The League of Legends World Championship—aka LoL Worlds or simply “Worlds”—is the crowning event of the year for top esports teams worldwide. Qualifying for Worlds is a massive achievement in its own right when you consider that this year, there are just 17 spots available. Here’s all the ways that teams will punch in their spot for League of Legends Worlds 2025.
Let’s break down how teams qualify for Worlds. As Camille would say, “Anything Worth Doing Is Worth Doing Right,” and we are taking that to heart!
The Path To Worlds
There are a few to take to qualify for Worlds. The top three teams from their respective regional leagues will earn spots, as well as the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) champion. One additional slot is determined by MSI performance.
To keep it simple, we divided the qualifying paths into sections for MSI and the five main regional leagues.
Qualifying Via MSI & Extra Regional Slot
After the Split 2 qualifiers, the top two teams from each of the five main regions will compete at the annual MSI tournament. The champion of MSI will earn a spot at Worlds. Further, the second-best-performing region at MSI will receive a Worlds Play-In Stage slot.
LCK Split 3 Playoffs
The League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) is considered one of the best regions. Teams that want to qualify for Worlds must first make it to the Playoffs of Split 3. Here’s how teams qualify.
- The top two teams from the Legend Group advance to Round 2 of the Playoffs.
- 3rd and 4th-placed teams from the Legend Group advance to Round 1 of the Playoffs.
- The top three teams from the Rise Group and the bottom team from the Legend Group advance to the Play-In Stage, while the rest are eliminated.
- Play-In teams compete for the final two spots in Round 1 of the Playoffs.
The six teams will compete in a double-elimination LCK Split 3 Playoffs bracket, where all matches are best-of-five. The top three teams qualify for Worlds.
LPL Split 3 & Regional Finals
As the main league in China, the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) season occurs across three Splits, ending in a regional finals. For an LPL team to qualify for Worlds, earning one of the three slots, they must meet one of the following criteria:
- Win the LPL Split 3 event to qualify for Worlds as the top seed from the region.
- The top team by championship points (excluding the Split 3 champion) earns the second seed.
- Win the Regional Finals tournament following the conclusion of Split 3.
If a fourth slot (Worlds Play-In Stage) is required, it will go to the runner-up of the LPL Regional Final. In the case of a championship points tie, the team with the highest ranking in Split 3 will get the spot.
LEC Split 3 Playoffs
The top ten European teams compete at the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) for three spots at Worlds. The format for the LEC Summer (aka LEC Split 3) event is straightforward.
Teams first compete in a single-round robin Group Stage, with five squads per group. Following best-of-three matches, the top two teams from each group advance to the Upper Bracket of the Playoffs; the 3rd and 4th-place teams advance to the Lower Bracket; and the bottom teams are eliminated.
In the LEC Split 3 Playoffs, teams compete in a double-elimination bracket, where Round 1 Lower Bracket matches are best-of-three, and all other matches are best-of-five. The top three (3) teams from LEC Split 3 earn coveted World Championship spots.
LCP Split 3 Season Finals
Following the MSI event, eight teams compete in the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP) Season Finals, aka Split 3. The teams are first divided into two groups (Contender and Breakout) based on their performance in Split 2, with the top four competing in Contender and the bottom four competing in Breakout. The Group Stage features a single-round-robin format and is followed by a Group Breaker stage to determine which teams make it to the Playoffs Stage.
In the LCP Split 3 Playoffs Stage, the qualified teams will compete in a double-elimination bracket. The Upper Bracket Quarterfinals and Semifinals matches are best-of-three, while the rest are best-of-five. The top three teams qualify for Worlds.
LTA Split 3 & Regional Finals
In the League of Legends Championship of The Americas (LTA), there are two main subdivisions, North and South. The top eight LTA South and LTA North teams compete in three Splits throughout the competitive year. The top teams from LTA South and North in Split 3 lock in Worlds spots as top seeds at the Regional Finals, translating into a minimum of a top-three finish.
When the dust settles over the regular Split 3 season, the top three teams from South and North will compete in the Regional Finals event. At the LTA Regional Finals, teams will fight through a double-elimination bracket, where all matches are best-of-five. The top three earn spots at Worlds.
If you’re unfamiliar with the LTA, we’ve got you covered with an explanation of Riot Games’ huge change.
LoL Esports Tournament Structure
At the start of 2025, Riot Games made a significant move: it unified the LCS, CBLOL, and LLA into one region: the LTA. The change shook up the Tier 1 events ecosystem, with fewer teams competing at the annual MSI and Worlds events.
There are only five regions instead of eight. Two teams from each region compete at the MSI 2025. Further, the top three teams from each region compete at Worlds 2025, alongside the MSI winner, with one additional slot provided to the second-best-performing region at MSI. The takeaway is that there are 17 Worlds slots instead of 20. In the announcement, Riot Games explained the tradeoff of these changes, stating:
“Our proposal does reduce the number of teams within our Tier-1 ecosystem. Simply put, we have too many teams in Tier-1 to support sustainably. By reducing the number of teams, we’ll be able to focus support from the GRP by ensuring revenues are distributed among fewer teams, thereby increasing revenue per team. This should also help concentrate player talent, making it easier for fans to follow a streamlined ecosystem, and ultimately create more high-quality matches worth your time.”
Finally, Riot Games added a third international event to the calendar year, called LoL First Stand. This event kickstarts the year in style, with the top team from each region’s Split 1 competing on LAN in front of a crowd. There are no MSI or Worlds slots to compete for at First Stand.
Enjoy Top-Tier LoL Esports
We hope our comprehensive guide has satisfied your curiosity about the Tier 1 LoL esports structure. For the sake of complete transparency, check out the short-but-sweet summary:
- Regional Split 1 events determine the five teams (one per region) that qualify for First Stand.
- Regional Split 2 events determine the ten teams (two per region) that qualify for MSI.
- Winner of MSI gets a Worlds slot.
- Second-best-performing region at MSI gets an extra Worlds slot.
- Regional Split 3 events determine 15 teams (three per region) that qualify for Worlds.
Clearly, there’s a lot of LoL esports action to devour. And at Thunderpick, you don’t have to miss a single match! You can watch every event live and place bets with your favorite cryptocurrency on our fans-first platform
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