The 2025 LCP season is the first under the new APAC banner as part of the League of Legends esports overhaul. With the esports ecosystem consolidating, this meant many leagues sadly are no more, including the likes of the VCS, PCS, and LJL. In its place is the new League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP), a merging of many minor regions to form the fifth major region. There are familiar faces such as GAM, Talon, and DetonatioN FocusMe.
Let's take a look at the 2025 LCP Season Kickoff, previewing the format, the teams playing, who the favorites are, and more.
LCP 2025 Season Kickoff Format
The Season Kickoff is divided into two sections, the Season Kickoff which sees eight teams, four partnered teams, and four guest teams compete in a single-round-robin. Every match in this stage is a best-of-three. Along with that, every stage of the entire event is hard fearless, which means when a champion has been picked, it can no longer be picked for the rest of the series. The top six at the end of the first stage advance to the Season Kickoff Qualifying Series.
This is where the event kicks into high gear, with six teams competing in a tournament bracket to determine the splits winner. From round two, the bracket is double elimination with every series baring round three and the finals being a best-of-five. The winner of the Season Kickoff Qualifying Series will earn their ticket to the newest international event called First Stand.
Which teams are participating in the LCP 2025 Season Kickoff?
There are eight teams competing in the first LCP event of the year, four of those being partnered teams that will be mainstays in the league for many years to come, and four guest teams that could change in the future. Let's take a look at the eight teams competing in the LCP 2025 Season Kickoff:
What is the LCP 2025 Season Kickoff Prize Pool?
At the time of writing this article, the prize pool for the LCP Season Kickoff has not been disclosed. The only information we know for certain is that for winning the event, you are guaranteed a spot in the first international event of the year called First Stand, and all-fearless draft event featuring the winner of each of the major regions.
Which teams should I look out for?
Although they no longer don the PSG moniker, TALON is arguably the team to beat still in the LCP. They have been dominant since their entrance into professional League of Legends, representing the PCS at many international events over the years, including an impressive top four finish at MSI 2021. As for their 2025 roster, they have replaced their talent with players equal to the sum of their parts.
With the regions consolidating, it'll be hard for some teams such as DetonatioN FocusMe to reach the level of international events they were attending when in the LJL. DFM were at the top of the mountain for years, but with the likes of TALON and GAM, we may not see DFM bless our screens on the international stage for some time.
You can catch all of these teams in action when the LCP begins on January 17 with the Season Kickoff. If you're wondering where you can watch APAC's best teams do battle, you can check out all the action on the official LCP English broadcast on YouTube. The LCP kicks things off with MGN Vikings Esports taking on CTBC Flying Oyster.
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