In just a short time, MSI 2024 will officially kick off. At the first international tournament of the League of Legends scene in 2024, audiences will witness many format changes promising to enhance the tournament’s appeal. For instance, T1 will have to compete from the Play-In stage, or the champion of MSI 2024 will automatically secure a spot at the World Championship 2024 if that team advances to the playoffs of the Summer Split. All these efforts by Riot aim to make MSI more appealing – a tournament that has traditionally been seen as merely a warm-up for top teams heading to the World Championship or for teams from smaller regions and wildcards to solidify their positions.
This season, MSI will return to the populous nation, marking nearly 8 years since this international tournament was first held in the LPL. The venue is located in Chengdu, and some opinions suggest that T1 may take the crown this time. After all, everyone knows T1 has truly shone when facing LPL at the World Championship 2023. Not to mention, in the past, SKT T1 first won the MSI trophy (in 2016) right in Shanghai, China.
However, according to a quite reputable source from LPL recently, the preparations at the venue for MSI 2024 are not yet complete even at the most basic levels. This individual mentioned that in the stadium area, there is even no mobile signal, forcing people to go to the restroom area for connectivity. For those who may not know, this media outlet was also the first to report that the Hangzhou Asian Games required esports athletes to use their real names and prohibited any (allegedly) violent language from appearing in the tournament.
Of course, this could simply be explained by the fact that MSI 2024 has not completed the necessary preparations for the infrastructure, so all issues may be resolved in the future. However, if this is true, there may still be concerns. Everyone knows that players need time to acclimate to new equipment and competition environments. MSI itself is a tournament with a short duration. Therefore, even minor changes in the competitive environment can affect the players’ performance.