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🏆 Grand final
- Nov. 8: T1 vs KT match preview and predictions
- Nov. 8: KT Rolster: The LoL Worlds finals contender that no one expected
- Nov. 4: T1: The forever threat at LoL Worlds
🔑 Updated resources:
- Nov. 3: Updated Crystal Ball tracker and Knockout stage picks
- Oct. 25: Worlds Swiss stage round 5 match previews and predictions
🔔 Latest news and updates:
- Nov. 3: Why the West can’t win against the East
- Oct. 29: KT Peter speaks with Jaxon about making it to the semis
- Oct. 28: LoL Worlds 2025 Knockout Stage preview
- Oct. 23: G2 is the first LEC team to reach quarterfinals since 2022
- Oct. 21: G2 Labrov speaks with Jaxon about BLG, FlyQuest, recovery and prep
- Oct. 20: Fnatic at Worlds: First-ever European team to win 0 matches
- Oct. 19: On T1’s worst-ever showing at Worlds
- Oct. 15: CFO Chawy speaks with Jaxon on why this year’s team is one of the best they’ve had in years
- Oct. 15: Gen.G Canyon speaks with Jaxon about facing AL
- Oct. 14: T1 eliminates Invictus Gaming, qualifies to Swiss stage
- Oct. 14: Sacrifice is a love letter to LoL Esports History – LoL Words 2025 anthem commentary and Easter eggs
- Oct. 13: LoL Worlds 2025 anthem is out
- Oct. 13: Worlds Play-in stage – T1 vs IG preview and prediction
This Worlds preview will updated over the course of the event with additional content, coverage and links to new articles. Please check back for more on LoL Worlds 2025.
The League of Legends World Championship is the biggest event in the world’s biggest esports, and the 2025 edition of Worlds will see some changes to this annual gathering of the world’s best LoL teams.
With 17 teams being part of this year’s Worlds event, the tournament will have three distinct stages. Everything builds up to the playoffs, where only one team will ultimately be crowned the tournament’s victor, cementing itself as the best team of the year. Here’s everything to know about the tournament’s format, schedule, its participating teams, and the best picks to win it all.
| Event | 2025 World Championship |
|---|---|
| Start date | October 14, 2025 |
| End date | November 9, 2025 |
| Prize pool | $5,000,000 (Worlds 2025 prize pool explained) |
| Teams | 17 |
17 teams are part of the 2025 Worlds tournament, though only 16 Worlds teams will proceed to the Swiss stage.
Image via Riot Games/LoL Esports on X (@lolesports)
Out of these teams, Gen.G is definitely the favorite to become the latest LoL Worlds winner. The team’s performance this year has been nothing short of immaculate. Gen.G has already won the 2025 editions of the Mid-Season Invitational and Esports World Cup, and winning Worlds would make for one of the most successful full seasons in LoL esports history.
Bilibili Gaming is also considered a favorite to win and as the most respected team outside of Korea, and while T1 will start in the play-in stage, the team has showcased that it has more than enough to win Worlds and add another LoL trophy to its impressive collection of hardware.
In-depth:
Image credit: Riot Games/LCP via X (@lolpacificen)
Every match in the play-in and knockout stages will be a best-of-five series, while the Swiss stage will consist of best-of-three matches for elimination and advancement matches. Regular matches in the Swiss stage will just be best-of-one encounters, meaning that a single game will determine each team’s standing in the tournament until it’s either faced with advancement or elimination.
Additionally, all of the Bo3 and Bo5 matches will utilize the Fearless Draft system for the first time in LoL Worlds history. This means that players can’t use the same champion more than once in the same best-of-three or best-of-five series, ensuring greater variety in champion drafts and challenging players to flex their full hero pool.
The 2025 LoL Worlds schedule will kick off with the play-in match on October 14, 2025, at 4 am ET.
The Swiss stage will then consist of five full rounds of play that will determine which teams proceed to the knockout playoffs and which teams are among the first sides to be eliminated. The knockout stage will begin on October 28, 2025, and one match will be played every day for six consecutive days until the two finalists are determined. The 2025 LoL Worlds grand final will start on November 9.
While considered a potential LoL Worlds betting favorite to win the entire event this year, T1 will have to start its 2025 LoL Worlds run with an elimination series versus Invictus Gaming of the LPL. iG has a proud history of its own that includes a World Championship victory, but this year’s team has struggled to be consistent and will be a significant underdog versus T1.
If you’re looking for expert insights into this year’s Pick’ems, worry not, we’ve got you covered:
If you’re new to Pick’ems we explain it all here.
A few teams stand out as favorites with a particularly strong chance of winning the 2025 League of Legends World Championship, including Gen.G, T1, and Bilibili Gaming.
T1 is coming into Worlds 2025 looking to become the first team to win three consecutive LoL Worlds events after winning both the 2024 and 2023 championships. Having the most Worlds wins out of any professional League of Legends team, it makes sense that T1 is a strong favorite to win this year, too. Although T1 stumbled slightly in the last LCK split’s initial rounds of play, the team has gotten its bearings and has a good chance of at least moving to the knockout stage in its pursuit of a title defense.
Image credit: Gen.G
Gen.G has consistently demonstrated excellent gameplay at seemingly every turn this year. With the dominant performance the team has been displaying, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if it wins its third international tournament in a row with the 2025 LoL Worlds trophy.
Bilibili Gaming wasn’t able to make its presence much known at MSI or EWC, though the team’s strong performance in the last LPL split suggests it may at least reach the grand final here, just as it did in 2024.
For a dark horse contender, Anyone’s Legend surprised many when the team won the second LPL 2025 split before going on to reach the top three in this year’s MSI and EWC. With veteran player Shanks on the team alongside such proven stars as Flandre and Tarzan, there’s a strong chance that Anyone’s Legend could make a surprise push for the trophy.
Looking at teams from the LEC and LTA, the only two squads who would seem to be legitimate threats for a run are G2 Esports and FlyQuest. G2 has steadily improved its form over the course of the year and may be due for a run at Worlds this year, while FlyQuest has generally looked to be the strongest Western team at international events in 2025.
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