Riot Games has unveiled several updates to the 2025 League of Legends EMEA Masters, including three new tournaments to align with the LEC’s three-split model. Key innovations like Fearless Draft and revamped formats promise an exciting year for new and veteran fans.
The 2025 EMEA Masters marks a great shift from the previous two-split system in 2024 and will feature three tournaments—Winter, Spring, and Summer—much like the Tier One league. Similarly, each split grows in size and intensity, culminating in a grand finale in the summer. But that’s not all; Fearless Draft descends from the LEC onto the EMEA Masters during the winter, and new tournament formats expands team slots for spring and summer.
Welcome three EMEA Masters in 2025
For the first time, EMEA Masters will feature three tournaments: the Winter, Spring, and Summer Splits. Each event will evolve, starting with 16 teams in winter, expanding to 32 in spring, and concluding with 44 teams in summer—an exciting escalation throughout the year that will ensure more ERL teams will make their debut on the international stage.
EMEA Masters Winter format
The Winter Tournament kicks off on March 17 and will feature 16 teams, including each ERL’s Winter champions and three second-seeded teams from “historically” top-performing leagues, as Riot said. Another addition is Fearless Draft where champions cannot be used more than once in a match series, which will likely promote new strategies and creativity but also chaos and unique viewing experiences for fans.
The event begins with a GSL-style group stage with regional protection to avoid same-region matchups early on. The top eight teams will move to the playoffs where they will compete in a single-elimination bracket.
But while Fearless Draft should highlight the strengths of smaller ERLs, rewarding teams with diverse champion pools and adaptable strategies, the same smaller regions’ representatives might struggle to compete against historically dominant leagues, potentially creating a wider competitive gap.
EMEA Masters Spring format
The Spring EMEA Masters tournament doubles up to 32 participating teams. While the group stage format remains similar to Winter, Fearless Draft is replaced by standard drafting rules. Regional protection still ensures avoiding cross-regional matchups, and the playoffs will feature 16 teams in a single-elimination bracket with best-of-five matches.
EMEA Masters Summer format
The Summer Split serves as the climax of the 2025 EMEA Masters season, featuring a total of 44 teams. The event will begin with a Last Chance Qualifier for 16 teams, followed by a region-protected GSL-style group stage. Winners advance to the Swiss Stage, where teams compete in a bracket against equally strong opponents from other regions. The top 16 teams move to the playoffs, where regional protection is removed, ensuring the strongest teams face off in a single-elimination best-of-five bracket despite their ERL of origin.
Qualification and regional slots
13 ERLs will compete in 2025, with team slots distributed as follows:
- Winter: Top seeds from all 13 ERLs, plus second seeds from three historically dominant leagues (based on past two years’ performance).
- Spring: Six leagues receive three slots each, while the remaining leagues get two slots each.
- Summer: All regions get three slots, with the top five receiving an additional fourth slot.
This year promises to be a defining year for Tier Two League of Legends in EMEA, thanks to a new tournament, formats, and rosters that have already started to attract attention on themselves. Fans can catch all the action live on Twitch and or on Lol Esports official website.
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