We are just days out from the start of the inaugural season for the League of Legends Championship of the Americas, also known as the LTA. This is the beginning of the merger between the two regions, which sees North America, Latin America, and Brazil all combine to make one region. Within this region, there are two conferences: the North, which will play host to North America, and the South, which will be where the Brazilian teams reside.
In this article, we're going to be previewing the LTA South Split 1, focussing on the teams participating, the tournament format, what the prize pool looks like, and the favorites.
LTA South Split 1 Format
The Split 1 for both the LTA North and the LTA South is the first time we will get to see both conferences go head-to-head with one another, but we will get to that later. For Split 1 in the LTA South, the eight competing teams will be divided into two double elimination groups. Each series minus round three will be a best-of-three, and the final round to decide the first place team from the South will be a best-of-one.
One of the major changes coming into the 2025 League of Legends esports season is the introduction of fearless draft. In all of the five major regions, each league will be competing under fearless draft rules. This means in a best-of-series, once a champion has been played, that champion is removed from the rest of the series. This should force teams to be more creative as more champions will have to be played. For the entirety of the LTA Split 1 for both North and South, all best-of-series will be played under fearless draft rules.
The top four teams from the regular season will advance to the Split 1 playoffs, which will see four North American teams and four Brazilian squads go head-to-head in a single elimination bracket. Every series outside of the grand-finals is a best-of-three while the finals is a best-of-five. The winner of the Split 1 Playoffs will be the LTA representative at the newest international event known as First Stand.
LTA South Split 1 Participants
As is the case in North America, there are eight teams that will be the main teams for the entirety of the 2025 LTA season. Seven of those teams were either picked by Riot or remained from the previous season, along with one guest slot for a tier-2 representative that will have to fight in the promotion and relegation tournament in order to keep their spot in the league. Let's take a look at the eight teams competing in the LTA South Split 1:
LTA South Split 1 Prize Pool
At the time of writing this article, the information on the LTA South Split 1 prize pool has not been made public by either Riot or the LTA team. Once that information is public, this article will be updated. What is confirmed, however, is that the winner of Split 1, whether that be from North America or Brazil, will have a guaranteed seed in the first international event of the year, First Stand.
LTA South Split 1 Favorites
With the Split 1 Playoffs being a battle between North America and Brazil, it is guaranteed that one of the two regions will not be competing at the first international event. Therefore with only one winner, let's take a look at some of the favorites to make it through to the next stage of the event and make it to Brazil to compete in the Split 1 Playoffs. Let's start with paiN Gaming, who are one of the favorites to make it to the playoffs.
The former CBLoL squad had an amazing end to the 2024 season, finishing second in the regular season before winning the Split 2 Playoffs and earning a spot for Brazil at the 2024 League of Legends World Championship.
Next, we have Vivo Keyd Stars, another team that had an amazing year in the CBLoL with a first-place finish in the regular season but fell to paiN Gaming twice in the playoffs, meaning they just missed out on the Worlds 2024 appearance. This year, they're bringing in some much-needed leadership in the form of Adrian "Trymbi" Trybus. Trymbi has vast experience, winning a LEC title and having multiple international appearances, even making it to the Worlds quarterfinals in 2022 with Rogue.
Another team to keep an eye on is Isurus Estral, the guest team that will have to play in the relegation tournament even if they make it to Worlds this year. One of the more exciting introductions to the league this season is Burdol, who joins after spending many years in the LCK and LPL. He will be a player to look out for with many Korean players seeing success in the region over the years when making the jump.
The LTA South Split 1 begins this Saturday with paiN Gaming taking on Brazilian powerhouse organization LOUD.
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