[Stiri Gaming] 2025 League of Legends World Championship

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The 2025 League of Legends World Championship (Chinese: 2025英雄联盟全球总决赛) 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 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.

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.

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.

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 will 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 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 will host 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, will host the quarterfinals and semifinals. The finals will be held at the multifunctional gymnasium of the Dong'an Lake Sports Park in Chengdu.

The fourth-seeded teams from the LCK and LPL, as a result of obtaining an additional slot from the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational, will play one best-of-five series to determine the last team to qualify for the tournament's swiss stage. Sixteen teams will compete in the swiss stage, where the first eight  teams to achieve three  wins will advance to the knockout stage, which will be a single-elimination bracket. All matches in the knockout stage are expected to be best-of-fives.

This will also be 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 will be used for all best-of-3 and best-of-5 series during the World Championship.

SOURCE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_League_of_Legends_World_Championship