The League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) undergoes a significant format overhaul in 2025.
This new LEC format, which eliminates Season Finals and the Championship Points system, focuses on three distinct splits, each with its own unique format and stakes.
“We’re adjusting our split structure for 2025 to better connect our sport to our game ecosystem,” said the LoL Esports staff in an official statement.
What is the new LEC format for 2025? All changes explained
New LEC format for Winter 2025
The most significant change this season is the introduction of Fearless Draft for all matches in the playoffs of Winter 2025.
Fearless Draft is a unique draft format where teams cannot pick a champion that they’ve already played in the current series.
The regular season remains largely unchanged, with a three-week, single round-robin group stage featuring best-of-one matches.
The top eight teams then advances to the double-elimination playoffs, where they compete in both best-of-three and best-of-five series.
The winner of the LEC Winter Split Final is crowned the first LEC Champion of the year and represents the region at the new international event which was announced earlier this year.
New LEC format for Spring 2025
The LEC Spring 2025 regular season is extended to seven weeks, with all teams playing a minimum of nine best-of-three series against each other.
Only the top six teams advance to the playoffs, which features a double-elimination bracket. All playoff matches are best-of-fives and will not adopt Fearless Draft.
The winner of the Spring Split is crowned the second LEC champion of the year and secures a spot at the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI).
New LEC format for Summer 2025
The LEC Summer introduces a new group stage format. The 10 LEC teams are divided into two groups, and each team plays best-of-three series against every other team in their group.
The top two teams from each group automatically advance to the playoffs. The third and fourth-placed teams from each group play a best-of-three series against each other to determine the final two playoff spots.
The playoffs follows a double-elimination format with best-of-five series. The winner of the Summer Split is crowned the final LEC champion of the year and represents EMEA at Worlds 2025.
Additionally, the LEC roadshow takes place at the end of the Summer Split, with the specific location and venue to be announced in early 2025.
To keep the competition fresh and aligned with the latest gameplay dynamics, the LEC prioritizes playing matches on the live patch. Matches that fall too close to patch releases or during the playoffs are played on the previous patch.
The first split of the LEC season 2025 kicks off on January 18, 2025.
For more information on the specific schedule and detailed format changes, visit the official LoL Esports website.
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