2018 Mid-Season Invitational
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.
![]() The Zénith Paris in Paris hosted the playoffs. | |
Tournament information | |
---|---|
Sport | League of Legends |
Location | ![]() ![]() |
Dates | 3 May 2018–20 May 2018 |
Administrator | Riot Games |
Venue | EU LCS Studio (Berlin, Play-in stage & Main Group stage) Zénith Paris (Paris, Main Playoffs Stage) |
Teams | 14 |
Final positions | |
Champions | ![]() (1st title) |
Runner-up | ![]() |
3rd place | ![]() ![]() |
MVP | ![]() (Royal Never Give Up) |
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 and roster
Qualified team
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 | ![]() |
RNG |
Europe | EU LCS | ![]() |
FNC |
North America | NA LCS | ![]() |
TL |
South Korea | LCK | ![]() |
KZ |
Start in 2nd play-in round | |||
TW/HK/MO | LMS | ![]() |
FW |
Vietnam | VCS | ![]() |
EVS |
Start in 1st play-in round | |||
Brazil | CBLOL | ![]() |
KBM |
CIS | LCL | ![]() |
GMB |
Japan | LJL | ![]() |
PGM |
Latin America North | LLN | ![]() |
R7 |
Latin America South | CLS | ![]() |
KLG |
Oceania | OPL | ![]() |
DW |
Southeast Asia | GPL | ![]() |
ASC |
Turkey | TCL | ![]() |
SUP |
Roster
Players | Coach | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Top | Jungle | Mid | ADC | Support | |
Europe (LEC) – ![]() | |||||
![]() (Gabriël Rau) |
![]() (Mads-Brock Pedersen) |
![]() (Rasmus Winther) |
![]() (Martin Larsson) |
![]() (Zdravets Iliev Galabov Здравец Илиев Гълъбов) |
![]() (Dylan Falco) |
![]() (Paul Boyer) | |||||
North America (LCS) – ![]() | |||||
![]() (Jeong Eon-yeong 정언영) |
![]() (Jake Puchero) |
![]() (Eugene Park) |
![]() (Yiliang Peter Peng) |
![]() (Kim Ju-seong 김주성) |
![]() (Lee Gwan-hyeong 이관형) |
![]() (Joseph Haslemann) | |||||
China (LPL) – ![]() | |||||
![]() (Yan Junze 严君泽) |
![]() (Liu Shiyu 刘世宇) |
![]() (Li Yuanhao 李元浩) |
![]() (Jian Zihao 简自豪) |
![]() (Shi Senming 史森明) |
![]() (Lee Gwan-hyeong 이관형) |
![]() (Hung Hau-Hsuan 洪浩軒) | |||||
South Korea (LCK) – ![]() | |||||
![]() (Kim Dong-ha 김동하) |
![]() (Han Wang-ho 한왕호) |
![]() (Gwak Bo-seong 곽보성) |
![]() (Kim Jong-in 김종인) |
![]() (Kang Beom-hyeon 강범현) |
![]() (Yeon Hyeong-mo 연형모) |
![]() (Moon Woo-chan 문우찬) | |||||
Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau (LMS) – ![]() | |||||
![]() (Su Chia-Hsiang 蘇嘉祥) |
![]() (Kim Mu-jin 김무진) |
![]() (Huang Yi-Tang 黃熠棠) |
![]() (Lu Yu-Hung 盧禹宏) |
![]() (Hu Shuo-Chieh 胡碩傑) |
![]() (Chen Ju-Chih 陳如治) |
Vietnam (VCS) – ![]() | |||||
![]() (Phan Công Minh) |
![]() (Nguyễn Lê Hải Đăng) |
![]() (Đoàn Văn Ngọc Sơn) |
![]() (Nguyễn Ngọc Hùng) |
![]() (Lê Thiên Hàn) |
![]() (Ngô Mạnh Quyền) |
Brazil (CBLOL) – ![]() | |||||
![]() (Luccas Zanqueta) |
![]() (Filipe Brombilla) |
![]() (Matheus Rossini) |
![]() (Alexandre Lima) |
![]() (Marcelo Carrara) |
![]() (Jean-François Caron) |
Commonwealth of Independent States (LCL) – ![]() | |||||
![]() (Alexander Glazkov Олександр Глазков) |
![]() (Danil Reshetnikov Данил Решетников) |
![]() (Mykhailo Harmash Михайло Гармаш) |
![]() (Stanislav Kornelyuk Станислав Корнелюк) |
![]() (Edward Abgaryan Եդւարդ Աբգարյան) |
![]() (Igors Radkevič) |
Japan (LJL) – ![]() | |||||
![]() (Shiro Sasaki 佐々木 志郎) |
![]() (Jang Se-yeong 장세영) |
![]() (Osamu Ozawa 小澤 統) |
![]() (Yuta Noguchi 野口 悠太) |
![]() (Yang Gwang-woo 양광우) |
![]() (Kim Dong-hun 김동훈) |
Latin America North (LLN) – ![]() | |||||
![]() (Daniel del Castillo) |
![]() (Sebastián Niño) |
![]() (Édgar Bracamontes) |
![]() (Matías Musso) |
![]() (Mariano Polonsky) |
![]() (Rodrigo del Castillo) |
Latin America South (CLS) – ![]() | |||||
![]() (Damian Rea) |
![]() (Sebastián Mateluna) |
![]() (Joaquín Pérez) |
![]() (Nicolás Sayago) |
![]() (Eduardo Garcés) |
![]() (Misael Di Ciancia) |
Oceania (OPL) – ![]() | |||||
![]() (Ryan Short) |
![]() (Shern Tai) |
![]() (Stephen Li) |
![]() (Calvin Truong) |
![]() (Andy van der Vyver) |
![]() (Curtis Morgan) |
Southeast Asia (LST) – ![]() | |||||
![]() (Atit Phaomuang อธิศ เผ่าเมือง) |
![]() (Sanpett Marat สันเพชร มารัตน์) |
![]() (Nuttapong Menkasikan นัฐพงษ์ เม้นกะสิการ) |
![]() (Juckkirsts Kongubon จักรกฤษณ์ คงอุบล) |
![]() (Warich Kittiwattanawong วริชญ์ กิตติวัฒนาวงศ์) |
![]() (Akarawat Wangsawat อัครวัฒน์ หวังสวัสดิ์) |
Turkey (TCL) – ![]() | |||||
![]() (Asım Cihat Karakaya) |
![]() (İlyas Furkan Güngör) |
![]() (Lee Chang-seok 이창석) |
![]() (Berkay Aşıkuzun) |
![]() (No Hoi-jong 노회종) |
![]() (Heo Yeong-cheol 허영철) |
Venues
Berlin, Paris were the two cities chosen to host the competition.
![]() |
![]() |
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Play-in Stage & Main Group Stage | Playoffs Stage |
EU LCS Studio | Zénith Paris |
Capacity: 174 | Capacity: 9,000 |
Play-In Stage
Round 1
First place teams of each group advance to round 2 of the stage
- Draw [10]
Only 2 teams of each pool is drawn into a group.
Pool 1 | Pool 2 |
---|---|
![]() |
![]() |
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![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
- Group A [10]
# | Team | ~ | GMB | R7 | KLG | ASC | W | L | ± | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
GMB | ~ | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 5 | 1 | 4 | ||
2 | ![]() |
R7 | 0–2 | ~ | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | ||
3 | ![]() |
KLG | 0–2 | 1–1 | ~ | 1–1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | ||
3 | ![]() |
ASC | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | ~ | 2 | 4 | −2 |
- Group B [10]
# | Team | ~ | SUP | KBM | DW | PGM | W | L | ± | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
SUP | ~ | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | ||
2 | ![]() |
KBM | 1–1 | ~ | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | ||
3 | ![]() |
DW | 0–2 | 1–1 | ~ | 1–1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | ||
4 | ![]() |
PGM | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | ~ | 1 | 5 | −4 |
Round 2
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.
Group stage
Double Round Robin. Top 4 teams advance to Knock-out stage.
# | Team | ~ | RNG | FW | KZ | FNC | TL | EVS | W | L | ± | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
RNG | ~ | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 7 | 3 | 4 | ||
2 | ![]() |
FW | 1–1 | ~ | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 7 | 3 | 4 | ||
3 | ![]() |
KZ | 1–1 | 0–2 | ~ | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 6 | 4 | 2 | ||
4 | ![]() |
FNC | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | ~ | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4 | 6 | -2 | ||
5 | ![]() |
TL | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | ~ | 1–1 | 4 | 6 | −2 | ||
6 | ![]() |
EVS | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | ~ | 2 | 8 | −4 |
|
|
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.
Knockout stage
- 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
Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
1 | ![]() | 3 | |||||||
4 | ![]() | 0 | |||||||
![]() | 3 | ||||||||
![]() | 1 | ||||||||
2 | ![]() | 1 | |||||||
3 | ![]() | 3 |
Match 1
- Date and time: 18 May, 11:00 UTC.
Team | ID | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
RNG | 3 |
4 | ![]() |
FNC | 0 |
Game | Blue side | Result | Red side | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
L | W | ![]() |
2 | ![]() |
L | W | ![]() |
3 | ![]() |
L | W | ![]() |
4 | X | - | - | X |
5 | X | - | - | X |
Match 2
- Date and time: 19 May, 11:00 UTC.
Team | ID | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
2 | ![]() |
FW | 1 |
3 | ![]() |
KZ | 3 |
Game | Blue side | Result | Red side | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
L | W | ![]() |
2 | ![]() |
W | L | ![]() |
3 | ![]() |
W | L | ![]() |
4 | ![]() |
L | W | ![]() |
5 | X | - | - | X |
Finals
- Date and time: 20 May, 11:00 UTC
- The members of the winning team will lift the MSI trophy, earning their title as the League of Legends 2018 Mid-Season Invitational Champions.
Team | ID | Result |
---|---|---|
![]() |
RNG | 3 |
![]() |
KZ | 1 |
Game | Blue side | Result | Red side | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
W | L | ![]() |
2 | ![]() |
L | W | ![]() |
3 | ![]() |
W | L | ![]() |
4 | ![]() |
W | L | ![]() |
5 | X | - | - | X |
Ranking
Place | Region | League | Teams | PS1 | PS2 | GS | SF | Final |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | China | LPL | ![]() |
7–3 | 3–0 | 3–1 | ||
2nd | South Korea | LCK | ![]() |
6–4 | 3–1 | 1–3 | ||
3rd–4th | TW/HK/MO | LMS | ![]() |
3–0 | 7–3 | 1–3 | ||
Europe | EU LCS | ![]() |
4–6 | 0–3 | ||||
5th | North America | NA LCS | ![]() |
4–6 | ||||
6th | Vietnam | VCS | ![]() |
3–1 | 2–8 | |||
7th–8th | Turkey | TCL | ![]() |
5–1 | 1–3 | |||
CIS | LCL | ![]() |
5–1 | 0–3 | ||||
9th–10th | Brazil | CBLOL | ![]() |
4–2 | ||||
Latin America North | LLN | ![]() |
3–3 | |||||
11th | Oceania | OPL | ![]() |
2–4 | ||||
12th–13th | Latin America South | CLS | ![]() |
2–4 | ||||
Southeast Asia | GPL | ![]() |
2–4 | |||||
14th | Japan | LJL | ![]() |
1–5 |
References
- "2018 Mid-Season Invitational Event Overview". LoL eSports. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
- "2018 Mid-Season Invitational: Schedule released – RealSport". RealSport. 2018-04-30. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
- "League of Legends Gives Baron a Conqueror Skin". WWG. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
- "Uzi finally meets his destiny by claiming the MSI crown with RNG". Dot Esports.
- "[KR Reaction] MSI Finals: "The PC is overheated generating all those CS for Uzi"".
- "The MSI Final for League of Legends becomes the most watched esports match ever". destructoid.
- "Over 127 million people watched the MSI Final, making it the most watched esports match in history".
- "Which LCS team will survive and advance at MSI?". Dot Esports.
- "RNG and KINGZONE have always been desperately close to greatness". Dot Esports.
- "Bracket". LoL Esports. Retrieved 6 May 2018.