Official: The first stage of the 2025 LPL will officially start on January 12

The League of Legends Professional League (LPL) announced today that the first stage of the 2025 LPL will officially start on January 12.

According to the official statement, the 2025 LPL season will merge the spring and summer seasons into one full season, divided into three stages. A total of 16 teams will participate in the first stage and will be divided into four groups through a draw. The group results were also announced on December 29, as follows:

Group A: TES, AL, LGD, WE

Group B: WBG, JDG, OMG, UP

Group C: BLG, LNG, TT, EDG

Group D: NIP, FPX, IG, RNG

It is also pointed out that the first stage will consist of a group stage and a knockout stage. The group stage is confirmed to adopt a bilateral fearless draft and SOLO side selection mode, and the top two teams in each group will advance to the knockout stage. The winner of the knockout stage will qualify for the 2025 First Stand event.

The second stage partially continues the 2024 summer season format, with the regular season still divided into group stage, intra-group stage (peak group and Nirvana group) and Knight Road. Unlike in the past, the last two teams in the Nirvana group will directly end the 2025 LPL season. The champion and runner-up of the second stage will represent the LPL region to participate in MSI.

The third stage will directly enter the regular season. The eight teams that participated in the knockout stage of the second stage will directly advance to the summit group, and the other teams will enter the Nirvana group. After the regular season, the third stage will usher in the 2025 LPL playoffs, and finally decide the champion of the season.