First Stand: The new International League of Legends Tournament 2025
Here’s everything you need to know about the new international League of Legends (LoL) tournament coming this month—hosted in Seoul, South Korea!
Promotional material for First Stand, coming just around the corner this March. Image Credit: Riot Games.
Hello and annyeonghaseyo—the Korean greeting is important, as we have a new international tournament coming in March 2025 and it’ll kick off in the home of T1 Esports and the LCK: Seoul, South Korea. There’s a lot to be excited about, so let’s get into it!
A Brand-New International Tournament
If you’ve been following competitive League of Legends, you’ll know it’s been a while (2015 to be precise) since we had a new international tournament introduced to the League calendar. But in the run up to Worlds 2024, John Needham—the president of publishing and esports—announced a new international tournament soon to join the League season.
That new tournament, named ‘First Stand’, will run from March 10 - March 16. First Stand is not only an early opportunity for regions to show off their top talent and new strategies but also affects each group’s seeding (rank and number of places) at MSI—the next international event in the calendar. As with all Riot Games tournaments there is a slogan, and for our first ever First Stand, it’s ‘Yours for the Taking.’
Hosted in the Home of Esports
It’s of course only fitting that a brand-new esports tournament would kick off in style at the one and only League of Legends Park in Seoul, South Korea. The LCK (Korean region) has plenty of international titles to its name, including MSI and Worlds, and is easily one of the most well-known locations for League. Seoul is also the home of T1 HQ, who are easily one of the most recognisable esports teams in history.
The LoL Park Arena in Seoul, South Korea. Image Credit: Esports.Net
Five Teams. Only One Winner.
Get ready to tune in for some truly excellent competition as the five regions of League of Legends esports, with one team per region, go head-to-head in a week long competition for the title of the first ever winner of First Stand.
The LoL Regions are lined up and ready to go. Image Credit: Riot Games.
All five teams have been confirmed at the time of writing - Hanwa Life from the LCK (Korea), Top Esports from the LPL (China), Karmine Corp from the LEC (Europe), Team Liquid from the LTA (Americas), and CTBC Flying Oyster from the LCP (Asia Pacific).
With our five teams ready and raring to go, all that’s left to say is be sure to tune in to Riot Games LoL Esports page from 10 - 16 March!
Edited by Isabel Miller.
