Recently, a Twitter account named kenzi, believed to belong to a reporter from FOMOS in South Korea, posted some very concerning information regarding international LoL tournaments in 2020.
According to this account, MSI 2020 is highly likely to be canceled. This is truly “bad news” for Team Flash, as if the tournament is indeed not held, it means that Slayder and his teammates will miss their first international tournament in the most bitter way possible.
Regarding the potential cancellation of MSI 2020, the specific reason given is that Riot Games had previously confirmed the tournament’s location in Los Angeles, USA. However, according to some sources, the government of this country is likely to suspend all sporting activities until early 2021 due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, and esports is no exception.
Changing the tournament’s location at this time is impossible, so the chances of MSI 2020 being canceled are very high.
Additionally, kenzi also mentioned that starting from Worlds 2020, both Europe and China’s LoL regions will gain an additional slot for Worlds for each region. This means that LEC and LPL will have 4 slots for participation, based on the impressive performance of teams from these regions in recent international tournaments.
Moreover, the two regions VCS (Vietnam) and PCS (Taiwan – Hong Kong – Macau – Southeast Asia) will also receive 2 slots for each region. For VCS, we will likely still have one slot directly into the main stage and one slot for play-in, similar to Worlds 2019. The PCS region, which “inherits” LMS, will see a reduction of 1 slot, from 3 slots to only 2.
In the two seasons of 2018 and 2019, LEC won 1 MSI championship and made it to the Worlds finals twice, while LPL also took home both of the most recent World Championship trophies.
This information has immediately caused outrage among the LoL fan community. While it is true that LPL and LEC are currently the strongest regions in the world, their achievements still cannot be compared to the golden age of Korean LoL, which dominated Worlds for 5 consecutive seasons from 2013 to 2017 (3 championships for T1 and 2 for Gen.G).
However, LCK has never received the same privilege as LEC and LPL. In the past, the LMS region, after winning the Worlds championship in 2012, was granted an additional slot in the Worlds main stage, similarly, VCS was separated into its own region and later received an additional play-in slot after impressive performances in 2017 – 2018.
However, it is important to emphasize that the above information is still just a rumor and has not been confirmed by Riot. The fate of MSI 2020 remains uncertain, and we can only wait for answers after the regional tournaments officially conclude.