The League of Legends community is stunned that the 2025 World Championship format still has serious flaws
In 2024, Riot implemented a series of changes for the World Championship, one of which was the removal of the BO1 format. This format was considered outdated, not suitable for audience preferences, and detrimental to team performance. According to many evaluations, BO1 only benefits weaker teams with the hope of creating surprises. However, in 2025, Riot has reverted to the BO1 format, leaving many surprised.
The 2025 World Championship has significant changes to its format, notably bringing back the BO1 series.
Accordingly, after the T1 – IG match concludes the Play-In stage, the Main Event of the 2025 World Championship will begin. In the first matches of the Swiss round, teams will be divided into 3 groups and compete in BO1 format. Thus, many teams may end up “eliminated” after just about 3 matches, including 2 BO1s and 1 BO3.
After Riot officially announced the format for the 2025 World Championship, many expressed confusion. The BO1 format has long been criticized, and even smaller regions have eliminated it. Riot itself has previously acknowledged the flaws of the BO1 format, yet it has now decided to reintroduce it, leading to many concerns.
The BO1 format only benefits the lower-ranked teams.
– I can’t believe that at the 2025 World Championship, I still have to see BO1.
– Last year they removed BO1, I thought they finally understood the issue.
– So, I could travel all the way from America to Asia, play 2 games, and then go home, right?
Perhaps Riot genuinely wants to spend all of 2025 experimenting, and the World Championship is part of that
In 2025, Riot will widely implement the Fearless Draft, merge regions, and introduce a series of significant and minor changes. Therefore, the 2025 World Championship may also serve as a testing ground for Riot, with the return of the BO1 format being part of that.
Top teams must be extremely cautious as BO1 is unpredictable.
Therefore, despite the flaws and many issues, teams may need to strive to adapt. There will still be strategic matches, but that’s when teams clearly demonstrate their strength to secure their own fate.