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Mid-Season Invitational Format Explained

By Michael Jeong

Image courtesy of Riot Games
Image courtesy of Riot Games /

The Mid-Season Invitational will feature a new format introduced for the second-most prestigious international competition in League of Legends, beneath only the world championship itself.

Per the original announcement, the Mid-Season Invitational will take place in South-East Asia. The new format consists of four stages: the Play-In Group Stage, the Play-In Knockout Stage, the Group Stage and the Knockout Stage.

The Play-In Group Stage runs from May 1 to May 4 in Ho Chi Minh City. Two groups (Group A and Group B) of four teams each compete in a best-of-one double round robin. Winners of each group advances to the Play-In Knockout stage. The teams were grouped per random draw on April 23.

The Play-In Knockout Stage runs from May 5 to 7 in Ho Chi Minh City. The winner of Group A faces the team from North America's LCS and the winner of Group B faces the team from South-East Asia's LMS. The format is a best-of-five double elimination. Three teams advance to the Group Stage.

The Group Stage runs from May 10 to 14 in Hanoi. This stage sees the three qualified teams join the representatives of South Korea's LCK, Europe's LEC and China's LPL. The six teams then compete in a double round robin to determine the top four teams that will advance to the Knockout Stage.

The Knockout Stage runs from May 17 to 19 in Taipei. It consists of the semifinals and the grand finals.

The eight teams seeded into the Play-in Groups Stage are:

  • OPL Split 1 Champion - Bombers
  • LJL Spring Champion - DetonatioN FocusMe
  • VCS Spring Champion - Phong Vũ Buffalo
  • TCL Winter Champion - 1907 Fenerbahçe Esports
  • CBLOL Summer Champion - INTZ eSports
  • LCL Spring Champion - Vega Squadron
  • LLA Opening Champion - Isurus Gaming
  • LST Spring Champion - MEGA Esports

The two teams seeded into the Play-In Knockout Stage are:

The three teams seeded into the Group Stage are:

  • LCK Spring Champion - SK Telecom T1
  • LEC Spring Champion - G2 Esports
  • LPL Spring Champion - Invictus Gaming

Photo courtesy of Riot Games