The four representatives of LTA South in the Cross-Conference tournament have all lost their matches, meaning the semifinals consist exclusively of teams from the North Conference. As a result, the winner of the LTA 2025 Split 1 Playoffs, who will represent LTA at the First Stand, is guaranteed to be a North American team.
Riot Games has decided to merge the existing leagues in the Americas (LCS, CBLOL, LLA...) to create a new league and establish it as a major region, named
League of Legends Championship of The Americas (LTA). This league has been divided into two conferences, North and South, allowing teams within each conference to compete against one another.
The top four teams from each conference then advance to a single-elimination bracket, where each South team faces a North team. At stake, is a single spot for the first international event of the year, the First Stand.
This situation raises questions about what Riot intends to do with international competitions, which are meant to be a meeting place for the best teams from different regions around the world, offering the opportunity to discover different playstyles and unique stories from each team. The problem with this format, which was expected, is the gap between North and South teams seems still too large, as seen during the quarterfinals of the LTA Cross Conference.
Out of four BO3s, the South only managed to win one game and still lost the BO (
2-1 for Team Liquid against Isurus Estral). Therefore, LTA South will officially have no representative at the First Stand, which will be held at the LoL Park in Seoul. Another issue is that the Cross Conference matches are all held at the Riot Games Arena in São Paulo, so it's expected that the atmosphere might not be as lively because local fans won't have any team on stage.
