Here is everything you need to know about the 2025 LPL Split 2, the second split for the Chinese Professional League.
Image Credit: Riot Games
LPL 2025 Split 2 Explained
It has been a rough year for the LPL so far, following Top Esports’ disappointing performance at First Stand. Not only wasn’t the team able to fight with the Korean powerhouse HLE but they underperformed as both LCP and LEC ended up finishing higher.
It’s back to the drawing board for the LPL as they will be hoping to improve their results at the next international tournament, the Mid-Season Invitational. Before that, however, the Chinese league will have to determine its two representatives in the LPL Split 2, which will continue to have the Fearless Draft applied, following Riot’s decision to keep the draft format throughout the entire year.
The Format
With the implementation of the three-split structure, the LPL has had to overhaul its format to accommodate the stricter schedule. In the Split 2 Placements, the 16 teams will be divided into 4 seeding pools based on their performance in Split 1, and 4 groups of 4 teams will be made.
There will be a double round-robin of Bo1 within each group, and the top two in each one will advance to Group Ascend while the 3rd place teams will have to fight in the Last Chance Promotion stage. The four bottom teams will instead be placed in Group Nirvana.
In the Last Chance Promotion stage, the four teams will play a double elimination bracket, using the “Hard Fearless Draft”, as champions can only be picked once by either team during the series. Side selection for game 1 is decided by a 1v1 match and the two winning teams will join the remaining 8 in Group Ascend, with the other two in Group Nirvana.
The two groups will then kick off the start of the regular split. The top 10 teams will have a double round robin of Bo3 while the bottom 6 a single round robin of Bo3. The top four from Group Ascend will directly access the playoff stage. The other 6 will join the top two of Group Nirvana for the playoffs play-in.
It’s worth noting that the bottom two teams of Group Nirvana will then be eliminated from the LPL, meaning their season will come to an end. With the regular split finishing in May, this means that two teams will have half a year with no official matches.
LPL Split 2 Placements Groups
Below are the four groups formed that will compete for Group Ascend:
Group A
- BiliBili Gaming
- Weibo Gaming
- EDward Gaming
- Team WE
Group B
- Anyone’s Legend
- Royal Never Give Up
- ThunderTalk Gamin
- Ultra Prime
Group C
- FunPlus Phoenix
- Ninjas in Pyjamas
- Oh My God
- Top Esports
Group D
- Invictus Gaming
- JD Gaming
- LGD Gaming
- LNG Esports
If you want to know which teams are expected to go through, stay tuned for more LoL news and match previews.