The First Stand Tournament (FST, also simply as First Stand) is an annual ''

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a custom map for ''Warcraft III'', Ri ...

'' international tournament hosted by

Riot Games Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher and esports tournament organizer based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in September 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill to develop ''League of Legends'' and went on ...

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.

History

2025

On 11 June 2024,

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. During the media day for the

2024 League of Legends World Championship The 2024 ''League of Legends'' World Championship is an ongoing esports tournament for the multiplayer online battle arena video game ''League of Legends''. It is the fourteenth iteration of the League of Legends World Championship, ''League o ...

Final at

The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

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 Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Hanwha Life Esports Hanwha Life Esports (HLE) is a South Korean esports organization based in Seoul, owned by Hanwha Life Insurance. It has teams competing in ''League of Legends'' and ''Kart Rider'', with the former competing in the LCK, South Korea's top level pr ...

of the ''League of Legends'' Champions Korea (LCK) won the tournament by defeating ''League of Legends'' EMEA Championship (LEC) representatives

Karmine Corp Karmine Corp (; or simply KCorp) is a professional esports organization incorporated in Tours and headquartered in Paris, France. The team employs professional players across five divisions, namely '' League of Legends'', '' TrackMania'', ...

with a score 3-1, marking the organization's first international title.

2026

In 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 Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

after the

2017 Mid-Season Invitational The 2017 Mid-Season Invitational was the third annual Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) - a tournament for the MOBA video game ''League of Legends'' was hosted by Riot Games. The tournament was held from April 28 to May 21, 2017, in Brazil. This was t ...

, which was also held in Brazil.

2027

The 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 Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

(including Taiwan), which will be the first time an international ''League of Legends'' tournament will be hosted in the region since

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

's hosting of the

2019 Mid-Season Invitational The 2019 Mid-Season Invitational was the fifth Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), a Riot Games-organised tournament for ''League of Legends'', the multiplayer online battle arena video game. The tournament was the culmination of the 2019 Spring Split ...

Format and Qualification

The 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.

Results

Year-by-year

Regions reaching top four

Teams reaching top four

References

{{Professional League of Legends competition League of Legends competitions Recurring sporting events established in 2025