UKEL 4 Nations format changes for 2025 season
24 January 2025
The 2025 UK & Ireland National League for League of Legends: 4 Nations is underway! The first matchday took place on Monday, January 20th 2025, and in the build-up to the big moment, the UK Esports League (UKEL) announced a few major format changes. As the official Competitive Experience Partner of Riot Games for the UK and Ireland, UKEL is responsible for the organisation of League of Legends: 4 Nations, and with the help of tweaks to its format they want to make the event even more exciting for both players and fans.
“Winter ’25 begins tonight”, UKEL wrote in a post on their own X account, “Clear your schedules as 4 Nations returns to your screens for the first match day of 2025. Lock-in from 18:15 GMT for a recap of 2024, meet our new talent, and witness the EMEA LoL debut of side selection 1v1s”
4 Nations format changes
As usual, the new LoL: 4 Nations tournament will consist of two divisions, but the second division has been expanded to ten teams. UKEL announced the expansion as part of their objective to accommodate the increasing number of talented players and competitive rosters. On top of that, and like the LEC (League of Legends EMEA Championship) and NLC (Northern League of Legends Championship), the 4 Nations has adopted a three-split season, consisting of a Winter Split, a Spring Split and a Summer Split. Each of those Splits has a league stage, a playoff stage and a promotion stage.
The UKEL has also introduced new 1v1 Side Select Duels format to decide side selection for any League Stage Match. Each team selects a player to compete and the winner of the ensuing 1v1 battle earns the right to choose their preferred side in the upcoming team match. The UK Esports League is the first league in the official EMEA ecosystem to introduce 1v1 Side Select Duels.
First all-Maltese participant
The League of Legends: 4 Nations event, as you can imagine, is a UK esports event, but it’s also part of the larger Northern Championship, which includes Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Teams and players from Ireland are eligible as well, as are representatives from Malta, as a part of the British Commonwealth in Europe. As a result, the 2025 LoL: 4 Nations season will feature a Maltese esports organisation, Project EVERSIO, with an all-Maltese roster for the first time. The islanders got their Division 1 spot by acquiring it from Verdant Esports a while ago.
“We are proud of our debut performance in the last UKEL split”, EVERSION wrote on their own X account recently, “From qualifying through the Division 2 qualifiers, to placing 3rd in the regular season and placing 4th in the playoffs. We decided to up the stakes for the upcoming split. We’ve acquired a Division 1 slot from Verdant Esports Limited, which means that we will be competing in the division right below the NLC. This will be our toughest challenge yet in League of Legends, and we hope to make Malta proud!”