The First Stand Tournament (FST, also simply as First Stand) is an annual League of Legends international tournament hosted by Riot Games at the conclusion of the first of three splits of the game's professional esports scene. It is the third international tournament under the new split structure and competitive calendar by Riot Games since 2025.[1][2]
| Most recent season or competition: 2025 First Stand Tournament | |
 | |
| Game | League of Legends |
|---|---|
| Founded | March 10, 2025 |
| Administrator | Riot Games |
| No. of teams | 5 teams (2025) |
| Venue(s) | Rotating locations (next ___location: Brazil) |
| Most recent champion(s) | Hanwha Life Esports (2025) |
| Qualification | Regional leagues (list) |
| Related competitions | Mid-Season Invitational World Championship |
| Official website | lolesports.com |
History
edit2025
editOn 11 June 2024, Riot Games announced the creation of a new split structure and competitive calendar for the League of Legends esports scene, including a three-split calendar similar to that of the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) to be applied to all major regions and the creation of a new international tournament to conclude the first split.[1] During the media day for the 2024 League of Legends World Championship Final at The O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom on 1 November 2024, Riot Games announced that the new international tournament would be named "First Stand Tournament" (FST), with the inaugural edition set to take place from 10 to 16 March 2025 in Seoul, South Korea.[3]
Hanwha Life Esports of the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) won the tournament by defeating League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) representatives Karmine Corp with a score 3-1, marking the organization's first international title.[4][5]
2026
editIn a development update video published by Riot Games to begin the 2025 competitive season, Riot Games announced that FST 2026 would take place in Brazil. It will be the second international League of Legends competition to be hosted in Latin America after the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational, which was also held in Brazil.[6]
2027
editThe same video that announced the hosts of the 2026 edition of the tournament also confirmed that FST in 2027 will be hosted in Southeast Asia (including Taiwan), which will be the first time an international League of Legends tournament will be hosted in the region since Vietnam and Taiwan's hosting of the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational.[6]
Format and Qualification
editThe tournament features five qualified teams, particularly the winners of the first competitive split from the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), League of Legends Pro League (LPL), League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC), League of Legends Championship of The Americas (LTA), and the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP). Each of the five teams will face each other in a best-of series.
The following is a breakdown of the qualified teams per region:
- LCK: LCK Cup Champion
- LPL: Stage 1 Winner
- LEC: Winter Split Champion
- LTA: Split 1 Champion
- LCP: Season Kickoff Qualifying Series Winner
In each series played in the tournament, the "Fearless Draft" format is implemented. Fearless Draft pertains to a draft format in League of Legends popularized by China's LoL Development League where teams cannot pick a champion that they've already played in a series. For instance, when one team picks a champion in any stage of the series, they and their opponents may not pick said champion for the succeeding games. Hence, for every game of a best-of series, there will be ten additional bans, narrowing teams' champion pools.[7]
Results
editYear-by-year
edit| Year | Location | Final | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champion | Score | Runner-up | ||||
| 2025 | Seoul | Hanwha Life Esports | 3 | 1 | Karmine Corp | 5 |
| 2026 | TBA, Brazil | 5 | ||||
| 2027 | TBA, Southeast Asia | 5 | ||||
Regions reaching top four
edit| Region | Titles | Runner-up | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Korea (LCK) | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| EMEA (LEC) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Teams reaching top four
edit| Team | Titles | Runner-up | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hanwha Life Esports | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Karmine Corp | 0 | 1 | 1 |
References
edit- ^ a b "LoL Esports: Building Towards A Brighter Future". lolesports.com. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
- ^ "Looking Ahead: LoL Esports 2025". lolesports.com. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
- ^ Tan, Amanda (1 November 2024). "New third international LoL Esports tournament First Stand debuts in 2025, host country announced". ONE Esports. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
- ^ Jones, Lee (16 March 2025). "Hanwha Life Esports take down Karmine Corp to win First Stand". Esports.net. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
- ^ Marchoude, Ilyas (16 March 2025). "LoL - First Stand: Hanwha Life Esports is crowned champion after defeating Karmine Corp 3-1 in the grand final". Sheep Esports. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
- ^ a b Ciocchetti, Cecilia (8 January 2025). "Riot just dropped the schedule and ___location for every LoL esports tournament up to 2027". Dot Esports. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
- ^ Lynch, James (1 November 2024). "Riot confirms new international 5-team League of Legends tournament First Stand". Dexerto. Retrieved 2 November 2024.