Riot reveals MSI 2022 Primer

The 2022 League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational begins in a few short days! Here’s your one-stop shop for all things MSI.

What is the Mid-Season Invitational?

The Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) is a foundational battleground in the annual LoL Esports season, where rising stars and teams make a global name for themselves. Held between the first and second splits of the season, the best team from the regional leagues compete for the title. MSI is a time for regions to showcase their bold and unique identities and foreshadows the work needed for pros looking to claim a World Championship title. Riot Games supervises regional leagues in North America, Europe, Latin America, Brazil, Oceania, Korea, Turkey, Russia, Vietnam, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia. The event moves between host regions each year; this year, teams will compete in Busan, South Korea.

This year’s creative theme, “TAKE NOTES,” is a confident, attitude-infused call to action that highlights the epic moves and original style of MSI’s greatest pros. It continues to build out MSI as the bolder, grittier battleground of LoL Esports.

When is MSI happening?

MSI has three stages: the Group Stage, May 10-15; the Rumble Stage, May 20-24, and the Knockout Stage, May 27-29.

Groups – Tuesday, May 10 – 1 a.m. PST / 10 a.m. CEST / 5 p.m. KST
Groups -Wednesday, May 11 – 1 a.m. PST / 10 a.m. CEST / 5 p.m. KST
Groups – Thursday, May 12 – 1 a.m. PST / 10 a.m. CEST / 5 p.m. KST
Groups – Friday, May 13 – 11 p.m. PST / 8 a.m. CEST / 3 p.m. KST
Groups – Saturday, May 14 – 11 p.m. PST / 8 a.m. CEST / 3 p.m. KST
Groups – Sunday, May 15 – 11 p.m. PST / 8 a.m. CEST / 3 p.m. KST
Rumble – Friday, May 20 – 1 a.m. PST / 10 a.m. CEST / 5 p.m. KST
Rumble – Saturday, May 21 – 1 a.m. PST / 10 a.m. CEST / 5 p.m. KST
Rumble – Sunday, May 22 – 1 a.m. PST / 10 a.m. CEST / 5 p.m. KST
Rumble – Monday, May 23 – 1 a.m. PST / 10 a.m. CEST / 5 p.m. KST
Rumble – Tuesday, May 24 – 11 p.m. PST / 8 a.m. CEST / 3 p.m. KST
Knockouts – Friday, May 27 – 1 a.m. PST / 10 a.m. CEST / 5 p.m. KST
Knockouts – Saturday, May 28 – 1 a.m. PST / 10 a.m. CEST / 5 p.m. KST
Knockouts (Finals) – Sunday, May 29 – 1 a.m. PST / 10 a.m. CEST / 5 p.m. KST

Where will MSI take place?

The tournament will take place in Busan, South Korea, in two venues: the Busan Esports Arena (Groups) and the Bexco Exhibition Hall (Rumble and Knockouts). Busan is Korea’s second most populous city and is considered the home of esports – Busan hosted various stages of Worlds 2014 and Worlds 2018 previously. This is the first time MSI has traveled to Korea.
What’s the format?
GROUPS: Teams have been drawn into two groups of four and one group of three to play a best-of-one double round robin within their respective group during the Group Stage. The group of three will play a quadruple round robin.

RUMBLE: The top two teams from each of the three groups will advance to the Rumble Stage, where all six teams will play a best-of-one double round robin.

KNOCKOUTS: The final four teams standing will compete in the Knockout Stage utilizing a best-of-five single elimination format. The two remaining teams will compete on May 29 for the MSI Championship title.

Which teams are competing?

This year, the teams competing from each of the different regions are:

CHINA – LPL
Royal Never Give Up (RNG)

KOREA – LCK
T1 (T1)

EUROPE – LEC
G2 Esports (G2)

NORTH AMERICA – LCS
Evil Geniuses (EG)

SOUTHEAST ASIA – PCS
PSG.Talon Esports (PSG)

BRAZIL – CBLOL
RED Canids Kalunga (RED)

JAPAN – LJL
DetonatioN FocusMe (DFM)

LATIN AMERICA – LLA
Team Aze (AZE)

OCEANIA – LCO
ORDER (ORD)

TURKEY – TCL
fastPay Wildcats (IW)

VIETNAM – VCS
Saigon Buffalo Esports (SGB)*

*The VCS Spring Split winner, GAM, will represent Vietnam in the SEA Games.
How do I watch?
In-person: Tickets for MSI 2022 can be purchased online! Tickets for the Group Stage are available now. Tickets for the Rumble Stage can be purchased starting May 11, and tickets for the Knockout Stage can be purchased starting May 16.

Virtual: You can catch every match on lolesports.com.