The LCP 2025 Season Kickoff is here! This is everything you need to know about the fifth and new major region in LoL Esports.
Image Credit: Riot Games
LCP Season Kickoff 2025 – New competition, new teams
The LCP, the League of Legends Championship Pacific, is the new top tier regional competition that comprises the best teams from Asia-Pacific. By combining the best teams from the previous PCS, LJL, VCS, and other minor regions, the new LCP will serve as the main competition to bring teams to the international stage.
Participating Teams
The league features four partner teams, who earned their post through consistent performance across the previous seasons, as well as four Guest teams. For the 2025 season, the teams are as follows:
- CTBC Flying Oyster (Partner)
- Fukuoka SoftBank HAWKS gaming (Partner)
- GAM Esports (Partner)
- Talon (Partner)
- DetonatioN FocusMe (Guest)
- MGN Vikings Esports (Guest)
- Team Secret Whales (Guest)
- The Chiefs Esports Club (Guest)
Schedule
The Winter Split will be starting on January 17, 2025, and will run until February 23, 2025. Matches take place each week, starting at 11 AM CET on Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays for the first two weeks. In week 3 and week 4, games will also be played on Thursdays, at the same time.
The tournament is divided into two stages:
- Regular Season: January 17 – February 16
- Qualifying Series: February 18 – February 23
In the regular split, teams will face in a single round robin of Bo3 matches, featuring Hard Fearless Draft. Side selection will be decided by 1v1 matches, similar to what happens in the LPL.
The top six teams will advance to the Qualifying Series where they will battle in a double-elimination bracket to determine the LCP representative at First Stand.
LCP Season Kickoff Initial impressions
Based on the rosters and the teams participating, here are some of the key takeaways from the first two weeks of LCP action:
- Former PCS teams lead the way: PSG Talon and CTBC Flying Oyster continue to dominate the competition like in previous seasons.
- Vietnam follows suit: the three Vietnamese teams are right behind them in the standings. They might not have what it takes to fight the top teams consistently but upsets might be around the corner.
- Japan and Oceania on the backfoot: these teams have slim chances of qualifying for global events.
Where to Watch
The LCP 2025 Season Kickoff can be watched on the official LCP Twitch channel and the lolesports website.