player in League of Legends with 5 trophies from the event (he and his team even won the tournament in 2024). Maple is another big name with 9 appearances, followed by Ruler, Meiko, and Caps with 8.
League of Legends Worlds 2025 Drops
Since Worlds is the most important tournament of the year, Riot always finds ways to make people feel special. Currently, players have access to various in-game content, including emotes and icons, which users can obtain for free during the competition.
Worlds 2025 Emotes
There are no different emotes that you can get by watching LoLEsports.com, but you can’t get them all at once. Instead, they are locked behind different dates of the event. Here is how it works:
- Opening day – LET’S GOOO! Emote
- Beginning of Swiss Stage – o7 Emote
- Swiss Stage Week 2 – What Just Happened? Emote
- Quarter Finals – Come Get It! Emote
- Semifinals – I’M. NOT. SAD. + Viktor-y! Emote
- Finals – POWER UP! Emote + Cheerful Worlds Icon
- Trophy Ceremony – Buffmo Emote
It’s essential to note that these drops are in addition to the standard treatments that people can receive. As you know, Riot rewards players with an Esports 2025 capsule when there are things like Baron/Dragon steals, pentakills, or even silver scrapes.
According to the official Worlds 2025 Primer, there will be even more surprising drops from the sponsors and partner brands.
Twitch Subscribe Awards
Alongside everything mentioned so far, people who have subscribed to LoL Esports on Twitch during Worlds 2025 will get even more rewards. Aside from all the perks that come with being a sub on Twitch, players can get the Fabulous! In-game emote. Please note that individuals with Prime subscriptions will not be eligible to receive this offer.
Besides that, people will also get a special Worlds global chat badge (this award will also be available to users who subscribe to any of the Worlds co-streamers).
To receive any of these offers, you have to do the following:
- Connect your Twitch and Riot accounts.
- Subscribe to one of the eligible channels.
- You can claim your reward from the Twitch inventory.
Worlds Pick’Ems
The famous Pick’Ems for Worlds are also back with “familiar ways to play, new rewards and the debut of Community Factions”. Here are some of the key dates you need to mark:
- October 7 at 11 AM PT – This is when picks open for Faction, Swiss Stage Prediction and Crystal Ball.
- October 14, Just Before the first Play-In Match – The Swiss Stage Picks Lock
- October 25, After the last Swiss match – The Knockout Picks will Become Available
- October 28, Before the First Knockout Match – The Knockout Stage Pick Lock
- November 9 – Once Worlds 2025 is over, Pick’Ems scores will finalize and Riot will grant the rewards within 48 hours.
As mentioned, Pick’Ems will now also allow you to join different factions. Doing that means you declare allegiance to your favorite creator and will earn points as the tournament progresses. Once Worlds 2025 is over, the Faction with the highest average score will win a special Emote (everyone in that Faction will get it).
Outside of that, people who take part in Pick’Ems can get all kinds of other prizes, such as ultimate skins, the “HONK” emote, and others.
Worlds 2025 In-Game Offerings
In addition to all the topics we’ve covered so far, Worlds 2025 will also feature various in-game promotions. Fans can get things like:
- Kinkoiu Xin Zhao Skin
- Global Emotes
- Elite Chromas for 2018 Invictus Gaming and 2017 Samsung Galaxy
Riot will also bring back the International Tournament Skin Promotion, and it will take place between November 10-18. During that time, players have the opportunity to acquire the same skin used by the winning team during the Finals at a significant discount.
It is also worth mentioning that everyone who gets the Panda Pal Lux between November 5 – December 3 will contribute (100%) and get a 2x match for the Riot Games Social Impact Fund.
Closing Thoughts
There is no arguing that Worlds 2025 will be the most exciting time of the year for every LoL fan. Alongside everything mentioned so far, we will also have a special Riftbound Worlds Bundle, Worlds 2025 Merchandise, and Worlds Unlocked. The tournament is going to be epic, so make sure to follow us for more details.
