First Stand All In 2027: Riot Games Moves Massive 24+ Team Tournament to China as the Biggest LoL Event Ever
Ahead of the Worlds 2026 Grand Final between Gen.G and Bilibili Gaming, Riot Games and Chris Greeley (Global Head of LoL Esports) unveiled a major update to the international competitive roadmap through 2028. The centerpiece of the announcement is a monumental, one-time expansion of the season-opening international tournament in March 2027. Officially titled First Stand: All In, the event will relocate to China and feature north of 24 teams, making it the largest international tournament in the history of League of Legends.
First Stand All In Surpasses the Historic Worlds 2017 Team Record
Introduced in 2025 as the third annual international tournament alongside the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) and the World Championship, First Stand was originally built as an exclusive clash of champions. In its standard format, only the number-one seed from each major regional league (LCK, LPL, LEC, LCS, CBLOL, and LCP) earned a ticket to compete at the end of Split 1.
For March 2027, Riot Games is changing that scale entirely. Speaking during the Worlds 2026 Media Day and in the official Updating the Global Events Rotation Through 2028 publication, Chris Greeley confirmed that First Stand: All In will bring together more than 24 squads from across the globe. That figure officially breaks the all-time participation record previously set by Worlds 2017 (also hosted in China), which featured 24 teams across its Play-In and Main Event stages.
| Tournament Feature | Official 2027 Roadmap Details |
|---|---|
| 2027 Edition Name | First Stand: All In (special one-time expanded edition) |
| Number of Teams | North of 24 international teams (all-time record ahead of Worlds 2017) |
| 2027 Host Country | China in March 2027 (shifted from Southeast Asia, postponed to 2028) |
| Tournament Format | Never-before-seen format in LoL history + revamped Split 1 / Winter Split 2027 |
| Full Reveal Window | January 2027 (exact regional slot allocation and qualification rules) |
| Other 2027 Globals | MSI 2027 in Valencia (Spain) / Worlds 2027 co-hosted in Japan (Nagoya) and South Korea (Suwon, Seoul) |
Celebrating League of Legends' Next Era with a Never-Before-Seen Format
Why is Riot Games turning its smallest international tournament into a massive global showcase in 2027? Chris Greeley explained that First Stand: All In was designed as a celebration of where League of Legends is headed next. With 2027 marking the arrival of the game's major structural overhaul (internally known as League Next), Riot wants to mark this new era by opening international competition to a much wider pool of teams in March.
Hosting north of 24 teams requires a complete rethink of tournament structure. Greeley confirmed that First Stand: All In will debut a tournament format that Riot Games has never run in League of Legends before. Because the event will be both larger and longer than usual, the opening regional split of 2027 (Winter Split / Split 1) will also change significantly across every league. Riot Games will reveal the full format, exact team count, and qualification rules in January 2027, alongside ongoing discussions about replacing the Worlds Play-In stage with a Demacia Cup-style global qualifier.
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Relocation to China in 2027 and Southeast Asia Postponed to 2028
Accommodating more than two dozen international teams simultaneously requires massive venue infrastructure and practice facilities. Although Riot's initial multi-year roadmap slated Southeast Asia to host First Stand in 2027, the publisher has officially moved First Stand: All In 2027 to China to support the expanded scale.
Southeast Asia will instead host First Stand 2028, when the tournament returns to its standard format and size after the special 2027 edition. Alongside the First Stand announcement, Riot Games confirmed the rest of its 2027 global rotation: MSI 2027 will take place in Valencia, Spain, while Worlds 2027 will be co-hosted by Japan and South Korea (with the Swiss Stage in Nagoya, Quarterfinals and Semifinals in Suwon, and the Grand Final at the new Seoul Arena in Chang-dong).
My Field Notes
From a competitive perspective, expanding First Stand to more than 24 teams in March 2027 is huge news for the LEC and LCS. Under the standard single-champion format, almost every Western roster spent the first six months of the year playing domestic studio matches without a single stage game or scrim block against LCK or LPL teams. By opening the doors in China to mid-table regional seeds right after Winter Split, I am convinced Riot Games is giving developing Western rosters the early international practice they desperately need before summer.
Originally from Lyon, France, gaming journalist Bastien "Orion" relocated nearly a decade ago to Quebec City's Saint-Roch district, right in the heart of eastern Canada's development studio hub. Before crossing the Atlantic, he honed his versatile reporting style across classic French gaming web portals and specialist television outlets in the 2000s and 2010s, notably with JeuxVideo.fr and JeuxNews. Equally passionate about AAA blockbusters, North American studio culture, retro preservation, and community modding projects, he anchors Pro-Gamer's transatlantic desk and real-time coverage of US and Japanese industry announcements.
