League of Legends MSI 2023: Everything you need to know

The League of Legends universe is preparing for its first international tournament of the year. With a new format in place, the Mid Season Invitational pins the 8 best LoL teams from across the world against each other. Teams are already in London, preparing for their MSI 2023 title run, and with competition set to kick off, here’s everything you need to know.

Riot Games is hosting 2023 LoL MSI in London

The 2023 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI 2023) is the first of two major international events organized by Riot Games within the League of Legends esports calendar year. There are rumors we might get a third one next year. But so far, MSI has always been held midway through the season. That’s in between the Spring and Summer splits for most regions, apart from the LEC. The LEC underwent format changes this past offseason, but so did MSI 2023.

Instead of 11, we have 13 teams participating this year. And since the LEC format change meant that the Turkish TCL is an ERL now, on top of the Oceania region being a part of the LCS, we now have 4 more available slots than in previous years. This means that the four major regions (LCK, LPL, LEC, LCS), can send a second team to the competition. The first seed from each region is directly qualified for the Bracket stage and since the LCK won the 2022 World Championship, both their teams don’t have to battle through the Play-In stage.

LoL MSI 2023 Play-In Stage Results

But apart from those 5 teams, everyone else had to earn their spot. The eight teams participating were drawn into into two double elimination brackets, where all matches were matches are best of three series apart from the Last Chance Qualifier which was a 5 game series. The winner of the LCQ match will be joined by the winners of both brackets, in the next stage. The entire tournament will be played on LoL patch 13.8 , with both Yuumi and Milio being disabled. Yuumi recently received a rework and Milio is the newest champion joining the League of Legends roster. So to avoid unforeseen circumstances ruining competitive integrity, Riot Games has decided to disable them for the event. 

The 8 teams participating in the Play-In stage were:

Bilibili Gaming- LPL second seed

G2 Esports- LEC second seed

Golden Guardians- LCS second seed

PSG Talon- PCS Pacific’s first seed

GAM Esports- VCS Vietnamese first seed

Detonation Focus Me- LJL Japanese first seed

LOUD- Brazil’s first seed

Moviestar R7- LAT Latin America’s first seed

LoL MSI 2023 Play-In Stage Group A Recap

Bilibili Gaming or BLG won Group A. They won against Movistar R7 with a 2-0 score in the first round and beat the second seed from the LCS in Golden Guardians 2-1. GG managed to bring even the series up behind bot laner Stixxay’s amazing performance, but the deciding game three went in favor of the Chinese team. GG beat GAM Esports 2-0 for a chance to play against BLG, and all teams ended up in the lower bracket. There, R7 beat GAM with a 2-0 score before falling to Golden Guardians with the same outcome. With that win, Golden Guardians qualified for the LCQ match.

LoL MSI 2023 Play-In Stage Group B Recap

G2 Esports dominated Group B, swiftly taking care of business against LOUD and PSG Talon in order to qualify for the main event. PSG previously 2-0ed DFM, but all teams fell into the lower bracket. There it was another two 2-0 series with LOUD beating DFM but losing to PSG for the LCQ spot.  When it came to the last chance qualifier, the match between Golden Guardians and PSG Talon would decide the last entry to the next stage of the event. GG swept the series 3-0, leaving no doubts with two quadra kills and one penta kills for Stixxay. 

League of Legends MSI 2023 Bracket Stage Preview

The 5 prequalified and the 3 teams that advanced through the Play-in stage, will be placed in a double elimination bracket in the Bracket Stage. With every match being a best of five series and a lower bracket, we have a lot of League of Legends to watch before we crown the 2023 LoL MSI champion.

Gen G vs G2 Esports

It’s been a while since we have seen the best mid-laners in Europe and Korea face off. The 2019 League of Legends World Championship to be exact. And say what you want about Caps’ performance during the 2023 LEC Spring Split Playoffs, he’s the main reason G2 and Europe have a winning record against the LCK. G2 looked sharp in the Play-In stage, and hopefully, all that experimenting in the LEC pays off now. But they have to go through Chovy and the goliath that is Gen G. 

Generation Gaming has played textbook League of Legends for the past 4 months, despite losing LCK and Gen G legend in bot laner Ruler this offseason. Rookie bot laner Peyz fit in seemingly, securing MVP honors for winning the 2023 LCK Spring Split. G2 probably takes a game of Gen G in some chaotic and entertaining fashion but that’s all I think they can get. 3-1 in favor of Gen G.

MAD Lions vs T1

The MAD Lions are fighting their demons. And trying to prove the haters wrong. While making Europe proud. This team went through a debacle the last time they played on an international stage, and have been the but of every joke ever since. And their only chance for redemption is taking down T1. Not a small task. On the flip side, T1 is fighting demons as well. This iteration  of the roster has lost 5 of the last 6 finals they have attended. Sure making 6 straight finals appearances is an achievement on its own, but these are the standards T1 is held to by its massive fan base. 

Faker and Nisqy will be facing off in the mid-lane, and we can expect more than a Gragas showdown. MAD Lions have a Korean top laner in Chasy who looked dominant against Adam and BDS in the LEC Finals, but can he keep up with T1 top laner Zeus? Personally, i cant wait to see Carrzy and Hilyssang scraping it out against Keria and Gumayusi, but this smells like a 3-0 for T1 every day of the week. 

Cloud9 vs BLG

It does seem a bit doomed for the West. BLG top laner Bin is one of the best laners in the world. He is the reigning champion in this competition, after winning MSI 2022 with RNG. He has Yagao in the mid-lane. The second seed from the Chinese LPL is no pushover. But at every international event, mostly Worlds, at least one Chinese team fails to deliver and meet expectations. Cloud9 is still working to integrate mid-laner Emenes into the starting lineup. And they have barely been challenged in the LCS. But Golden Guardians got a game of BLG. Maybe Cloud9 can do it as well. From the way BLG looked in the Play-In stage, I say 3-1 in favor of BLG is fair.

JDG vs Golden Guardians

Well, the best fairy tale in the LCS might end here. This Golden Guardians roster has exceeded expectations and defied the odds for the last 2 months. They started off the 2023 LCS Spring Split losing 4 in a row, then winning 7 in a row, before losing the final 3 matches. 100 Thieves took them to 5 games in the first round of the playoffs. They swept EG with a 3-0 score and brought it back in 5 games against FlyQuest. 

A roster composed of two Korean imports and LCS veterans looking for a resurgence made it this far. But there is nothing they can do against JDG except to give it their best like they have for the past two months. JDG is a juggernaut in the LPL and on the international stage. Two LPL titles in a row, a super team, and no international hardware. JDG is hungry for it, and Golden Guardians are unlucky to be their first obstacle toward this MSI 2023 title. JDG should be able to 3-0 Golden Guardians. 

Where to watch LoL MSI 2023?

With the bracket stage kicking off in a few hours, its time to pick your spot. Unless you are in London already and have tickets, you can watch MSI virtually. All matches will be broadcast on Lolesports and you can even login with your Riot Games account to claim event drops. There will be coverage on the official Riot Games accounts on Youtube and Twitch in multiple languages. This is the first time Riot Games has allowed MSI co-streaming, so tune in to some of your favorite League of Legends personalities or entertainers to see if they are following the event.