On October 15th, the final
League of Legends competition of the season will get underway in the United States. While the question remains as to which of the usual favorites will manage to stand out and lift the trophy, several newcomers could well spring a surprise and disrupt the established order at the tournament.
Among the leading contenders, there are no first-time participants at the
World Championship. However, a number of young players will finally make their debut on the Worlds stage, alongside several veterans who will also be making their first appearance at the tournament.
Few newcomers in the East
With the same teams having occupied the top spots in international competitions for several years, there is once again little change among the
LCK and
LPL representatives. In the latter, the main exceptions can be found at
Top Esports, with the rookie
who joined the team midway through the year to replace Bai "
369" Jiahao. Slightly older, his teammate and support
, who has been playing in the LPL since 2021, will also be making his Worlds debut. Formerly a member of TES earlier this year, AD Carry
, who has put together an interesting season with
Invictus Gaming, will likewise make his first international appearance at the World Championship, just like Zhuo.
In Korea, the usual Worlds contenders are once again present, with the exception of a young roster that could potentially cause an upset. Having won the
Esports World Cup a few weeks ago,
Dplus KIA arrive with a revamped lineup featuring several young players, three of whom will be competing at Worlds for the first time. The botlane duo of
and
will be stepping onto the biggest stage for the first time, as will
, who will make his debut after missing out on qualification with DK last year.
New faces from EU and NA will battle through the Play-Ins
Among the Western teams,
G2 Esports and
Movistar KOI have retained the rosters that competed at last year's World Championship, while
Team Liquid and
LYON feature players who have either regularly competed at Worlds or have already made at least one appearance at the tournament during their careers. The only exception is Korean midlaner
, who, after a strong season and convincing performances at
MSI, will look to carry that form onto North American soil.
As for the newcomers,
Karmine Corp and
Cloud9 will have to battle through the Play-Ins, where only one of the two teams will qualify. The midlaners of both teams,
and
, will play their first Worlds matches, potentially against each other, after beginning their careers in the LCK CL. The debuts of toplaner
and AD Carry
will also be closely watched after both players endured disappointing endings to their 2025 seasons.
New teams, new faces
With
LOS and
FURIA, the
CBLOL will see two teams make their first-ever appearance at Worlds. Four LOS players will consequently be competing in their first international tournament. The first are Koreans
and
, who joined the league this year, followed by
and
, two young Brazilian players in the same situation. FURIA's all-Brazilian roster features similar profiles, most notably young jungler
, who is highly anticipated after an impressive rookie season and an MVP-winning Split 1 campaign, as well as
and
.
In the LCP,
MVK Esports will compete at the World Championship for the second time in the organization's history, following their previous appearance in 2024. With the exception of the team's jungler, Lương "
Gury" Hải Long, the entire roster competing in the Play-Ins will be making their international debut. At
CTBC Flying Oyster, the same applies to
, who finished his season strongly despite losing the final to
Team Secret Whales.
Full list of the 23 players who play their first Worlds:
- ZUIAN (Top Esports)
- Zhuo (Top Esports)
- JiaQi (Invictus Gaming)
- Smash (Dplus KIA)
- Career (Dplus KIA)
- Siwoo (Dplus KIA)
- kyeahoo (Karmine Corp)
- Caliste (Karmine Corp)
- Thanatos (Cloud9)
- Loki (Cloud9)
- LYON (Saint)
- Zest (LOS)
- Feisty (LOS)
- Curse (LOS)
- Duduhh (LOS)
- Tatu (FURIA)
- Tutsz (FURIA)
- Ayu (FURIA)
- Kratos (MVK Esports)
- Chika (MVK Esports)
- Harky (MVK Esports)
- SiuLoong (MVK Esports)
- Pout (CTBF Flying Oyster)
