LPL Split 2 kicked off on March 22 with the placement phase, which is already coming to an end.
This split has been structured into multiple stages, starting with seeding teams into two groups through a placement step—ten in Ascend and six in Nirvana. These teams will compete in BO3 matches to determine the eight teams advancing to playoffs, while the remaining six will see their split come to an end. However, the real penalty falls on the bottom two teams in the Nirvana group, as their season will be over entirely.
The first phase was played entirely in BO1 format over a 10-day period, with each team competing in three BO1s per day. By the end of the phase,
Bilibili Gaming,
Weibo Gaming,
Anyone's Legend,
ThunderTalk Gaming,
Top Esports,
Ninjas in Pyjamas,
Invictus Gaming, and
JD Gaming secured top-two finishes in their respective groups, earning a spot in Group Ascend. TES and IG stood out in particular, going undefeated.
Meanwhile,
EDward Gaming,
Royal Never Give Up,
Oh My God, and
LNG Esports finished last in their groups, placing them directly into Group Nirvana. They were later joined by
Ultra Prime and
LGD Gaming, who failed to overcome
FunPlus Phoenix and
Team WE in the final qualification matches.
Overall, expectations were met, with the favorites maintaining their status. However, The format faced heavy criticism from the community, mainly due to the BO1 structure, which felt inconsistent—especially with the Fearless Draft still in place for the rest of the year. Additionally, the early elimination of two teams from the Summer Split has sparked debate, raising concerns about the financial and management challenges these organizations might face moving forward.
Group Ascend will follow a Double Round Robin format, with the top four teams securing a direct spot in the Playoffs. Meanwhile, Group Nirvana will play a Single Round Robin. The bottom six teams from Group Ascend and the top two from Group Nirvana will advance to the Play-in, while the bottom two teams from Group Nirvana will be eliminated from LPL 2025 and will not participate in Split 3.
