Following a successful debut in Split 1, Riot Games has announced that the Fearless Draft format will be implemented across all League of Legends regional leagues for the remainder of the 2025 esports season. This strategic format, which prevents champions used in previous games from being selected in subsequent matches, will be featured in major global events including MSI and Worlds.
Fearless Draft Becomes Standard Format After Successful Trial
Riot Games officially confirmed on March 16, 2025, that the Fearless Draft format will continue throughout the 2025 League of Legends competitive season. The announcement comes after the format's successful implementation during Split 1 and the First Stand Tournament, where it received overwhelmingly positive feedback from both fans and professional teams.
Starting with Split 2, all regional leagues—including LTA (The Americas), LEC (Europe), LCK (Korea), LPL (China), and LCP (Pacific)—will adopt the Fearless Draft system for their competitive matches. The format will also extend to global events like MSI and Worlds 2025, though with specific adaptations for different tournament stages.
How Does Fearless Draft Work?
The Fearless Draft system introduces a unique twist to the traditional champion selection process. In a best-of-series (Bo3 or Bo5), champions picked by either team in previous games become unavailable for both teams in subsequent games of the same series.
This progressive restriction creates a dynamically shrinking champion pool as a series progresses, forcing teams to:
- Demonstrate mastery across a wider range of champions
- Develop more diverse strategic approaches
- Make critical decisions about when to use priority picks
- Adapt their gameplay based on an evolving champion pool
What's Changing for Global Events?
While Fearless Draft will be the standard format across regional leagues, Riot has outlined specific implementation details for international tournaments:
- MSI will maintain its original tournament structure but incorporate Fearless Draft rules
- Worlds will use Fearless Draft for all best-of-3 and best-of-5 matches
- The Swiss Stage at Worlds will remain as a best-of-1 format, where Fearless Draft restrictions don't apply
Why Make Fearless Draft Permanent?
According to Riot's announcement, the decision to expand Fearless Draft was made following extensive discussions with teams across all competitive regions. The format has already demonstrated several benefits:
- Increased champion diversity in professional play
- More unpredictable drafting phases and matchups
- Greater strategic depth in multi-game series
- Enhanced viewing experience for spectators
- Opportunities for teams to showcase specialized pocket picks
What Does This Mean for Professional Teams?
The permanent adoption of Fearless Draft represents a significant shift in how professional League of Legends teams will approach their preparation and strategy. Teams will need to:
- Expand their champion pools across all roles
- Develop multiple strategic approaches for different game states
- Balance saving priority picks versus securing early wins
- Adapt coaching and practice regimens to accommodate the format
Looking Ahead: The 2025 Competitive Calendar
With Fearless Draft now confirmed for the remainder of 2025, here's how the competitive calendar will unfold:
- Split 2 (Regional): LTA, LEC, LCK, LPL, LCP - All implementing Fearless Draft
- MSI (Global): Maintaining original format with Fearless Draft rules
- Split 3 (Regional): Continuation of regional leagues with Fearless Draft
- Worlds (Global): Fearless Draft for Bo3/Bo5 matches, traditional format for Swiss Stage
Riot has indicated they will continue to monitor the impact of Fearless Draft throughout the season, gathering data and feedback to guide potential refinements to the system. For fans and players alike, the 2025 competitive season promises to deliver unprecedented strategic diversity and exciting gameplay innovations.
