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Riot Games unveiled details for the 2026 First Stand Tournament, confirming that the global League of Legends competition will be held in São Paulo, Brazil from March 16th–22nd.
The event will span a week at the Riot Games Arena in São Paulo, featuring eight teams, an increase from five teams in the previous year.
First Stand is an annual tournament that kicks off the League of Legends esports season. Introduced in 2025, the event gathers elite teams from each major region early in the competitive season, providing an early indication of regional prowess ahead of other global events throughout the year.
Enhanced format and regional representation
For the 2026 edition, Riot Games has expanded the format of the tournament. The League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) and China’s League of Legends Pro League (LPL) will each be sending two teams, while other regions like the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC), League of Legends Championship of the Pacific (LCP), League Championship Series (LCS), and Brazil’s Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends (CBLOL) will each have one representative.
Gen.G and BNK FearX will represent the LCK, while G2 Esports (LEC), Team Secret Whales (LCP), LYON (LCS), and LOUD (CBLOL) are the confirmed teams from other regions. The two LPL representatives will be finalized on March 7th, with seeding decided the next day.
The group draw will occur on the evening of March 8th following the LPL Finals. The eight teams will be divided into two groups and compete in a double-elimination format within each group. The top two teams from both groups will progress to the knockout stage.
Semifinals are set for March 21st, with the grand final scheduled for March 22nd. All matches will be played as best-of-five series using the Fearless Draft system, where champions cannot be reused by the same team in a series.
Implications for MSI and LCK’s title defense
In addition to the trophy, First Stand offers competitive incentives. The region of the winning team will earn a direct spot in the bracket stage of the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), skipping the Play-In stage.
MSI 2026 is slated to take place in Daejeon, South Korea.
The LCK comes into the event as the defending champions, with Hanwha Life Esports clinching the inaugural First Stand title in 2025. With Gen.G and BNK FearX participating in this year’s tournament, the Korean league aims to secure consecutive First Stand victories.
A victory for the LCK would mean that the region has won all three of Riot’s international League of Legends events — First Stand, MSI, and the World Championship — in back-to-back years, according to the announcement.
Revenue sharing and drops from in-game skins
Riot Games also stated that proceeds from the Warhounds Senna skin and related bundles will be divided among League of Legends esports teams.
From March 18th to April 15th, a portion of sales from the skin, Border Bundle, and Chroma Bundle will be shared with teams. Individual chromas will also be purchasable separately.
Viewers watching the event on the official LoL Esports website (lolesports.com) — after logging in with a Riot ID — will be eligible for drops. An exclusive Evelynn emote will be available during the grand final, along with additional drops in collaboration with the Esports World Cup and Secretlab, as per the announcement.
The 2026 First Stand edition is supported by various global partners, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cisco, Coinbase, Esports World Cup (EWC), Globant, HyperX, Mastercard, Oppo, Opera GX, Secretlab, and Verizon.
International calendar of LoL Esports
Since 2025, Riot Games has organized three annual international League of Legends tournaments: First Stand in March, the Mid-Season Invitational in June–July, and the World Championship in October–November.
The LCK, established in 2012, is among the six major regional leagues globally. The Korean league transitioned to a single-season format running from April to September in 2025, with ten teams vying for the domestic title.
With eight teams, MSI implications, and revenue-sharing initiatives tied to in-game cosmetics, First Stand continues to evolve its role within the broader League of Legends esports ecosystem as the season’s inaugural international benchmark.