The League of Legends Worlds 2025 tournament kicked off yesterday with a bang. T1 has already made their presence felt in the Play-In stage, securing a swift 3–1 victory over Invictus Gaming to move forward to the next stage in commanding fashion.
With that match wrapped up, the action now shifts to the Swiss Stage, a more complex and strategic format that determines who advances to the Knockout stages. Here’s everything you need to know about how Worlds 2025 will unfold.
Breaking Down the League of Legends Worlds 2025 Format: From Play-In to Knockout
Worlds 2025 is divided into three main stages: the Play-In, Swiss, and Knockout phases. The event began yesterday, October 14, and will run until November 9 across various major cities in China, such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu.
The first stage: Play-in – It was held yesterday and featured a single Bo5 series between the #4 seeds from the LCK and LPL. While every region gets 3 seeds, the two top-performing regions get 1 extra seed.
T1 represented the LCK and eliminated Invictus Gaming, the LPL’s fourth seed, with a 3-1 score. This victory earned T1 the final slot in the next stage.
The Second Stage: Swiss (Oct 15 – 25) – This is where the remaining 16 teams are going to compete to get 1 step closer to the trophy. Each team can participate in up to five rounds of play. In Round 1, teams are matched against others with identical win–loss records, and the matches will be Bo1.
From Round 3 onward, where advancement or elimination is on the line, the matches become best-of-three (Bo3). Any team that earns three wins moves on to the Knockout Stage, while those with three losses are eliminated from the tournament.
The final Stage: Knockout (Oct 28 – Nov 9) – This will take place in Shanghai and Chengdu, featuring the top 8 teams from the Swiss stage. To make it more interesting, it’s a single-elimination bracket with each match being a best-of-five (Bo5) series.
The two undefeated teams from the Swiss Stage (3–0) will face off against the 3–2 teams, giving them a slight seeding advantage. While most of the tournament will be in Shanghai, the finals will be in Chengdu, where the World Champion will lift the Summoner’s Cup on November 9.
No Repeats, No Mercy: The Impact of Fearless Draft at Worlds 2025
A new major addition to this year’s Worlds tournament is the introduction of a new system called the Fearless Draft. It will be used in all best-of series in the Play-In and Knockouts stages.
With this system, neither team can pick the same champions they picked in earlier games of a series. This will force the team to dig deep into their champion pools and bring new, diverse strategies to the matches, making it a true test of creativity and preparation.
This change is here to make sure that every match feels fresh and unpredictable for the fans, but also strategically demanding for even the best teams, pushing them out of their comfort zones.
With Worlds 2025 now in full swing and the Swiss Stage underway, one question remains: which team are you supporting to win it all? Comment below to let us know.
