Updated on April 25, 3:49 p.m. (GMT+8): Improved relevancy, included Play-In draw results, updated links.
Riot Games made substantial updates to its annual international League of Legends events for the 2023 competitive season.
The 2023 Mid-Season Invitational in London will showcase a new tournament format altogether.
While MSI has succeeded in creating more competition for teams since its 2015 inception, the game developers saw an opportunity to improve the mid-season event and showcase additional cross-regional competition.
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MSI 2023 in London will showcase a new format
MSI will now include more teams this year, up to 13 from 11, with more slots for the major regions.
Here is the breakdown of slots for MSI 2023:
- 2 LCK teams
- 2 LCS teams
- 2 LEC teams
- 2 LPL teams
- 1 LLA team
- 1 CBLOL team
- 1 PCS team
- 1 VCS team
- 1 LJL team
The tournament is split into two stages: the Play-In Stage and the Bracket Stage.
The first seeds of the LCK, LCS, LEC, and LPL will start with a bye to the Bracket Stage. Since the LCK are the reigning world champions, the second LCK seed will also get a bye.
The remaining eight teams will start in the Play-In Stage.
A draw was conducted to determine the two groups on April 24. Here are the results:
| GROUP A | GROUP B |
| Bilibili Gaming | G2 Esports |
| Movistar R7 | LOUD |
| Golden Guardians | PSG Talon |
| GAM Esports | DetonatioN FocusMe |
Play-In Stage format explained
The Play-In Stage features two groups of four teams, each playing a best-of-three, double-elimination bracket. Only three Play-In teams will qualify for the Bracket Stage.
The two winners of the upper bracket automatically qualify for the Bracket Stage. The two final contenders in the loser’s bracket compete against each other in a best-of-five series, with the victor advancing to the Bracket Stage.
Bracket Stage playoffs format explained
The Bracket Stage is a best-of-five double-elimination bracket, consisting of 14 best-of-five matches to determine the MSI champion.
For more information, you can check out the official LoL Esports website.
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