What is the First Stand Tournament?
The First Stand Tournament kicks off the annual LoL Esports season, bringing together the top team from each region for high-stakes, early-season competition. Designed to spark regional rivalries and showcase innovative strategies, First Stand sets the tone for the year ahead in LoL Esports. Teams battle not only for the coveted First Stand trophy, but also for advantageous seeding for their region at the Mid-Season Invitational.
The rulebook for the 2025 First Stand Tournament can be found here.
YOURS FOR THE TAKING
Forge a new path to victory; whether it be through brute force, elite mental, sheer creativity or deft mechanics. This is your chance to find the joy of invention and show the world, and yourself, what you’ve got.
When and Where is FST happening?
The inaugural First Stand Tournament will take place from March 10-16 at LoL Park in Seoul, Korea. If you’re joining us in person at the event, please check out the Riot Games event policy.
Round Robin Stage (March 10-14): 17:00 KST / 01:00 PDT / 09:00 CET
Knockout Stage (March 15): 13:00 KST / 21:00 (March 14) PDT / 05:00 CET
Knockout Stage - Finals (March 16): 17:00 KST / 01:00 PDT / 09:00 CET
Which teams are competing?
The top team from each region secures their ticket to FST 2025:
CHINA - LPL
Qualifies March 1
KOREA - LCK
Hanwha Life Esports (HLE)
EUROPE - LEC
Qualifies March 2
AMERICAS - LTA
Team Liquid Honda (TL)
APAC - LCP
CTBC Flying Oyster (CFO)
What’s the format?
First Stand consists of two stages: the Bo3 Round Robin Stage, where teams compete in a single best-of-three (Bo3) round-robin format, and the Bo5 Knockout Stage, where the top four teams advance to a seeded, single-elimination best-of-five (Bo5) bracket.
Round Robin Stage (March 10-14)
In the Round Robin Stage, each team competes in a single best-of-three (Bo3) series against every other team, ensuring a fair and comprehensive competition. Game 1 side selection for each series is randomly pre-determined, guaranteeing that every team has side selection advantage in two series while the other two series do not include this benefit. At the end of this stage, the fifth-place team is eliminated, while the top four teams advance to the Knockout Stage.
Knockout Stage (March 15-16)
The top four teams from the Round Robin advance to a single-elimination best-of-five (Bo5) bracket, with matchups determined by Round Robin results: 1st place faces 4th place, and 2nd place faces 3rd place. The winners of these matchups progress through the bracket, culminating in a final showdown on March 16 to crown the First Stand champion.
Fearless Draft
In Fearless Draft, any champions used in previous games of a best-of-series become unavailable for both teams in subsequent games, regardless of which team selected them. This results in an additional set of bans known as "Fearless Bans." The standard 10 bans from the pick/ban phase ("Standard Bans") remain in place for every game.
Here’s how it works:
Game 1: 10 Standard Bans
Game 2: 20 bans total (10 Standard Bans + 10 Fearless Bans)
Game 3: 30 bans total (10 Standard Bans + 20 Fearless Bans)
Game 4: 40 bans total (10 Standard Bans + 30 Fearless Bans)
Game 5: 50 bans total (10 Standard Bans + 40 Fearless Bans)
This format challenges teams to adapt continuously, bringing fresh strategies and champion picks to every game.
Drops, Watch Experience, and Co-Streaming
By tuning in to every match live on LoLEsports.com and logging in with your Riot ID, you can unlock exciting Drops throughout FST! To kick things off, every Pentakill and Baron steal throughout the week will reward viewers with a 2025 Esports Capsule. Additionally, any series that goes to five games during the knockout stage will also reward a 2025 Esports Capsule.
And don’t miss the Finals on March 16—watch live to claim an exclusive First Stand Brand emote, fittingly named “I Am FUMING”! Tune in throughout all of First Stand for an opportunity to receive these rewards.
Speaking of watching, we are excited to introduce a new Heads-Up Display (HUD), designed to modernize our presentation and lay the foundation for future innovations. This update allows us to push the boundaries of game augmentation, collaboration, and sustainability while improving the overall experience for both dedicated fans and new audiences.
Some areas of focus that we're exploring:
Improve overall clarity and accessibility for viewers across all platforms and devices
Simplify key information about the sport to give clearer points of engagement and discussion for new fans
Give fans a stronger connection to the ebb and flow of the match, by allowing the HUD to transform alongside the action on the rift.
We look forward to building this experience together with you, and we'll be looking out for your feedback for future iterations!
We can’t talk about the watch experience without mentioning our roster of global partners supporting LoL Esports! This season, a record 12 world-class brands — AWS, Cisco, HyperX, Mastercard, Mercedes-Benz, OMEN, Opera GX, OPPO, Red Bull, Secretlab, Verizon, and our newest partner Esports World Cup — will come together to bring next level experiences and enhancements to LoL Esports fans. Whether you’re taking in the action in person or viewing from afar, our partners are instrumental in delivering new tech innovations, product features, rewards, merch, and more to our events.
Co-Streaming
Co-streaming is back for FST 2025, bringing fans even more ways to enjoy the action alongside their favorite LoL Esports creators. This year, we’re excited to expand to a third global event, with 75 creators expected to co-stream every match, giving fans plenty of viewing options beyond the main broadcast.
All qualifying professional teams are invited to host official team co-streams throughout the tournament, enhancing the viewing experience for their fans.
We’re also thrilled to bring back the Co-Streamer Hub powered by OperaGX, an interactive directory that showcases all official co-streaming channels, with filtering options for preferred languages.
Due to the fast-paced nature of FST, co-streaming will be remote-only. The full roster of co-streamers will be revealed on March 3—stay tuned for more updates!
Lastly, for all other third party content creators (i.e. those that have not been officially invited to live stream the tournament), the standard Content Creator Guidelines remain in effect.
Global Power Rankings Powered by AWS
Global Power Rankings powered by AWS are back on March 2, kicking off with the first set of rankings after regional Split 1. Following last year’s launch at Worlds, the model has been recalibrated to reflect changes in league structures across the Americas and Pacific regions.
To ensure accuracy heading into First Stand, we chose not to score Split 1 to allow the model to adjust to new league structures as well as team rosters. Fans can expect daily updates during international events like First Stand, MSI, and Worlds, with weekly updates during regional splits. Look out for more model improvements later in 2025!
First Stand Tournament Merch Collection
Kick the LoL Esports calendar off with a bang as teams face off to find out if the First Stand trophy is theirs for the taking with the official, first-ever First Stand 2025 merch collection. Featuring a mix of premium apparel pieces and accessories that play off of First Stand’s bold color scheme and Noxian iconography, the full collection will be available at LOLPark in Seoul, Korea, including the rare and individually numbered First Stand Varsity Jacket. A selection of pieces from the First Stand 2025 merch collection will be available online for a limited time starting March 4. Regional availability may vary.
