As expected, Riot Games announced important changes for the 2025 League of Legends professional scene. There are a lot of interesting things that we need to address, so let’s dive in.
Tier-1 League Reworks
One of Riot’s first changes in 2025 is to rework the Tier-1 League. After the new year arrives, all teams will participate in a single format consisting of three regular splits. We will also see several international events between the splits.
That said, Riot still hasn’t announced how it would all work or the format that teams will need to compete in. Keep in mind that some teams played in Bo1 before, whereas others had to play Bo3 matches.
Picks and Bans
Another of the League of Legends 2025 changes that Riot announced is related to the picks and bans. From January onward, teams will play in a so-called “fearless” draft, which means they won’t be able to pick champions that they’ve used so far in the series. In other words, players and teams will see new champions in each of the Bo3 and Bo5 clashes.
Keep in mind that these changes will be applied to the Regular Splits, as well as the big international competitions.
Tournament Changes
Alongside all of the changes mentioned so far, another thing that will be new is the addition of a third big international competition. This means players can watch the World Championship, Mid-Season Invitational, and the new event.
According to our information, the tournament will have a round-robin format. The teams there should be based on the results of the first split. Due to the addition of this event, MSI will take place in July instead of May.
Speaking of the different tournament changes, Riot Games also decided to have fewer major leagues. Once the League of Legends 2025 professional season begins, we will no longer have NA (LCS), Latin America (LLA), and Brazil (CBLOL). Instead, the three will be combined into one and will have two variations:
- LCS
- CBLOL
Each of these regions will consist of six teams, one of which will be from LLA and the other from the Tier 2 scene. Once the league begins, the teams will play regular splits separately, and in the end, only 1 or 2 teams receive the slots for the new international events. In terms of Worlds, the invites will be given based on each team’s results in the regional competition.
Aside from the changes in the South American scene, we will also have something similar in Asia-Pacific. Vietnam, Southeast Asia, Oceania, and Japan will be united, and the new thing will have 8 teams. There will also be tournaments that will try to promote the tier 2 rosters.
In Summary
Following Riot’s decision to make changes in the tournaments and the regions, we will have access to the following leagues:
- EMEA
- China
- APAC
- South Korea
- Americas
What we do know is that the first INT tournament will have 5 teams (one from each league). MSI, on the other hand, will have 10 teams, and Worlds will feature a total of 17 participants. Three of them will be from each region, one will be MSI’s winner, and one will go to the best-performing region.
Another important thing that we need to talk about is Riot’s decision regarding professional teams and their business model. The company wants to change the current model so that teams rely more on in-game sales instead of different sponsorships. These changes should become available in 2025.
Closing Thoughts
The latest League of Legends patch 14.24 arrived a few days ago, and by the looks of it, we won’t have a new update in 2024. The changes mentioned here are very intriguing, and we can’t wait to see what’s going to happen. Make sure to follow Blix.gg because we will show you everything you need to know.
