Three questions ahead of MSI 2023: can West make the League of Legends, can T1 break the curse and how the next round of LPL and LCK clashes will end
Yuriy SheremetThe main event of the spring for fans of League of Legends in particular and competitive gaming in general took place on 2 May in London. The Mid-Season Invitational 2023 tournament is already setting records, but the main course is ahead. The top 8 teams from the first half of 2023 will take to the Copper Box Arena in the heart of the UK on May 9.
The top eight clubs will begin the battle for glory and prestige as well as the $250,000 prize money + interest on copies of the MSI 2023 Combat Pass sold. Ahead of the Long Bracket Stage MSI 2023, we've rounded up three of The International Championship's main draws. We speculate on whether there is a future for teams from the West, whether Faker will be able to break the curse stretching back to 2022 and how the next round of nominal rivalry between LPL and LCK will end.
MSI 2023 - a chance for Faker and Keria to break the curse of lost finals
Photo: Riot Games
It's hard to imagine the first major tournament of the season without the best team of all time - T1. Fortunately, there's no need to imagine such a thing: T1 qualified for MSI 2023 from second place LCK and therein lies the underlying problem.
We're not saying South Korea's top 2 is a bad thing, in fact most clubs in the world would give a lot to achieve such a result. However, T1 are not of the majority, they are a unique club for whom the second place is worse than the last, so much so that T1 have consolidated their status as the best team in the world. In the last year, however, T1's dominance on the international stage can be disputed.
The team of the "unbeaten Demon King" has lost four finals in a row. T1 earned their last landmark achievement in April 2022, winning the home league grand final against Gen.G. Since then, the club has lost 4 finals on its books:
- Mid-Season Invitational 2022 - a 2-3 loss to Royal Never Give Up;
- LCK Summer 2022, a 0-3 loss to Gen.G;
- Worlds 2022 - 2-3 loss to DRX;
- LCK Spring 2023 - 1-3 loss to Gen.G.
Photo: Liquipedia
Being a champion is not the same as winning everything in the world. Character is shown on the course, and it seems London on the MSI LoL schedule will be a great place for T1 to show it once again.
Of T1's detractors at the Mid-Season Invitational 2023 will be Gen.G. If all goes according to plan, T1 will meet a principled rival in the second round, stealing South Korea's top 1.
Mid-Season Invitational 2023: Time to restore the Western League of Legends to its former glory
Photo: G2 Esports
While T1 faces Gen.G for Korea's Top 1 title, there will be more drama at the Mid-Season Invitational 2023 in what may be even bigger than the LCK. Teams from the western hemisphere of League of Legends will attempt to take the trophy at the international event for the first time since 2019.
In a competitive League of Legends of the highest quality, and MSI 2023 is no other, there is an unwritten but unbreakable rule: the East is always stronger than the West. The history of the professional League of Legends can remember a few instances when this rule has failed.
Perhaps the biggest victory for the West in the League of Legends was at the 2023 Vietnam Mid-Season Invitational. Back then, two representatives of the Western League, G2 Esports and Team Liquid, went down in the MSI Grand Finals. G2 Esports emerged victorious and for them it was their second title.
Prior to the landmark 2019 Samurai won the Mid-Season Invitational in 2017 when they beat Faker at the Olympic Arena in Rio. Those were good times for Europe and it will obviously try to assert itself during the Mid-Season Invitational 2023 as well.
The representatives of the West include the highest scoring team G2 Esports, as well as League of Legends veterans Cloud 9, MAD Lions and Golden Guardians. Given the experience of the past years, only the Samurai have a chance of success, because they have two past champions, Mikyx and Caps. However, to achieve success will not be easy, because on the way LPL and LCK, who will decide who is stronger, not paying much attention to Americans and Europeans.
Mid-Season Invitational 2023 as LPL and LCK battleground: who will be stronger in London?
Photo: Riot Games
The international LoL scene was once the “property” of teams from the LCK, but the LPL stepped in and diversified the odds on League of Legends betting sites. The approximate "invasion" of teams from the Celestial Empire can be dated back to 2018: that's when Invictus Gaming outplayed Fnatic 3-0 in the Worlds 2018 final.
Since 2018, teams from South Korea have had some serious competition, with LPL teams winning Worlds three times since 2018 (including IG in 2018). And then there were the Mid-Season Invitational series championships, where the LPL had an even better record, and they shone there earlier than at the Worlds.
While China's Worlds didn't take over until 2018, they conquered the MSI even earlier. In 2015, the first championship under the MSI umbrella was triumphed by Edward Gaming, who won the grand final of the 2015 Mid-Season Invitational against T1 by a score of 3-2.
LPL have won MSI 4 times since 2015 and so far have been ahead of LCK by a margin, with the Koreans holding two titles (T1 in 2016 and 2017). This year, LPL stand a good chance of not just extending the gap, but also registering a fourth win in a row: the previous three MSIs in 2022, 2021 and 2019 were won by Royal Never Give Up. Unfortunately for LPL fans, the reigning champions failed to qualify for MSI 2023 and now Bilibili Gaming and JD Gaming will defend the region's honour.
The Mid-Season Invitational will be a stumbling block of sorts with LCK claiming the World Championship and LPL claiming the MSI title. If a team from these regions wins, we will have a stronger league before the Worlds 2023.
The Bracket Stage Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) 2023 will begin on May 9. We will get the results for all of the above when the finals are played at the Copper Box Arena on May 21. You can find all the results in our coverage.
Yuriy Sheremet – Expert in mobile gaming and esports among shooters and MOBA games.
At EGamersWorld, Yuriy, as in 2020 when he joined the portal, works with content, albeit with adjustments to his area of responsibility.