First Stand Format – Understanding Fearless Draft and Betting
As the first tournament of its kind, the First Stand format stands out as the first international tournament to use a Fearless Draft. Read on as we discuss what this could mean for esports betting at one of the most anticipated tournaments of the season.
First Stand Format – Riot’s Experiment
Last season, international LoL tournaments featured simple formats, which made for simple LoL odds.
Specifically, two stages of competition with a Play-In/Swiss Stage preceding the final Playoffs stage. However, after complaints from the community about LoL tournaments, Riot Games has implemented Fearless Draft in both regional and international leagues for 2025.
For those unaware, a Fearless Draft implies that champions chosen in previous rounds are no longer available for either team for the rest of the series. Implemented in the regional Split 1 tournaments ahead of First Stand, this change has had a hugely positive impact on the competition for viewership engagement.
Rather than just saying that this could have an impact, let’s discuss how Riot Games is trying to improve the variety of heroes competing at Worlds.
Here’s a look at the international hero selection at the 2024 tournaments without Fearless Draft:
- Worlds 2024 – out of 170 champions, 77 champions were not picked
- MSI 2024 – out of 169 champions, 81 champions were not picked
Now, let’s compare this to 2025 tournaments with Fearless Draft:
- LCK Cup 2025 – out of 170 champions, 53 champions were not picked
- LPL Split 1 2025 – out of 170 champions – 67 champions were not picked
As you can see, more champions are being picked to make the games more varied and interesting.
Fearless Draft and LoL Betting
Indeed, the esports betting storylines for First Stand simply outline LCK and LPL teams as LoL predictions favourites based on the fact that these regions have historically been the most competitive and successful.
However, other competing teams have the opportunity to use Fearless Draft to try and shift the odds in their favour.
More than ever, champion pool and individual skill have never been more essential. Fearless Draft, paired with the pick and ban system offers massive potential for strategizing and targeting certain teams.
However, from Split 1, Top Esports and Hanwha have already proven to have a huge champion pool. For example, Choi “Zeus” Woo-je in the toplane for Hanwha boasted a pool of 15 different champions which his almost impossible to counter.
Regardless, we’re curious to see what effect Fearless Draft could have on the competition especially once we get to the BO5 matches.
