The first half will feature the first two rounds of the season, with the top teams qualifying for the "Road to MSI" bracket, which will determine the region's representatives at the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational; the second half will feature the last three rounds of the season and the LCK Play-Ins and Playoffs to determine the Season Champion and the three Korean representatives (or four if the LCK finishes as a finalist at MSI) at the 2025 League of Legends World Championship.
In line with Riot Games' announcement of a new split structure and competitive calendar for League of Legends esports beginning with the 2025 competitive season, the LCK announced on 29 October 2024 that the former Spring and Summer Splits would be merged into one season, with the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational in between them, and the creation of the LCK Cup to serve as a qualifier for the inaugural First Stand Tournament.
During the draft, the finalists from the 2024 LCK Summer Split, Hanwha Life Esports (HLE) and Gen.G (GEN) were assigned to Baron and Elder, respectively.
Meanwhile, the losing teams will face in a best-of-five third round to determine the final playoffs spot.
Source: LoL Esports Source: LoL Esports Across nine weeks of competition, ten (10) competing teams will participate in a double round-robin tournament, where all matches will be played in best-of-threes, similar to the most-recent format for the Spring and Summer Splits of previous LCK seasons.
The top two (2) ranked teams from the first two rounds of the season will play for the region's first seed at the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational.
The loser of the first-seed playoff will be relegated to the fifth round, in which the winner of such will earn the LCK's second seed at MSI 2025.
[2] If the lone representative of the LCK at the First Stand Tournament wins the entire event, the two teams who earn the LCK's two slots at MSI 2025 will both get byes to the Bracket Stage, skipping the Play-in Stage entirely.
[2] The six (6) remaining teams will contest the playoffs in a double-elimination format, where all matches will be played in best-of-fives.
The top (3) teams from the playoffs will qualify for the 2025 League of Legends World Championship, with the winner of the finals being crowned the Season Champion.