Teams, conferences, format and start date

As the 2024 League of Legends circuit comes to a close, fans are greeted with new changes to the competitive circuit for 2025. Now North and South American League of Legends fans have a new competition to follow next year. For years, the LCS, CBLoL and LLA leagues have become synonymous with Tier One North American, Brazilian and Latin American League of Legends. However, these three established regions will now merge all these leagues to create the LTA.

Here you’ll find the format, teams, start date and everything else you need in the beginner’s guide to understanding the new League of Legends Championship of The Americas (LTA) heading into 2025.

The LTA is split into two conferences, LTA North and LTA South. Each conference will feature eight teams competing in three LTA splits throughout the 2025 season.

Here’s how each of the three splits will go:

LTA Split one

LTA Split two

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LTA Split three

As with the previous two splits, both the North and South conference interconferences will compete with each other. However, Split Three of the LTA 2025 season will feature a unique format known as the Pick and Play system. This system allows bottom teams to choose their next opponent live on stage. The opening matches for Split Three will be determined based on the Split Two rankings before using this Pick and Play format, which benefits the lower ranked teams. Teams cannot play a team more than once in this format and the Split Two rankings act as a tiebreaker in Split Three.

The final three weeks then transition into the elimination phase, where by the end of Split Three, only six teams (three from North and South each) remain, all qualifying for the 2025 US Regional Championships.

Here are all the important points to keep in mind for LTA Split Three:

How many LTA teams will qualify for LoL Worlds 2025?

Three LTA teams will qualify for LoL Worlds 2025 and two of those slots will consist of the top teams from each of the LTA conferences. These two teams, alongside the remaining top three teams from each of the North and South conferences, will qualify for the 2025 U.S. Regional Championships. The remaining four teams will compete for the final America slot at Worlds 2025, where the ultimate champion of these six teams will go home with the first ever LTA trophy.

The LTA North Conference has six Partner Slots and two Guest slots. The LTA South Conference has seven Partner Slots and one spot reserved for a Guest Team.

Here are all 16 teams that will compete in LTA 2025:

LTA North

LTA South

Five teams from the previous LCS 2024 season will return in 2025 as partner teams in the new LTA North system, while 100 Thieves will temporarily participate in the LTA North conference as a provisional host team. Former LLA teams Movistar R7 and Six Karma will team up to reintroduce the iconic Lyon Gaming brand to League of Legends as the LTA North Conference’s sixth partner team.

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Finally, Disguised will be the eighth team to enter the LTA North Conference as a host team heading into LTA 2025. This will mark the organization’s first entry into the Tier One League of Legends after competing in NACL for the past two years, the competition of the League. Tier Two North American Development System.

LTA Partner teams are permanent team slots in the new LoL Americas system, while the LTA Guest slots are temporary positions within the Tier One ecosystem. Currently, thirteen LTA Partner teams and three LTA Guest teams will compete in 2025.

This is what a “Guest Team” means to 100 Thieves, Disguised and Isurus Gaming.

Are 100 Thieves leaving LTA after the 2025 season?

100 Thieves can still enjoy all the benefits that other North partner teams have and can still qualify for international tournaments in 2025. However, they will not be eligible for the Promotion Tournament, where their position in the LTA 2026 season is undetermined. The provisional LTA slot will be further evaluated in 2026.

For now, 100 Thieves in the LTA will compete as if they were a Partner Team in the LTA North Conference, where the organization will attempt to return to the World Championships.

How does being an LTA host team impact Disguised and Isurus Gaming?

As an LTA North Guest Team, Disguised receives the same benefits as partner teams. They are eligible to qualify for international tournaments such as MSI and Worlds during the 2025 season.

Disguised are also eligible to retain their spot in the LTA North Conference through the promotion tournament against representatives from the NACL and the LRN.

This format will also be available to Isurus Gaming, the host team of the LTA South Conference, and will compete against representatives from CBLOL Academy and LRS in the LTA South Promotion Tournament.

The LTA 2025 season will officially begin on January 25, 2025, as both the North and South Conference teams will begin their new journey towards the World Championship.

For now, new LTA fans should definitely tune in for the League of Legends Worlds 2024 Grand Final between China’s Bilibili Gaming and South Korea’s T1. The LoL Worlds 2024 Grand Final will take place on November 2, 2024 at 7am PT, and one team will become the next LoL World Champion.

Those interested in learning about the new LEC changes should check out our guide detailing the new format for European League of Legends.