'MSI 2023' is right around the corner.
On the 19th, Riot Games announced that the 'Mid-Season Invitational' (MSI), a tournament that determines the strongest region of 'League of Legends', will be held in London, England on May 2nd.
Then, the 2023 MSI, which will be held in London, England from May 2 to 21, unveiled a different method from previous years.
'MSI 2023' will open on May 2 (local time) and will hold the final on the 21st. The venue is the Copper Box Arena, the 'esports hub' located inside the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, England.
This year's 'MSI' will have 13 teams participating in 9 regions around the world. Two teams will participate in the four major regions: LCK (Korea), LPL (China), LEC (EMEA), and LCS (North America), and the other five regions, VCS (Vietnam), PCS (Southeast Asia), and CBLOL (Brazil). ), LLA (Latin America), and LJL (Japan), one team will participate.
◆11 out of 13 participating teams confirmed
Most of the teams participating in 'MSI' as representatives of each region have been decided. The LCK will feature Gen.G, the spring champion, and T1, the runner-up team, while the LPL will feature the spring champion, JDG, and the runner-up, Bilibili Gaming (BLG).
The LCS will feature the spring champion Cloud Nine (C9) and the runner-up Golden Guardians (GG), while the Winter Split champion G2 eSports will compete in the LEC. And the winning team of the Spring Split, which will be held on April 23, will head to London, England.
Talon Esports (PSG) will represent PCS, Detonation Focus Me (DFM) will represent LJL, Moviestar Rainbow Seven (R7) will represent LLA, and Loud (LLL) will represent CBLOL. However, VCS is still in the spring playoffs, and the finals are ahead on April 23rd.
◆Reorganization with double elimination method
In the play-in stage, which will be held from May 2nd to 7th, only 3 teams will survive. A total of eight teams will participate in the Play-In, including here three teams from the LPL, LEC, 롤토토 and LCS, and five teams from the LLA, CBLoL, VCS, PCS, and LJL.
In the play-in stage, teams of 4 will be divided into 2 groups and a double elimination match will be held. A total of three teams, including the two teams that took first place in each group and the winners of the lower rankings in each group, will advance to the quarterfinals, called the 'bracket stage'. Among them, only the bottom-tier finals are best-of-five.
The bracket stage will be held from May 9th to 14th and May 16th to 20th, and the final will be held on May 21st. A total of 8 teams will participate, including 3 teams that have passed play-in, 1st seed teams from the LPL, LEC and LCS, and 5 teams from the 1st and 2nd seeds from the LCK.
All matches in the bracket stage will be played in a double elimination format. The team that wins the first game advances to the second round, while the losing team moves down to the lower group and gets another chance to play. All matches in the bracket stage will be played in a best-of-five format.
Meanwhile, in the LCK, DRX won the championship at the '2022 League of Legends World Championship' and received special privileges. Both Gen.G and T1, the representatives of the LCK, are scheduled to play from the bracket stage (quarterfinals).