LoL MSI 2023 Round 1&2 Results| Analysis | Schedule | Standings | Format | Live | Location

The first international tournament of the LoL Esports season in League of Legends MSI 2023 is well underway. But the results haven’t been favorable to the LCS LoL and LEC. The MAD Lions and Golden Guardians have already been eliminated. G2 LoL and C9 LoL are the two remaining Western teams at League MSI 2023. The results so far have been as underwhelming as expected, with only 3 matches in the first round not resulting in a sweep. The new LoL Esports MSI format gave us hope. But the performance of JDG LoL and the Korean representatives from the LoL LCK gave us a cold reality check. These are the MSI LoL standings and the MSI LoL schedule heading into the lower bracket of the knockout stage.

League of Legends Esports MSI 2023 Schedule and Standings

The stage is set for the semifinals at the League of Legends MSI 2023. T1 LoL and JDG LoL have both advanced through the upper bracket, and the winner of the matchup will qualify for the Grand Finals. The loser will be relegated to the lower bracket and will face off against one of BLG LoL, G2 LoL, Gen G LoL, or C9 LoL. Those 4 teams compose the lower bracket at this moment, but first, lets see how we got here.

League of Legends Esports MSI 2023 Bracket Round 2 Results

JDG LoL vs BLG LoL

The two Chinese teams that represent the LoL LPL at the League of Legends MSI 2023 just gave us the most competitive 3-0 series of the tournament. This was probably the closest sweep LoL Esports has seen, but in the end, the mid gap was too big. JDG mid laner Knight LoL dominated the matchup against BLG mid laner Yagao LoL from start to finish. This culminated in a masterful game 3 performance on Syndra. But he also left his mark on the series with his Ahri and K’Sante performances in games 1 and 2.

The bot lane matchup between JDG Ruler LoL and BLG Elk LoL was hotly contested. Enabled by his jungler in Kanavi LoL, Ruler managed to get the most out of his prized hyper-carry picks and lead JDG to a 3-0 victory. All 3 games consisted of impressive mechanical outplays, cold nerves in tense situations and great League of Legends. But JDG are the ones to match up against T1 LoL in the semifinals on May 18.

T1 LoL vs Gen G LoL Analysis

The new MSI format failed to give us heated matchups between the LoL LCK and LPL. But we got a whole lot of regional rivalries instead. T1 LoL against Gen G LoL in round 2 of the upper bracket at LoL Esports MSI 2023 was exactly that. 5 highly competitive games ending with a banger. Games 1 through 4 were MCU-level entertainment, while the deciding game 5 was filled with a Hitchcock script level of suspense. T1 LoL won the first two games by enabling the Jinx and Aphelios picks for Gumayushi LoL with 2 tanks on the top side. Gen G LoL switched up the approach in game three, but Gumayushi was not letting them have it. That was the case until he flashed into 3 enemies into the Gen G LoL base and gave 1000 gold to Gen G ADC Peyz LoL.

This extended the game into a fiesta that resulted in a Baron buff and an amazing Chovy LoL base defense. Another positioning mistake from the T1 LoL bot laner and Gen G secured their first win in this best-of-five series. Game four was all Gen G LoL, as T1 LoL players were looking rattled. The demons haunting them from losing 5 of the last 6 Grand Finals they have attended were on full display. A reverse sweep was on the horizon in a pressure-packed game 5, similar to the 2023 LCK Spring Split Grand Finals which Gen G won. But it turned out to be the typical LCK LoL game.

T1 LoL defeat Gen G LoL in Game 5 at 2023 MSI 2023

T1 LoL did great in the draft process, picking the most overpowered champions in each role in order to prevent Peyz from playing the game. The Thresh and Lulu bans from T1 meant that Peyz’s Aphelios could never get to survive team fights. And this was enhanced by the fact that T1 LoL had Rumble and Gragas ults to throw at him. On top of the Rakan and K’sante engage with Gumayusi following up with a Xayah ult for an extra 400 damage. Considering that is around 20% of any ADC’s health bar, this deciding game 4 was over before it started.

League of Legends Esports MSI 2023 Bracket Round 1 Results

The competition in the main stage MSI LoL schedule kicked off with a bit of regional rivalry. Or at least that’s what LoL LEC fans would like to believe. G2 Esports have dominated Europe for years. And they have been the only Western team to have moderate success against teams from LoL LCK. But there was none of that in the opening matchup between Gen G LoL and G2 LoL. Fans hoping for a series with upset potential left to dry with Gen G LoL taking game one in the best-of-five series. G2 LoL held a small lead based on early aggression with unconventional picks like Nidale and Darius in this meta. But Gen G LoL is one of the most fundamentally sound teams in the world. Their teamwork and objective control suffocated G2 LoL, who drafted themselves into a team composition with no game-ending strategy.

Gen G LoL vs G2 Esports LoL

Game two was an absolute speedrun, with a record-breaking 25 kills in just 20 minutes of game length. Gen G LoL managed to break the kills-per-minute record, but G2 LoL managed to take one back in game three. After two dominant performances against the LEC LoL biggest hope, Gen G decided to put their mid-laner Chovy LoL on a tank champion. It took a lot of misplays from Doran LoL and Peyz, but the 2023 LCK Spring Split champions finally suffered their first loss. G2 LoL jungler Yike had amazing disengages on his Poppy pick, giving the LEC LoL its first win against LCK teams in 2023.

The deciding game four was a lot closer, but the dual ADC team composition from Gen G LoL managed to prevail in 32 minutes.  Despite the 3-1 result in favor of Gen G LoL, this series felt like Eruope’s regional representatives were not up to par. G2 mid-laner Caps LoL had probably the worst international performance of his storied career, continuing his downward trend from the 2023 LEC Spring Split. With this loss, G2 LoL was sent to the loser’s bracket of League MSI 2023.

The MAD Lions LoL vs T1 LoL

The winners of the 2023 LEC Spring Split and the first seed from the LoL LEC, the MAD Lions, came to play in game one. But securing a 5000 gold lead in 11 minutes with 5 kills on their jungler Elyoya LoL wasn’t enough. T1 LoL were led by the engages of their legendary mid laner T1 Faker, whose Nautilus pick is a new addition to his champion pool. T1 LoL crawled back into the game thanks to a Baron buff steal from the jungler for T1 Oner LoL. This prevented the MAD Lions from expanding their lead and T1 LoL showed supreme team fighting skills to close it out in 33 minutes. 

Game two was a forgettable beatdown, in which T1 Faker proved his K’sante is the real deal. The newest addition to the League of Legends roster of champions has made a severe impact on the League MSI 2023 meta, and game two was proof of it. The Karma top lane pick for Zeus LoL went unpunished. That was enough for one of the best ADC players in the world in T1 Gumayushi LoL to seal MAD’s fate in 24 on his patented Aphelios pick. Game three however was a speedrun for the record books.

T1 LoL broke the record for the fastest competitive League of Legends match in LoL Esports history. In just 16 minutes and 47 seconds of game length, T1 LoL broke the nexus and finished their best-of-five series against the MAD Lions with a 3-0 sweep. Those indulging in esports betting might have had a hunch, but this was a dominant performance resulting in a world record on the LoL Esports stage.

Cloud9 LoL vs BLG LoL

Despite all of the issues the NA LCS LoL has been facing recently, they put up the best fight. The winners of the 2023 LCS Spring Split, C9 LoL, were swept 3-0 by the second seed from the LPL LoL, BLG LoL. But despite not winning a single game, C9 LoL put up a great fight. All three games went over 30 minutes in game length, and the LCS LoL first seed was competitive in all three losses. Their jungler Blaber LoL had so much impact on the early game, creating leads for his bot laner Berserker LoL who also had a solid series.

But time and time again, BLG LoL proved why they are the second best team in the LoL LPL. They have one of the best top laners in the world in Bin LoL, more widely known as GigaBin. But it was their team fighting strategy and execution that dwarfed whatever upset potential C9 LoL had. The MSI League of Legends tournament is a long grind, and despite this 3-0 loss, Cloud9 LoL get another chance in the lower bracket of the main stage.

JDG LoL vs GG LoL

The Golden Guardians from the LCS LoL have been the Cinderella story of this spring split. But unfortunately, due to the MSI format changes, they had to match up against the first seed from LPL, JDG LoL. GG LoL put up a great fight given their personnel, and given they were facing probably the best team in the world. With one of the best bot laners in the world in Ruler LoL, and one of the best junglers in Kanavi LoL, JDG is among the favorites to win MSI 2023 LoL.