As we know, for a long time, MSI – the second largest international tournament in the League of Legends scene, has always been considered “the exclusive playground of the LPL” and not taken seriously by some other major regions. This is due to two factors: the nature of the tournament and the performance of LPL teams. MSI has long been viewed as a secondary international tournament, alongside the main event, the World Championship. The short competition duration and the “quick and neat” format make MSI somewhat less appealing than the CKTG. Moreover, the LPL has always performed well in this tournament. In contrast, G2 Esports is the only team outside of the LCK – LPL to have ever won the tournament.
However, starting in 2024, this could come to an end permanently. According to a recent announcement from Riot, MSI 2024 will have some very important changes: “For the first time, the team that wins MSI will definitely secure a spot at the World Championship, which counts as an additional slot for their region. The region with the second-best performance in MSI will also receive an additional seed.” For example, in MSI 2023, JD Gaming won, so the LPL will have 4 spots, including 1 spot directly to the World Championship. However, since Bilibili Gaming (runner-up of MSI 2023) is also from LPL, the LCK will be the second-best performing region, and they will also have 4 spots.
However, Riot has added one more rule: The team that wins MSI 2024 must still strive to reach at least the playoffs of their regional league (except for LEC). Thus, if they slip up and miss the playoffs, their direct ticket to the 2024 World Championship will be immediately revoked, and that region will only retain the original number of slots. Riot announced that starting in 2024, the 4 Major regions will only have 3 spots at the World Championship. Meanwhile, the number of World Championship slots for smaller regions (VCS, PCS) and wildcard regions (LLA, CBLOL) remains unchanged, at 2 and 1 slots respectively.
According to some predictions, with Riot’s changes, the competition in MSI will noticeably increase. And certainly, LCK teams will not easily “let go” of this tournament anymore. Not to mention, the “big players” from LEC or LCS are also ready to challenge the LPL. As for the LPL, they will no longer be able to see this as their “exclusive playground”, especially as the MSI championship has a direct impact on the World Championship.
It remains to be seen what effects Riot’s changes will bring. But one thing is for sure, the appeal of MSI 2024 will significantly increase with these upcoming changes.