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.
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.
Bet on MSI 2024: Top Betting Sites & Bonuses
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.
Teams Participating in MSI 2024
Here’s a look at how teams are seeding from regional leagues:
Bracket Stage Teams:
- LCK Spring 2024 – Gen.G Esports
- LCS Spring 2024 – Team Liquid
- LPL Spring 2024 – Bilibili Gaming
- LEC Spring 2024 – G2 Esports
Play-In Teams:
- LCK Spring 2024 – T1
- LEC Spring 2024 – Fnatic
- VCS Dawn 2024 – VCS Spring
- LCS Spring 2024 – FlyQuest
- PCS Spring 2024 – PSG Talon
- LLA Opening Spring 2024 – Estral Esports
- LPL Spring 2024 – Top Esports
- CBLOL Split 1 2024 – LOUD
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 2024 Tournament Schedule and Format
At the time of writing, Riot Games has confirmed the venue and schedule for the Mid-Season Invitational 2024. Here are the confirmed tournament details as the competition heads to Chendgu, China:
| Event | Mid-Season Invitational 2024 |
|---|---|
| Start Date | 1st May 2024 |
| End Date | 19th May 2024 |
| Teams | 12 |
| Venue | Chengdu Financial City Performing Arts Center, Chengdu, China |
With regards to the schedule, there are four date brackets to consider:
- Play-In Stage – May 1-5th
- Bracket Stage (Week 1) – May 7-12th
- Bracket Stage (Week 2) – May 14-18th
- Final – May 19th
When will MSI 2024 take place?
The Mid-Season Invitational 2024 is currently taking place, having started on May 1st and looks to carry on until 19th, lasting just a little less than 20 days.
Mid-Season Invitational Format: How Does MSI 2024 Work?
For the 2024 iteration of the Mid-Season Invitational, there are two stages of competition:
- Play-In Stage (May 1-5th)
- Eight teams in two groups
- Two Double Elimination Brackets (GSL-Style Group Stage)
- BO3 matches
- Top 2 move on to Bracket Stage
For the Play-In Stage, the two groups have been seeded accordingly:
| MSI Play-In Groups | Teams |
|---|---|
| Group A | Estral Esports, FlyQuest, PSG Talon, T1 |
| Group B | Fnatic, GAM Esports, LOUD, Top Esports |
- Bracket Stage (May 7-12th, May 14-19th)
- Eight team Double Elimination Bracket
- BO5 matches
Beyond the prize and pride, on the line for the winning team is a sure spot at Worlds 2024, adding a seed for their particular region. This additional seed is also awarded to the next best-performing region at MSI.
MSI 2024 Schedule
We’re moving towards the Bracket Stage now, here’s a look at the scheduled matches below:
Lower Bracket Quarterfinals
- 15/05 – T1 vs Team Liquid (11:00 CEST)
Upper Bracket Final
- 16/05 – Gen.G Esports vs Bilibili Gaming (11:00 CEST)
Lower Bracket Semifinal
- 17/05 – TBD vs TBD (11:00 CEST)
Lower Bracket Final
- 18/05 – TBD vs TBD (11:00 CEST)
Grand Final
- 19/05 – TBD vs TBD (11:00 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.
The odds below were made public by a top esports betting site, GG.Bet – we recommend checking out our GG.Bet review to learn more about this leading site.
MSI 2024 Bracket Stage Odds
Here’s a look at the match odds for the available MSI matches:
- T1 (-3334) vs Team Liquid (+972)
- Gen.G Esports (-105) vs Bilibili Gaming (-124)
Odds accessed 14/05/24, liable to change.
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)
2023 – JD Gaming
Although it may not have been the cleanest of runs for JD Gaming, they walked away as the champions of the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational.
Seeded into the Bracket Stage, JD Gaming went on a strong run in the first two runs taking down Golden Guardians and Bilibili Gaming without a sweat.
In the Upper Bracket Final, they then faced the favourites of the tournament at the time – T1. In this gruelling match, JD Gaming managed to beat down T1 in a 3-2 result. Once kicked to the lower bracket final, Bilibili Gaming managed to take out T1.
This built up to a Grand Final match between the local LPL rivals of JD Gaming and Bilibili Gaming. With JD Gaming being favoured to begin with, JD Gaming walked away as winners of MSI 2023.
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 2024 Mid-Season Invitational live on the usual sites. It is highly recommended viewers watch LoL MSI 2024 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.
