In League of Legends eSports, the MSI is a kind of performance barometer before the Worlds. But why is the tournament almost as important to many fans as the World Championship?
The Mid-Season Invitational, or ‘MSI’ for short, has been held since 2015. For League of Legends eSports, the MSI is the second biggest event of the year. Only the Worlds, which function as the official LoL World Championship, are more significant.
The MSI is where the various league champions of the world meet – whoever comes out on top is guaranteed a place at the Worlds. But the MSI is not only a kind of preliminary round for the World Championship.
MSI much more than a prelude to the Worlds
Although the World Championship title is also the most important in LoL eSport, the MSI is the culmination of the most outstanding professionals in League year after year. The tournament is so enormously high-class because only the winners of the twelve different regions are allowed to participate. Unlike at the Worlds (22 teams in total), the density of in-form organisations is therefore even a little higher.
Another special feature of the tournament is the variety of title holders. T1 from South Korea and RNG from China are the most successful MSI teams, but both have only managed to win two titles so far. Many rousing duels, the outcome of which is unpredictable, cause wide-eyed reactions not only among die-hard LoL eSports veterans. The current competition also shows that there are no sure-fire winners.
Most recently, title favourite T1 unexpectedly met their match in G2 Esports. After T1 marched undefeated through the regular season and the play-offs, G2 pulled off a decent surprise in the first game of the rumble phase, winning 1-0 and ending T1’s record run. A little curiosity should not be missed either: RNG is competing online this year, the players themselves are not on site. Due to a latency error, they had to repeat their opening games. However, this has not detracted from their success so far, and RNG is currently the leading organisation in the tournament. Such unforeseen events are what make MSI so special. The secret stars, however, are the fans.
Special euphoria after the pandemic break
In Busan, the focus is on the home team T1. With the tournament taking place in South Korea for the first time, supporters have high expectations of the players. When ‘Faker’ and Co play, the electrifying atmosphere in the stands is almost tangible.
After the fans had to stay away from the final tournament last year due to a pandemic (the MSI was cancelled completely in 2020), the general euphoria is now much stronger again. Tickets for the group stage were sold out in a few minutes, and there will certainly not be an empty seat at the final.
Above all, the many enthusiasts live on site in the ‘Busan Esport Arena’ and the ‘Busan Exhibition and Convention Center’ convey a much more gripping atmosphere to the online viewers on their home devices than was the case in the past tournaments restricted by Covid.
Excitement, spectacle, surprises, high-class duels and passionate fans: The MSI offers everything that distinguishes eSports.
