Everything We Know About First Stand 2025: Info, Dates, Drops

This year’s League of Legends esports circuit has already kicked off, but First Stand 2025 will put international competitors to the test, establish intense rivalries and set powerful precedents for the upcoming months. The event, located in Seoul, South Korea, will include the strongest teams from each League of Legends region, embrace plenty of formatting changes and include a refreshed Fearless Draft + Ban system. Plus, fans can enjoy complimentary drops and watch parties. Let’s explore everything we know about FST 2025 including its key info, location, format, schedule and item drops.

First Stand or FST is the first major multi-region competitive event in the yearly League of Legends esports calendar. It is an S-tier Riot Games-sponsored tournament which will include the strongest teams from China (LPL), Korea (LCK), Europe (LEC), the Americas (LTA) and APAC (LCP).

The victorious team will secure a large prize pool, a trophy and optimal seeding at the upcoming Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) tournament. Plus, winning First Stand sets a fearsome precedent and establishes the team as a key player in 2025 League of Legends esports.

According to Riot Games, this year’s First Stand is “designed to spark regional rivalries and showcase innovative strategies.” It will encourage teams to:

“Forge a new path to victory; whether it be through brute force, elite mental, sheer creativity or deft mechanics. This is your chance to find the joy of invention and show the world, and yourself, what you’ve got.” The theme overall is “Yours for the Taking.”

The tournament will also update its HUD graphics in 2025, making it easier to track progress towards buffs like Dragon Soul and follow lane comparisons. Action-packed scenes will have clearer displays and a refreshed kill feed.

FST 2025 will occur in the League of Legends Park Arena in Seoul, South Korea. This venue hosts major LCK (League of Legends Champions Korea) events and is located in the city’s Jongno district, an important cultural and historical hotspot. South Korea as a whole is known for having a strong influence on League of Legends esports. Riot Games Hall of Legends inductee Faker and his team T1 hail from the country, alongside other esports household names like Ruler and TheShy.

FST 2025 will occur from March 10 to March 16 2025. It will span two stages as teams compete for victory. First, the Round Robin stage features single-elimination best-of-three matches. The top four teams from this segment advance to the Knockout Stage, which includes “a single-elimination best-of-five bracket” and creates matchups based on the opposing Round Robin results. Let’s explore the individual dates and times for each competitive phase:

FST 2025 Key Dates and Times

Full team seeding is TBD as the final contestants will qualify on March 2 2025.

Yes, FST 2025 will use Fearless Draft. It will also utilize a secondary system called Fearless Bans. In Fearless Bans, bans from the first game in a match will carry over. For example, in a best-of-five scenario, Game 1 would have 10 bans, while Game 2 would have 20 (10 new ones plus the original 10), Game 3 would have 30 and so on.

Related Article: League of Legends: How Fearless Draft Works

Fearless Draft has generally attained positive reception from the League of Legends community and, according to Riot Games, this format is intended to “[challenge] teams to adapt continuously, bringing fresh strategies and champion picks to every game.”

Players who watch FST 2025 will gain item Drop rewards. These unique cosmetics include 2025 Esports Capsules, in-game emotes and more. Players can earn them by tuning in to official streams on Riot Games’ League of Legends esports website, LoLesports.com.

Upon arriving to the website, players must login using their Riot ID. This will connect their account to a viewership profile. While watching the action live, they can gain the following rewards:

After following the instructions above and completing the watch requirements, the drops should immediately appear in the user’s inventory.

Riot Games will also announce a selection of partnered co-streamers for the event on March 3. These League of Legends creators, over 75 total, will individually stream FST 2025 with the studio’s permission. All teams participating in the tournament also have permission to host team co-streams as the tournament progresses.