The 2025 League of Legends World Championship () was an esports tournament for the multiplayer online battle arena video game League of Legends, held in China from 14 October to 9 November in Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu. It was the fifteenth iteration of the League of Legends World Championship, an annual international tournament organised by the game's developer, Riot Games.
China hosted the event for the third time, having previously hosted it in 2017 and 2020. It was the first edition held under Riot Games' new split structure and competitive calendar, and the first to feature the Fearless Draft format. Seventeen teams qualified based on placement within their regional leagues and results gained in the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI).
The finals took place at the Dong'an Lake Sports Park Multifunctional Gymnasium in Chengdu, where T1 of the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) successfully defended their title once again after defeating fellow Korean representatives KT Rolster with a 3–2 scoreline. The organization subsequently won its record-extending sixth World Championship, and became the first team to win three consecutive world titles. The final's MVP was awarded to Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyeong, who became the first ADC player to win the award since Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk in 2017.
Background China first hosted the League of Legends World Championship in 2017, with Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing serving as host cities. The 2020 edition of Worlds was China's second hosting of the event, but was held under restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, prompting Riot Games to stage the event through the use of an "isolation bubble" environment in Shanghai, with the exception of the Final at the Pudong Football Stadium where a limited number of fans were allowed to attend.
China was once again awarded the hosting rights to the tournament on 16 June 2021, when Riot Games originally announced the dates and locations of the 2021 League of Legends World Championship, with the event taking place in Shanghai, Qingdao, Wuhan, Chengdu, and the finals taking place in Shenzhen. However, due to travel complications arising from the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, Riot Games announced Reykjavík, Iceland (where the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational had been hosted), as the new host city for the event.
Host selection On 24 October 2024, alongside its announcement of an extended sponsorship agreement with Chinese smartphone manufacturer OPPO, Riot Games announced that the 15th edition of the League of Legends World Championship in 2025 will be staged in China, marking the third time the country has hosted the tournament and the first since 2017 for China to host the event without travel restrictions.
Venues During the media day for the 2024 World Championship Final at The O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom on 1 November 2024, Riot Games announced that the 2025 Final would be held in Chengdu (where the 2024 Mid-Season Invitational had been hosted).
In a development update video published by Riot Games on 8 January 2025 to begin the 2025 competitive season, Beijing and Shanghai were announced as the host cities for the play-in stage / swiss stage, and the quarterfinals / semifinals, respectively. Both cities previously hosted the Worlds Final, namely the 2017 and 2020 editions.
The full list of venues for the tournament was announced on 25 July 2025. The Beijing Smart Esports Center played host to the play-in and swiss stages and is the home venue of the League of Legends Pro League's JD Gaming. The Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, which staged the Shanghai Masters of the 2024 Valorant Champions Tour, staged the quarterfinals and semifinals. The finals was held at the multifunctional gymnasium of the Dong'an Lake Sports Park in Chengdu. ChinaBeijingShanghaiChengduPlay-ins and Swiss StageQuarterfinals and SemifinalsFinalsBeijing Smart Esports CenterMercedes-Benz ArenaDong'an Lake Sports ParkMultifunctional GymnasiumCapacity: 2,000Capacity: 18,000Capacity: 18,000Oct 14Oct 25Oct 28Nov 2Nov 9
Qualification
By virtue of finishing as the two best performing regions in the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational, the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) and the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) qualified four teams each to the tournament, three of whom automatically qualified for the Swiss stage while the fourth seeds contested the final Swiss stage spot in the play-in stage. Meanwhile, the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC), League of Legends Championship of The Americas (LTA), and the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP) had three directly qualified teams each to the Swiss stage.
This was the first World Championship featuring the LCP, a new Asia-Pacific league consisting of a merger between the Pacific Championship Series (PCS), Vietnam Championship Series (VCS), League of Legends Japan League (LJL) and League of Legends Circuit Oceania (LCO). This was also the first and only World Championship featuring the LTA, a merger between the League Championship Series (LCS), Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends (CBLOL), and Liga Latinoamérica (LLA). The LTA was announced to be discontinued on 28 September 2025, with the LCS and CBLOL returning in 2026.
Qualified teams Gen.G of the LCK became the first team to make the tournament on 23 July 2025 through its qualification for the LCK Playoffs and through winning the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational. On 6 September, CTBC Flying Oyster and PSG Talon became the first two teams to qualify from the LCP. The next day, G2 Esports of the LEC became the first Western team to advance to Worlds, with the LTA Conference Champions FlyQuest (North) and Vivo Keyd Stars (South) following suit hours later. On 8 September, Movistar KOI confirmed its qualification for the event. On 13 and 14 September, KT Rolster and Hanwha Life Esports qualified from the LCK, as well as Team Secret Whales from the LCP. Bilibili Gaming became the first LPL team to secure their spot in the tournament on 15 September.
Defending champions T1 of the LCK qualified for the World Championship on 18 September, with the LPL's Anyone's Legend and the LTA's 100 Thieves securing their spot three days later in their respective regions. On 25 September, Top Esports of the LPL confirmed its qualification, with Fnatic being the last LEC team to qualify on 26 September. The next day, the LPL's Invictus Gaming became the final team to clich their spot in the tournament.
This was the first World Championship appearance for the LPL's Anyone's Legend and the LTA's Vivo Keyd Stars. Meanwhile, it was the first tournament for the LCP's Team Secret Whales and the LEC's Movistar KOI under their current names. Secret Whales appeared at the play-in stage of the 2019 League of Legends World Championship as "Lowkey Esports" of the former Vietnam Championship Series (VCS), while Movistar KOI qualified for seven World Championships prior to its most recent name change in December 2024.
100 Thieves of the LTA made its final appearance at the World Championship, as the organization announced on 19 July 2025 that it would leave the league after the conclusion of the 2025 competitive season.
The teams that qualified for the event are: RegionLeagueQualification PathTeamStarting from Swiss stage South Korea LCK Season Champion2025 Mid-Season Invitational Winner Gen.G Season Runner-Up Hanwha Life Esports Season 3rd Place KT Rolster Asia-Pacific LCP Season Champion CTBC Flying Oyster Season Runner-Up Secret Whales Season 3rd Place PSG Talon EMEA LEC Summer Champion G2 Esports Summer Runner-Up Movistar KOI Summer 3rd Place Fnatic China LPL Split 3 Champion Bilibili Gaming Championship Points Anyone's Legend Regional Qualifiers 3rd Seed Playoff Winner Top Esports Americas LTA Season ChampionLTA North Split 3 Champion FlyQuest Season 2nd PlaceLTA South Split 3 Champion Season 3rd Place 100 ThievesStarting from Play-in stage South Korea LCK Season 4th Place T1 China LPL Regional Qualifiers 4th Seed Playoff Winner Invictus Gaming
Pre-tournament rankings Following its introduction during last year's tournament, Riot Games continued to use its Global Power Rankings to evaluate and reflect the overall strength of teams, based on their regional league performances and international event results throughout the season. Ahead of the 2025 League of Legends World Championship, Gen.G ranked first with 1,627 points, followed by Hanwha Life Esports with 1,569 points. T1, the defending champion, placed third with 1,538 points, while Anyone's Legend and Bilibili Gaming rounded out the Top 5.
Format The fourth-seeded teams from the LCK and LPL, as a result of obtaining an additional slot from the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational, played one best-of-five series to determine the last team to qualify for the tournament's swiss stage. Sixteen (16) teams competed in the swiss stage, where the first eight (8) teams to achieve three (3) wins advanced to the knockout stage, which was a single-elimination bracket. All matches in the knockout stage were expected to be best-of-fives.
This was also the first World Championship to adopt the Fearless Draft format, where champions that have been played by either team become unavailable for both teams for the remainder of the series. While Fearless Draft was intended to only be used during the first split of the season, Riot Games announced prior to the final of the 2025 First Stand Tournament that it would apply for the rest of the year, including MSI and Worlds, after it received "overwhelming" positive feedback during that period. Fearless Draft was used for all best-of-3 and best-of-5 series during the World Championship.
Play-in stage Being the fourth-seeded teams of their respective regions, T1 of the LCK and Invictus Gaming of the LPL competed in a best-of-five series to determine the final qualified team for the tournament's Swiss stage. T1 qualified for the Swiss stage, defeating IG in a 3–1 scoreline.
Swiss stage The Swiss stage was held from 15 to 25 October at the Beijing Smart Esports Center in Beijing, with matches starting at 16:00 CST (UTC+8), with the exception of matches on 15 to 16 October and 25 October, which started at 13:00 CST. Sixteen teams competed in a Swiss-system format over five rounds. Teams that achieved three wins advanced to the knockout stage, while those with three losses were eliminated. In the first two rounds, all games were best-of-ones, while succeeding rounds had all matches as best-of-threes, except for the 1–1 matches.
Draw After every round, a draw took place to determine each team's next opponent. For the first round, teams were drawn based on seeding. For succeeding rounds, teams were drawn based on record. The teams were divided into the following tiers for the first Swiss stage draw. In the first round, no two teams from the same region could face each other, while for succeeding rounds, teams cannot rematch against each other but could be paired with a team from the same region.
As T1 won the play-in series against Invictus Gaming, KT Rolster was placed in Tier 2, while Top Esports was assigned in Tier 3.
Tier 1 Bilibili Gaming CTBC Flying Oyster FlyQuest G2 Esports Gen.G
Tier 2 Anyone's Legend Hanwha Life Esports Movistar KOI Secret Whales Vivo Keyd Stars KT Rolster
Tier 3 100 Thieves Fnatic PSG Talon Top Esports T1
Bracket
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3 All 2–0 and 0–2 matches were best-of-threes, while 1–1 matches continued to be best-of-ones.
Round 4
Round 5
Knockout stage