Who will come out on top, Team Liquid or Karmine Corp?
First Stand 2025 begins with a Western clash between Karmine Corp and Team Liquid in the round-robin stage. See the details and recap of the FST 2025 TL vs KC match here.
TL vs KC in FST 2025
The Western clash between Team Liquid, representing the LTA (League of the Americas) Conference, and Karmine Corp, representing the LEC (League of Legends EMEA Championship), kicked off First Stand 2025.
This match is also the first competitive game we are seeing after the anti-lane swap changes were shipped to live servers.
Game 1
The game began with a slow and peaceful early game, but a good play from Team Liquid's bot duo alongside UmTi granted Yeon a quick double kill in the 3v3.
General UmTi continued to impact the map and gifted Impact a kill after he ganked top. This was TL's third kill, granting them the Feat of Warfare. Canna took the first tower, though, evening out the Feats.
What followed was a lull phase; the two teams traded objectives and interacted only in short skirmishes. The gold remained largely even between the two teams. KC finally got their first kill of the game 18 minutes in, but after TL caught Yike in his own jungle, Voracious Atakhan was free to take for the LTA representatives.
Team Liquid used their small lead and stronger team fighting to claim Baron Nashor and Cloud Soul back-to-back. Team Liquid's buffed-up simple draft rolled over Karmine Corp and destroyed their Nexus, ending the game with a 20-2 scoreline.
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Game 2
Game 2 got first blood way earlier than the previous game. Vladi picked up a solo kill against APA just five minutes into the game.
KC's solo lanes were ahead in the early game, but Caliste and Targamas in the botlane were struggling against the oppressive TL duo. Canna's mechanical prowess shone when he and Yike were pitted against the TL top-side. Team Liquid's move to catch Canna was instead turned into three kills.
Karmine Corp, led by Yike's efforts to redeem his game 1 performance, pulled ahead leading into the mid-game. It was KC all across the map, and TL did not look like they had any chance of fighting back. They grew their lead with Ruinous Atakhan and continuously caught members of TL in the map.
In 23 minutes, KC smashed TL and brought the series to the distance.
Game 3
First blood was picked up even earlier in this game, with KC's Zeri-Yuumi combo coming out on top against Lucian-Nami. TL attempted to lane swap six minutes in, but KC promptly matched them. Caliste's efforts to pressure Yeon were all wasted, though, after a 4v4 in the mid-lane ended up four-for-zero for Team Liquid.
TL's map pressure continued, and KC respected the double-global ultimates from Taliyah and Nocturne well. Despite their wary playstyle, they were still able to pick up some objectives, like a couple of Drakes and a tower. Meanwhile, the Ruinous Atakhan went to Team Liquid for free. Team Liquid were also far ahead in terms of experience, an advantage that they used well in pushing Karmine Corp back.
When KC committed for a Cloud Drake, their ill-timed turn resulted in them getting team wiped for the price of APA's life. They also lost the Drake in the process, which evened out the Drake count for both teams at 2.
After their first few attempts were thwarted, TL finally got the Baron Nashor 32 minutes in following a pick on Canna. With the buff and an incredibly fed Lucian, Team Liquid spoiled Karmine Corp's First Stand 2025 debut.
It's easy to point Yeon as the protagonist of this series, but UmTi showed massive improvement compared to his performances in the LTA.
For more First Stand 2025 and League of Legends coverage, stick around esports.gg.
