2018 Mid-Season Invitational

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2018 Mid-Season Invitational
Tournament information
SportLeague of Legends
LocationGermany
France
Dates3 May–20 May
AdministratorRiot Games
VenueEU LCS Studio (Berlin, Play-in stage & Main Group stage)
Zénith Paris (Paris, Main Playoffs Stage)
Teams14
Final positions
ChampionsRoyal Never Give Up
Runner-upKingzone DragonX
MVPJian "Uzi" Zihao
(Royal Never Give Up)
← 2017
2019 →

The 2018 Mid-Season Invitational was the fourth edition of the Mid-Season Invitational, a Riot Games-organised tournament for League of Legends, the multiplayer online battle arena video game. The tournament is the culmination of the 2018 spring split, the first part of 8th season of the game competitive scene.

Each of 14 premier League of Legends leagues have a team representing them; Europe (EU LCS), South Korea (LCK), North America (NA LCS) and China (LPL) had their teams automatically admitted into the main event whereas the other 10 leagues will compete among each other in a "play-in" with the top 2 teams advancing to join the main event. [1][2]

The tournament was hosted in Germany and France from 3 to 20 May 2018. Matches of the play-in and group stages were held in EU LCS Studio in Berlin, while playoffs took place in multi-purpose indoor arena Zénith Paris.[3] Royal Never Give Up are the champions of the 2018 MSI, after taking down Kingzone DragonX in the finals. Jian "Uzi" Zihao was named the MVP of the entire tournament, due to his outstanding performances. The results of the tournament have received numerous international debates and reactions.[4][5]

The event's finals, where LPL (China)'s Royal Never Give Up took on LCK (South Korea)'s Kingzone DragonX, became one of the most watched eSports matches in history, greatly attributed to China's viewership. The finals were watched by over 127 million unique viewers, while the entire event boasted a total viewing time of over 2 billion hours. The event also became one of the greatest League of Legends' tournaments in history, as well as one of its historical milestones, as a South Korean team was thwarted by a non-South Korean team in a major match for the first time in 3 years.[6][7][8][9]

Qualified teams[edit]

Last year, team from Vietnam had qualified for MSI via Southeast Asian league. From 2018, Vietnam region will be separated from Southeast Asia region. The Spring split Champion team from Vietnamese league will qualify for MSI without take part in the Southeast Asian league. Number of regions up to 14.

Based on the result of the MSI and World Championship in 2 years before (2016–2017), 4 teams from Europe (EU LCS), North America (NA LCS), South Korea (LCK), and China (LPL) are started in Main Group Stage, 2 teams from Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau (LMS) and Vietnam (VCS) are started in Play-in round 2, 10 remaining teams are started in Play-in round 1. Unlike last year, loser at round 2 will be eliminated because there's no round 3 in Play-in Stage.

Region League Teams[1] ID
Start in Main event's Group stage
China LPL China Royal Never Give Up RNG
Europe EU LCS Europe Fnatic FNC
North America NA LCS United States Team Liquid TL
South Korea LCK South Korea Kingzone DragonX KZ
Start in 2nd play-in round
TW/HK/MO LMS Taiwan Flash Wolves FW
Vietnam VCS Vietnam EVOS Esports EVS
Start in 1st play-in round
Brazil CBLOL Brazil KaBuM! e-Sports KBM
CIS LCL Russia Gambit Esports GMB
Japan LJL Japan Pentagram PGM
Latin America North LLN Mexico Rainbow7 R7
Latin America South CLS Chile Kaos Latin Gamers KLG
Oceania OPL Australia Dire Wolves DW
Southeast Asia GPL Thailand Ascension Gaming ASC
Turkey TCL Turkey SuperMassive e-Sports SUP

Venues[edit]

Berlin, Paris were the two cities chosen to host the competition.

Berlin, Germany Paris, France
Play-in Stage & Main Group Stage Playoffs Stage
EU LCS Studio Zénith Paris
Capacity: 174 Capacity: 9,000

Play-In Stage[edit]

Groups[edit]

First place teams of each group advance to round 2 of the stage

Group A
Pos Team Pld W L PCT Qualification
1 Gambit Esports 6 5 1 0.833 Advance to Play-In Knockouts
2 Rainbow7 6 3 3 0.500
3 Kaos Latin Gamers 6 2 4 0.333
4 Ascension Gaming 6 2 4 0.333
Source: LoL Esports
Group B
Pos Team Pld W L PCT Qualification
1 Bahçeşehir SuperMassive 6 5 1 0.833 Advance to Play-In Knockouts
2 KaBuM! e-Sports 6 4 2 0.667
3 Dire Wolves 6 2 4 0.333
4 PENTAGRAM 6 1 5 0.167
Source: LoL Esports

Knockouts[edit]

Random draw. Winners of the series advance to group stage. Losers will be eliminated.

As the highest ranking emerging region in the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational, Vietnam (VCS) was given a direct spot in the main event at the 2018 World Championship, which was awarded to their summer champions.

Semifinals
Winner to Group Stage
1Vietnam EVOS Esports3
2Turkey SuperMassive eSports1
Winner to Group Stage
1Taiwan Flash Wolves3
2Russia Gambit eSports0

Group stage[edit]

Double Round Robin. Top 4 teams advance to Knock-out stage.

China, Europe, South Korea and TW/HK/MO will get pool 1 in 2018 World Championship Main Group Stage for Summer split Champion. North America and Vietnam will get pool 2.

Pos Team Pld W L PCT Qualification
1 Royal Never Give Up 11 8 3 0.727 Advance to Knockout Stage
2 Flash Wolves 11 7 4 0.636
3 King-Zone DragonX 10 6 4 0.600
4 Fnatic 11 5 6 0.455
5 Team Liquid 11 4 7 0.364
6 EVOS Esports 10 2 8 0.200
Source: LoL Esports

Knockout stage[edit]

  • 1st place team of Group Stage chooses between 3rd and 4th place to be their semifinal opponent (RNG chose FNC)
  • Matches are best of five
SemifinalsFinal
1China Royal Never Give Up3
4Europe Fnatic0
China Royal Never Give Up3
South Korea King-Zone DragonX1
2Taiwan Flash Wolves1
3South Korea King-Zone DragonX3

Semifinals[edit]

Semifinals May 18 Royal Never Give Up 3 0 Fnatic Paris, France
11:00 UTC    Recap Zénith Paris
1 Game 1 0
1 Game 2 0
1 Game 3 0
Semifinals May 19 Flash Wolves 1 3 King-Zone DragonX Paris, France
11:00 UTC    Recap Zénith Paris
0 Game 1 1
1 Game 2 0
0 Game 3 1
0 Game 4 1

Finals[edit]

Final May 20 Royal Never Give Up 3 1 King-Zone DragonX Paris, France
11:00 UTC    Recap Zénith Paris
1 Game 1 0
0 Game 2 1
1 Game 3 0
1 Game 4 0

Ranking[edit]

Place Region League Teams PS1 PS2 GS SF Final
1st China LPL China Royal Never Give Up 7–3 3–0 3–1
2nd South Korea LCK South Korea King-Zone DragonX 6–4 3–1 1–3
3rd–4th TW/HK/MO LMS Taiwan Flash Wolves 3–0 7–3 1–3
Europe EU LCS Europe Fnatic 4–6 0–3
5th North America NA LCS United States Team Liquid 4–6
6th Vietnam VCS Vietnam EVOS Esports 3–1 2–8
7th–8th Turkey TCL Turkey SuperMassive e-Sports 5–1 1–3
CIS LCL Russia Gambit Esports 5–1 0–3
9th–10th Brazil CBLOL Brazil KaBuM! e-Sports 4–2
Latin America North LLN Mexico Rainbow7 3–3
11th Oceania OPL Australia Dire Wolves 2–4
12th–13th Latin America South CLS Chile Kaos Latin Gamers 2–4
Southeast Asia GPL Thailand Ascension Gaming 2–4
14th Japan LJL Japan PENTAGRAM 1–5

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "2018 Mid-Season Invitational Event Overview". LoL eSports. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  2. ^ "2018 Mid-Season Invitational: Schedule released – RealSport". RealSport. 2018-04-30. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
  3. ^ "League of Legends Gives Baron a Conqueror Skin". WWG. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
  4. ^ "Uzi finally meets his destiny by claiming the MSI crown with RNG". Dot Esports.
  5. ^ "[KR Reaction] MSI Finals: "The PC is overheated generating all those CS for Uzi"".
  6. ^ "The MSI Final for League of Legends becomes the most watched esports match ever". destructoid.
  7. ^ "Over 127 million people watched the MSI Final, making it the most watched esports match in history".
  8. ^ "Which LCS team will survive and advance at MSI?". Dot Esports.
  9. ^ "RNG and KINGZONE have always been desperately close to greatness". Dot Esports.