LoL Mid-Season Invitational 2024 – schedule, format changes, teams, and more

There is nothing quite like the Mid-Season Invitational when it comes to LoL tournaments: it is one of the two coveted opportunities for teams and players to prove their mettle in an international competition, and the event is going to be even more special from 2024 onwards.

Here is everything you need to know about MSI.

What is the Mid-Season Invitational in LoL esports?

The Mid-Season Invitational (commonly abbreviated as MSI) is the second most prestigious League of Legends tournament, only behind Worlds in terms of impact and importance when it comes to settling the international pecking order. It features the strongest teams and players of the first split of the competitive season from all around the globe, and as its name suggests, it takes place in the middle of the season, just at the halfway point in the big race toward Worlds qualification.

Despite what the tournament’s name implies, every participant of the Mid-Season Invitational qualifies for the event on merit, by putting on strong performances in their respective domestic competitions. No past accolades will get you there and no blue-chip esports orgs get a pass: unless you display your present prowess on the servers, you will not get to play at MSI.

The tournament features the winners from each individual Riot leagues and the runners-up from the biggest competitions (in 2024, they are the LCK, the LPL and the LCS). This year, the winner of the LEC Winter Split also qualifies for the competition.

Much like Worlds, MSI features a play-in stage for lower-seeded teams and a double elimination bracket stage as its main event, maximizing the action and the excitement for League of Legends fans worldwide for this mid-season bonanza. The play-in matches are best-of-three and the bracket stage games are all best-of-five, long series all accommodated for in the MSI schedule.

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How was the Mid-Season Invitational changed in 2024?

2024 saw significant changes made to the formats of all international League of Legends competitions, and the Mid-Season Invitational was no exception. Riot Games’ goal was to get rid of the many “dead rubber” (ie. meaningless) games in the early stages of the event, maximizing the excitement factor for fans and players throughout the competition.

To that end, Riot has made multiple changes to the tournament format of the Mid-Season Invitational to ensure higher stakes and even more excitement for fans (and no doubt serious heart palpitations for the players competing). Most importantly, the winner of MSI automatically qualifies for Worlds at the end of the year, as long as they at least make it to their region’s Summer playoffs (or in the case of the LEC, the regional finals).

“For 2024, we want to continue increasing the stakes around [the Mid-Season Invitational] and want to create a stronger connection between MSI and Worlds,” went the official explanation, going on to reveal further details about the adjustments made where they also explained the 2024 MSI schedule. “With these changes, we will be introducing new ways for teams and regions to show their strength and earn additional Worlds slots through their performance at MSI.”

This season, the LEC, LCS, LCK, and LPL will have three Worlds slots, the PCS and the VCS will retain two, and the LLA and the CBLOL will have one. This offers up opportunities to reward competitors in different ways. Apart from rewarding the MSI winners so, the second-best-performing region (the first behind the winner’s) will also earn an extra Worlds slot.

Looking at the 2023 event as a comparison, JDG would have earned themselves a direct spot at Worlds, with the LCK getting an extra spot at Worlds. No one would be surprised by something similar in this year’s edition of the event.

With just four teams getting directly seeded into the Bracket Stage, there is now a bit of a controversy here. The second seed in the LCK will have to go through the Play-Ins instead of directly getting a slot in the main part of the event – which, realistically, means they will simply smurf (or surf) through the opening stage.

Just like in previous years, champions and VGUs are only available for MSI selection if they have been enabled for the playoffs of all four of the top regions – this is one part of the tournament format that remained unchanged from previous years.

Five reasons to bet on the Mid-Season Invitational

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LoL MSI 2024 schedule and teams

The 2024 edition of the Mid-Season Invitational will take place in Chengdu, China, between May 1 and May 19. The venue is the Chengdu Financial City Performing Arts Center. Of the twelve participating teams, four will be directly seeded into the Bracket Stage, with the remaining eight battling it out for an opportunity to join them in the Play-in Stage.

Based on past years’ format and MSI schedule, the Play-in Stage will last five days, running between May 1 and May 5, with the Bracket Stage to follow with small breaks, with the first set of games played May 7-12, then continued May 14-19.

The participating teams are as follows:

• Bracket Stage seeding: LCK Spring champion, LPL Spring champion, LEC Spring champion, LCS Spring champion
• Play-in Stage seeding: LCK Spring runner-up, LEC Winter champion, LPL Spring runner-up, LCS Spring runner-up, VCS Spring champion, PCS Spring champion, CBLOL Split 1 champion, LLA Opening champion

League of Legends’ 2024 Mid-Season Invitational, summarized

MSI is one of the most important League of Legends esports tournaments and one of the most exciting competitions to bet on. Here is everything you need to know about it, Cliff’s Notes-style:

• Takes place in Chengdu, China, for the 2024 event
• MSI schedule for 2024: May 1-19
• 12 teams, 4 directly seeded to the Bracket Stage, the rest playing the Play-In
• The winner qualifies for Worlds!

To learn more about League of Legends esports and everything competitive gaming, check out the regularly updated information hub at the Bitsler blog and the many articles it offers about the scene!