The Mid-Season Invitational, most commonly referred to as the MSI, is a yearly event that takes place between the Spring and Summer League of Legends competitive seasons. The tournament gathers the best teams (winners of the various Spring championships), from every competitive region battling it out for two and a half weeks, and across different stages. The theme for the 2023 event is ‘Defy the Odds’.
MSI is an international tournament and is the second biggest League of Legends event during the year, only behind the League of Legends World Championship (Worlds). Therefore, it is considered one of the largest esports tournaments in the world.
Top LoL MSI 2023 Betting Sites: Where Can I Bet on MSI?
Being a major esports tournament, there are many bookmakers who are making the most of the hype. This leads to very competitive MSI odds and great betting opportunities.
However, aside from great odds, it is vital for punters to choose licensed and regulated bookmakers when looking for LoL MSI betting sites. Regulated bookmakers are not only legal but are much safer and more reliable compared to unknown sites.
Consequences for not betting with regulated and reputable bookmakers may include:
- Losing your deposit
- Being unable to cash out wins
- Unfair bet cancellations
LoL MSI betting is safe with reputable bookmakers like the ones featured above who not only have competitive odds but have built a strong reputation through good customer service and quick payouts.
Mid-Season Invitational 2023 – Live Updates!
May 15, 2023 – Six Teams Left
After the first few rounds of the Bracket Stage, we’re down to only six teams left. Accordingly, the following matches are due in the coming days, as listed:
Upper Bracket Finals
- T1 vs JD Gaming
Lower Bracket Quarter Finals
- Bilibili Gaming vs G2 Esports
- Gen.G vs Cloud9
MSI Bracket Stage 2023 – LCK and LPL Dominate
Heading into the Upper Bracket Semifinals, the international LoL community had two rivalries to enjoy.
Firstly, the LPL match-up between Bilibili Gaming and JD Gaming was rather one-sided, with JD Gaming sweeping Bilibili in a dominant 3-0 fashion.
So far at this stage, JD Gaming have looked flawless, not dropping a single round. Meanwhile, Bilibili Gaming will continue fighting, now against G2 in the Lower Bracket Quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, the LCK match-up between Gen.G and T1 simply brought the house down with excitement. While T1 were about to finalize, Gen.G strung together two wins to bring it to a final map.
Although Gen.G lost here, it was a tight match and they’ll be looking to stay alive in the Lower Bracket.
Now, the only match the community is talking about is the showdown between T1 and JD Gaming. Despite being flawless, the outright LoL odds favour T1 (1.75) over JD Gaming (2.05) ahead of this epic match.
MSI Lower Bracket – G2 Esports and Cloud9 Next?
With sparks flying in the Upper Bracket, four teams are trying to survive in the Lower Bracket.
Unfortunately for G2 Esports and Cloud9, it looks like the LPL and LCK dominance will simply continue here.
When looking at the outright odds, Bilibili Gaming (1.2) are massively favoured against G2 Esports (4.4) even though both teams earned seeds at the Play-In equally.
In addition, although the odds aren’t available, Gen.G are definitely the favourites to take down Cloud9.
Teams Participating in MSI 2023
| Team | League | Stage Seed |
|---|---|---|
| Gen.G | League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) | Stage 2: Bracket |
| JD Gaming | League of Legends Pro League (LPL) | Stage 2: Bracket |
| MAD Lions | League of Legends European Championship (LEC) | Stage 2: Bracket |
| Cloud9 | League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) | Stage 2: Bracket |
| T1 | League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) | Stage 2: Bracket |
| Bilibili Gaming | League of Legends Pro League (LPL) | Stage 1: Play-In |
| G2 Esports | League of Legends European Championship (LEC) | Stage 1: Play-In |
| Golden Guardians | League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) | Stage 1: Play-In |
| PSG Talon | League of Legends Pacific Championship Series (PCS) | Stage 1: Play-In |
| GAM Esports | League of Legends Vietnam Championship (VNM) | Stage 1: Play-In |
| DetonatioN FM | League of Legends Japan Championship (LJL) | Stage 1: Play-In |
| LOUD | League of Legends Brazil Championship (BR) | Stage 1: Play-In |
| Movistar R7 | League of Legends LATAM Championship (LAT) | Stage 1: Play-In |
Why do teams participate?
Aside from a much higher prize pool compared to the domestic regions, the winners of the MSI 2023 will grant an additional team slot for their own region for the Worlds Championship 2023.
How do teams get into MSI?
It’s rather simple – only the best of the best from the Spring Split of each region earn their spot at MSI. Seeding for each region is outlined in the list of teams further below.
MSI 2023 Tournament Schedule and Format
MSI 2023 is being held in London, United Kingdom at the Copper Box Arena. Beyond the exciting venue, this year’s iteration features a number of changes for League of Legends esports with regards to the format.
In addition, this year features a greater number of thirteen international teams, whereas last year featured only 11 teams due to certain geopolitical situations restricting teams.
When will MSI 2023 take place?
The Mid-Season Invitational 2023 is currently taking place, having started on May 2nd and looks to carry on until 21st, lasting just a little less than 20 days.
Mid-Season Invitational Format: How Does MSI 2023 Work?
MSI 2023 can be broken down into two different stages:
- Play-In
- Playoffs
1. Play-In – (May 2nd – 7th, 2023)
Kicking things off, eight teams fought through a double elimination bracket. The eight teams had been seeded on two sides of a bracket, with BO3 matches except for the Lower Final which were BO5.
Bracket A
- BiliBili Gaming (LPL)
- Rainbow7 (LATAM)
- Golden Guardians (LCS)
- GAM Esports (VNM)
Bracket B
- G2 Esports (LEC)
- PSG Talon (PCS)
- LOUD (BR)
- DetonatioN FocusMe (LJL)
The winner of each separate bracket qualified to the Playoffs. However, three teams move on to the Playoffs. Accordingly, the remaining team from each Bracket faced one another in the Lower Bracket Final to determine the final team to qualify.
In conclusion, Bilibili Gaming, G2 Esports and Golden Guardians claimed the three seeds.
2. Playoffs – (9-14th May, 16-21st May)
The three Play-In teams have joined the five teams already seeded for the Playoffs in another double-elimination bracket. Here, every single match is a BO5 up to the very end, where a new global champion will be crowned.
With two teams eliminated so far, the following matches are due:
Upper Bracket Final
- T1 vs JD Gaming – 18/05/23 – 14:00 CEST
Lower Bracket Quarterfinals
- Bilibili Gaming vs G2 Esports – 16/05/23 – 14:00 CEST
- Gen.G vs Cloud9 – 17/05/23 – 14:00 CEST
MSI Betting Options
Several esports betting sites are offering outright odds on the tournament. This means not only can you bet on the usual individual matches, but on who will win the overall tournament.
MSI 2023 Outright Winner Odds
Outright Winner Odds provided by GG.Bet on 27 April 2023:
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| JD Gaming | 3.25 |
| Gen.G | 3.75 |
| T1 | 4.00 |
| Bilibili Gaming | 8.00 |
| G2 Esports | 15.00 |
| Cloud9 | 17.00 |
| MAD Lions | 23.00 |
| PSG Talon | 26.00 |
| GAM Esports | 26,00 |
| Golden Guardians | 34.00 |
| DetonatioN FocusMe | 41.00 |
| LOUD | 51.00 |
| Movistar R7 | 67.00 |
MSI Betting Options
Aside from the outright winner market, bookmakers are also offering various other betting opportunities on individual matches throughout the various stages of the MSI. These include:
- Match Winner
- First Blood
- First Tower
- First Dragon
- First Baron
- First Inhibitor
- Race to different intervals of kills
MSI Past Winners (2015 – Present)
2022 – Royal Never Give Up
Royal Never Give Up are the latest MSI Champions, beating the Korean representative T1 in a very close 5-game series last year. The Chinese team continued the trend of LPL domination on international stages, after winning 2021’s World Championship.
Despite not being able to play on the live stage like all the other teams due to the Covid-19 situation in China, RNG performed greatly, showing that they’re still the best. In the Groups Stage, they dominated the wild card regions and PSG Talon (also after remaking several games due to a ping issue), going undefeated to the Rumble Stage.
In the second phase, the team started off with a loss against a surprising G2, but then quickly adjusted themselves to finish first with an 8-2 record (the second loss was against T1). Coming into the Knockout stage, they had the advantage of facing EG who they quickly swept and then proceeded to become champions following the finals.
What was great about RNG in that particular esports tournament was the team’s ability to read the meta super well and a small bit of luck in having their comfort champions up in the ranks. Gwen, Viego, Ahri and Kai’sa were all relevant champions that were omnipresent in all games. Not only that, but they were also able to show some flexibility in drafts, which we haven’t seen as much from other teams.
2021 – Royal Never Give Up
Royal Never Give Up came into MSI as the best team in terms of momentum, as they dominated both the regular split and the Spring Playoffs.
The LPL team found themselves continue their streak in the groups stage, beating both Unicorns of Love and Pentanet.GG every time they clashed. At the end of the groups stage, RNG finished first with an 8-0 score. (due to Vietnam not participating, RNG’s group became a quadruple round robin)
In the knockout stage, the team finished 2nd behind DWG Kia, with a 7-3 score. With that being said, RNG won both matches against DWG Kia in the two round robins, showing that they had the potential to fight for the top.
Needless to say, they proved it. After quickly beating PSG Talon 3-1 in the semifinals, RNG came out victorious after a very close 5-game series against DWG Kia.
Despite winning MSI, however, RNG failed to replicate those results at Worlds 2021. RNG were eliminated in the quarterfinals by the other LPL representative Edward Gaming, who went on to become the World’s Champions.
2020 – None (Event canceled)
2019 – G2 Esports
G2 Esports had their best year in 2019, winning all stages of the LEC, MSI 2019 and Rift Rivals 2019 NA-EU. On top of Europe’s strong performance in Worlds 2018, with two teams entering the semi-finals, G2 Esports were strongly positioned to take out worlds. While G2 Esports were able to take down big names like Damwon Gaming in the quarterfinals and SK Telecom T1 in the semi-finals, they were wiped in the finals. Following a 0-3 defeat to Fun Plux Phoenix, G2 Esports ended Worlds 2019 in 2nd place.
2018 – Royal Never Give Up
2018 was RNG’s most promising year, earning their first International win with MSI. The team carried this momentum in the LPL, winning the LPL 2018 Summer Playoffs. Unfortunately, RNG were toppled once again in Wolds 2018, this time by G2 3-2 in the quarterfinals.
2017 – SK Telecom T1
Despite winning the 2017 MSI decisively, SK Telecom T1 stumbled in the 2017 Summer season, only placing 4th. The team went on to finish the Summer Playoffs 2nd, and while not the strongest team in the LCK, were a strong contender for Worlds 2017. Ultimately, SK Telecom T1 fell short, losing 0-3 to Samsung Galaxy in the League of Legends World Championship finals, a crushing result for the unkillable demon king.
2016 – SK Telecom T1
SK Telecom T1 has strong competition in the LCK, despite winning the MSI 2016, the team only placed 3rd in the LCK Summer Playoffs. However, SK Telecom T1 along with its LCK competitive dominated the group stage of Worlds 2016. SK Telecom T1 went on to take down ROX Tigers and Samsung Galaxy in the semi-finals and finals 3-2, ending 2016 as the World Champions.
2015 – Edward Gaming
EDG narrowly claimed victory over SK Telecom T1 in the 2015 MSI Finals, ending 3-2. The team, later on, went to take first place in the Summer season, but stumbled in the Summer playoffs, finishing 4th. The team turned to have a decent performance in Worlds 2015 by making it out of groups and entering the quarterfinals.
Where to Watch Live
You can watch the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational live on the usual sites. It is highly recommended viewers watch LoL MSI 2023 on Twitch as Riot often holds free in-game drops for random viewers who have linked their Twitch and Riot accounts. In addition, this year is Riot’s first attempt at co-streaming to improve viewership.
Find out more about how to watch MSI.
Getting Comfortable with LoL Betting
LoL betting is easy to pick up, with straightforward markets and a bookmaker’s beginner-friendly interface. If you’re not ready to bet on MSI but interested in learning more there’s plenty of time to learn about League of Legends betting and get ready for the summer season.
The Mid-Season Invitational gives a good sneak peek at the strength of each region and gives a glimpse of the strongest teams before Worlds. Performance in the MSI will give a strong indication of a team and region’s performance and it can be especially helpful for LoL Worlds betting.
