Upcoming season or competition: 2026 Mid-Season Invitational | |
 | |
| Game | League of Legends |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2015; 11 years ago (2015) |
| Administrator | Riot Games |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Venue | Rotating locations (next location: South Korea) |
| Most recent champion | Gen.G (2nd title) |
| Most titles | Royal Never Give Up (3 titles) |
| Qualification | Regional league winners of the second split[a] |
| Streaming partners | Twitch,YouTube |
| Related competitions | |
| Tournament format | Double elimination |
| Official website | lolesports.com |
TheMid-Season Invitational (MSI) is an annualLeague of Legends international tournament hosted byRiot Games in the middle of years, since 2015. It is the second most important internationalLeague of Legends tournament aside from theWorld Championship.[2][3]
In 2015 and 2016, the event featured the Spring Split champions of the five major competitiveLeague of Legends regional leagues (LEC,LCS,LCK,LMS,LPL), as well as a wildcard team from a region determined by the International Wildcard Invitational, held a few weeks beforehand.[4] In its inaugural tournament, Chinese teamEdward Gaming emerged victorious by defeating South Korean teamSK Telecom T1 3–2 in the final.[5]
Since 2017, Spring Split champions from all regions have been participating in the event. The International Wildcard Invitational was replaced by the Play-in Stage. The best Wildcard region receives a direct spot in the World Championship's Group Stage for that year for their Summer Split champion. The top four regions gets the pool 1 spot in the World Championship's Group Stage.
Royal Never Give Up from China is the most successful team with three MSI titles.
The 2015 Mid-Season Invitational was held from 7–10 May 2015 inTallahassee, Florida. Five teams qualified to participate at the Mid-Season Invitational after winning the Spring Split within their own regional leagues, while a team from the Wildcard regions qualified by winning the Mid-Season International Wildcard Invitational (IWCI).[6]
All games of the tournament were hosted in theDonald L. Tucker Civic Center. The final was played on 10 May 2015 betweenEdward Gaming, from China'sLeague of Legends Pro League, andSK Telecom T1, fromLeague of Legends Champions Korea, with Edward Gaming winning the inaugural championship 3–2.[7][8][9]
The 2016 Mid-Season Invitational was held from 4–15 May 2016 in Shanghai, China. In line with last years iteration, 5 teams qualified to participate at the Mid-Season Invitational after winning the Spring Split within their own regional leagues, while a team from the Wildcard regions qualified by winning the Mid-Season International Wildcard Invitational (IWCI).[10]
All games of the tournament were hosted in theShanghai Oriental Sports Center. The final was played on 10 May 2016 betweenCounter Logic Gaming, from theNorth American League of Legends Championship Series, andSK Telecom T1, fromLeague of Legends Champions Korea, with SK Telecom T1 winning the championship 3–0.[11][12]Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok was awarded the MVP in the final.
The 2017 Mid-Season Invitation was held from 28 April to 21 May 2017, in two Brazilian cities: São Paulo (play in) and Rio de Janeiro (groups and knockout stage). Departing from the previous years, thirteen teams qualified for the event by winning their respective Spring Splits, with the representatives from Europe (EU LCS), South Korea (LCK), and China (LPL) had their teams automatically admitted into the main event, while the other teams were admitted into the "play-in stage", where the top three teams in that stage qualified for the group stage.[13]
The final was played on 21 May 2017, hosted in theJeunesse Arena, between defending championsSK Telecom T1, from South Korea'sLeague of Legends Champions Korea, andG2 Esports, from theEuropean League of Legends Championship Series, with SK Telecom T1 retaining the championship 3–1, becoming the first team to win back-to-back Mid-Season Invitationals.[14] Lee "Wolf" Jae-wan was awarded the MVP in the finals.
The 2018 Mid-Season Invitational was held between 3–20 May 2018 in Germany and France. The two cities that hosted this event were Berlin (play-in and groups), and Paris (knockout stage).[15] Fourteen teams qualified after winning their respective Spring Splits, with the teams from South Korea (LCK), North America (NA LCS) and China (LPL) automatically seeded into the group stage, 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.[16]
The final was played on 20 May 2018, hosted in theZénith Paris, betweenKing-Zone DragonX, from South Korea'sLeague of Legends Champions Korea, andRoyal Never Give Up, from China'sLeague of Legends Pro League, with Royal Never Give Up winning the championship 3–1, with Jian "Uzi" Zihao being awarded the MVP of the finals.[17]
The finals, became one of the most watchedesports matches in history, being watched by over 127 million unique viewers (mostly attributed to China's viewership), while the entire event boasted a total viewing time of over 2 billion hours.[18][19][20][21]
The 2019 Mid-Season Invitational was held between 1–19 May 2019 in Vietnam and Taiwan. Three cities that hosted this event were Ho Chi Minh City (play-in), Hanoi (groups), and Taipei (knockout stage). Similar to the2017 Mid-Season Invitational, thirteen teams qualified for the event, as based on the regional results of the MSI and the World Championship in the two years prior (2017 and 2018), three teams from Europe (LEC), South Korea (LCK), and China (LPL) began in the main group stage; two teams from North America (LCS) and Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau (LMS) begin in the second round of the play-in stage; and the eight remaining teams begin in the first round of the play-in stage.[22]
The final was played on 19 May 2019, hosted in theTaipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium, betweenG2 Esports, from Europe'sLeague of Legends European Championship, andTeam Liquid, from North America'sLeague of Legends Championship Series, with G2 Esports winning the championship 3–0, becoming the first European team to win the Mid-Season Invitational.[23][24]Rasmus "Caps" Winther was given the MVP award for his performance in the final.[25]
Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, Riot Games cancelled the event, replacing it with theMid-Season Streamathon, a series of international competitions and exhibition matches from multiple regions.[26][27]
The 2021 Mid-Season Invitational was held from 6–23 May 2021 inReykjavík, Iceland. Twelve teams qualified for the event, where all teams began in the same stage of the tournament, unlike previous years where the winners of the minor leagues had to win play-in matches to face teams from the larger regions.[28]GAM Esports, from theVietnam Championship Series, was unable to attend the event due to travel restrictions related to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[29]
All games of the tournament were hosted in theLaugardalshöll, with no fans in attendance due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Iceland. The final was played on 23 May 2021 between the2018 Mid-Season Invitational championsRoyal Never Give Up, from China'sLeague of Legends Pro League, and thedefending World championsDWG KIA (formerly Damwon Gaming), fromLeague of Legends Champions Korea. Royal Never Give Up won the championship 3–2, becoming the second team afterT1 (formerly SK Telecom T1) to win two Mid-Season Invitationals.[30][31] Chen "GALA" Wei was awarded the MVP in the final.[32]
The 2022 Mid-Season Invitational was held from 10–29 May 2022 inBusan, South Korea. Similar to the previous event, eleven teams qualified for the event, where all teams began in the same stage of the tournament, unlike previous years where the winners of the minor leagues had to win play-in matches to face teams from the larger regions.[33][34] TheCIS'sLeague of Legends Continental League was unable to send a representative to the event due to the cancellation of their Spring Split, in response to theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[35]
Due to travel restrictions related to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Shanghai, where most of China's LPL teams are based, the LPL representative,Royal Never Give Up had competed in the tournament remotely from the team's training facility or the LPL Arena in Shanghai. All other representatives competed with artificially standardizedping to ensure competitive integrity.[36]
The final was played on 29 May 2022, hosted in theBusan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO).[37] The series was played between the two most successful teams in the competition's history at the time, the defending championsRoyal Never Give Up, from China'sLeague of Legends Pro League, andT1, fromLeague of Legends Champions Korea. In the final, Royal Never Give Up won the championship 3–2, becoming the first team to win three MSI titles, and the second team to successfully defend their title (after T1 in2017). Yan "Wei" Yangwei was awarded the MVP for his performance in the final.[38][39]
The 2023 Mid-Season Invitational was held from 2–21 May 2023 in London, United Kingdom. Thirteen teams from nine regions qualified for the event as champions of their regional Spring splits, excluding North America (LCS), EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), Korea (LCK), and China (LPL), who each had two teams participate in the tournament. As a result of this change, the Spring Split champions from Turkey (TCL) and Oceania (LCO) no longer participated in the event due to the Turkish league losing their regional status to become a European Regional League (ERL), and the Oceania league merging under the Southeast AsianPacific Championship Series (PCS).[40]
The format for the event differed to the previous editions, with the introduction of a play-in stage, consisting of eight teams who are split into two double elimination brackets. There, three teams qualified to the main tournament bracket where the qualifying teams, along with five other teams, faced off in another double elimination bracket to determine the winner of the tournament.[41]
All games of the tournament were hosted in theCopper Box Arena.[42] The finals was played on 21 May 2023 betweenJD Gaming andBilibili Gaming, both from theLeague of Legends Pro League (LPL).[43] In the final, JD Gaming won the series 3–1, with Zhuo "knight" Ding being named the finals MVP of the tournament.[44][45]
The 2024 Mid-Season Invitational was held from 1–19 May 2024 at the Chengdu Financial City Performing Arts Center inChengdu, China.[46] Twelve teams from eight regions qualified for the event, with Japan'sLJL merging under thePacific Championship Series (PCS).[47][48]
The finals was played on 19 May 2024 betweenGen.G from theLeague of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), and the previous years' finalistBilibili Gaming from theLeague of Legends Pro League (LPL), a rematch of the upper bracket final between the two teams.[49] In the final, Gen.G won the series 3–1, becoming the second team from the LCK (afterT1) to win an MSI title, whilst marking the first time a non-LPL (Chinese) team has won after five consecutive years of prior Chinese winners.[50] Son "Lehends" Si-woo was awarded the finals MVP for his performance in the series.[50] In addition, during game 2 of the finals, player Kim "Peyz" Soo-hwan also broke the record for most kills in a single international game, recording 28 kills. As a result, Gen.G will qualify for theWorld Championship (provided they also make the Summer playoffs in their regional league), whilst the LCK and LPL earned an additional spot at Worlds.[51]
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It was announced during the broadcast of the2024League of Legends World Championship final that MSI would take place inCanada in 2025, marking the country's first hosting of an internationalLeague of Legends competition.Vancouver was announced as the host city on 8 January 2025,[52] with thePacific Coliseum as the main venue.[53] From this edition onwards, the team representing the winning region at theFirst Stand Tournament would give its region's two qualified teams a bye to the Bracket Stage. SinceHanwha Life Esports won theinaugural edition, theLCK would get two automatic byes to the Bracket Stage, skipping the Play-in Stage entirely.
All games of the tournament were best-of-fives and were played at thePacific Coliseum.[54] Out of the 19 best-of-five series played, nine (9) reached a fifth and deciding game, setting the record for the most number of Game 5s in any internationalLeague of Legends competition, surpassing the six (6) Game 5s during the2021League of Legends World Championship. The tournament was also the first edition of the tournament to feature the Fearless Draft format, where teams cannot pick a champion that they've already played in a series, even if the opposing team already picked that champion.
The final was played on 12 July 2025 betweendefending MSI championsGen.G anddefending world championsT1, both from theLeague of Legends Champions Korea (LCK), a rematch of the upper bracket final between the two teams. Gen.G won the series, 3–2, becoming the third team to win back-to-back MSI titles afterT1 (then-SK Telecom T1) in2016 and2017, andRoyal Never Give Up in2021 and2022.[55] With the victory,Gen.G also qualified for the2025League of Legends World Championship provided it reaches theplayoffs of the 2025 LCK season, which was certified on 23 July 2025.
On 8 January 2025, Riot Games initially announced that the 2026 edition of MSI would be held in South Korea, marking the first time since2022 that South Korea will host the event.[52] The location of the event was revealed in November 2025, withDaejeon, South Korea hosting the entirety of the event. The competition will still use a double-elimination format with best-of-five series throughout, but the play-in stage will only qualify one team to the bracket stage.[56][57]
On 8 January 2025, Riot Games announced that the 2027 edition of MSI would be held in Europe.[52]
| Year | Final location | Final | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champion | Score | Runner-up | ||||
| 2015 | Tallahassee | Edward Gaming | 3 | 2 | SK Telecom T1 | 12 |
| 2016 | Shanghai | SK Telecom T1 | 3 | 0 | Counter Logic Gaming | 12 |
| 2017 | Rio de Janeiro | SK Telecom T1 | 3 | 1 | G2 Esports | 12 |
| 2018 | Paris | Royal Never Give Up | 3 | 1 | Kingzone DragonX | 12 |
| 2019 | Taipei | G2 Esports | 3 | 0 | Team Liquid | 12 |
| Cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic[58] and replaced with theMid-Season Streamathon | ||||||
| 2021 | Reykjavík | Royal Never Give Up | 3 | 2 | DWG KIA | 11[b] |
| 2022 | Busan | Royal Never Give Up | 3 | 2 | T1 | 11[b] |
| 2023 | London | JD Gaming | 3 | 1 | Bilibili Gaming | 13 |
| 2024 | Chengdu | Gen.G | 3 | 1 | Bilibili Gaming | 12 |
| 2025 | Vancouver | Gen.G | 3 | 2 | T1 | 10 |
| 2026 | Daejeon | 11 | ||||
| 2027 | TBA, Europe | |||||
| Region | Titles | Runner-up | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| China (LPL) | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| South Korea (LCK) | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| EMEA (LEC) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| North America (LCS) | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Italics indicates a team/organization has been disbanded, acquired or no longer participates in the regional league.
| Team | League | Champions | Runner-up | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Never Give Up | LPL | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| T1[c] | LCK | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Gen.G | LCK | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| G2 Esports | LEC | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Edward Gaming | LPL | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| JD Gaming | LPL | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Bilibili Gaming | LPL | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| NRG Esports[d] | LCS | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| DRX[e] | LCK | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Team Liquid | LTA | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Dplus KIA[f] | LCK | 0 | 1 | 1 |
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1 The 2020 Mid-Season Invitational was cancelled and replaced by the2020 Mid-Season Streamathon due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. | |||||||