2018 Mid-Season Invitational
{{Infobox sport tournament
| name = 2018 Mid-Season Invitational
| sport = League of Legends
| image = 2018 Mid-Season Invitational logo.png
| image_size = 150px
| caption =
| host =
| start_date = 3 May
| end_date = 20 May
| administrator = Riot Games
| teams = 14
| champions = Royal Never Give Up
| runners-up1 = Kingzone DragonX
|location = Germany
France
| venue = EU LCS Studio (Berlin, Play-in stage & Main Group stage)
Zénith Paris (Paris, Main Playoffs Stage)
| mvp = Jian "Uzi" Zihao
(Royal Never Give Up)
| previous = 2017
| next = 2019
}}
The 2018 Mid-Season Invitational was the fourth edition of the Mid-Season Invitational, a Riot Games-organised tournament for League of Legends, the multiplayer online battle arena video game. The tournament is the culmination of the 2018 spring split, the first part of 8th season of the game competitive scene.
Each of 14 premier League of Legends leagues have a team representing them; Europe (EU LCS), South Korea (LCK), North America (NA LCS) and China (LPL) had their teams automatically admitted into the main event whereas the other 10 leagues will compete among each other in a "play-in" with the top 2 teams advancing to join the main event.
{{cite web|title=2018 Mid-Season Invitational Event Overview|url=https://www.lolesports.com/en_US/articles/2018-mid-season-invitational-event-overview|website=LoL eSports|access-date=28 April 2018|date=26 April 2018}}{{Cite news|url=https://realsport101.com/news/sports/esports/league-of-legends/2018-mid-season-invitational-schedule-released/|title=2018 Mid-Season Invitational: Schedule released – RealSport|date=2018-04-30|work=RealSport|access-date=2018-05-02|language=en-GB}}
The tournament was hosted in Germany and France from 3 to 20 May 2018. Matches of the play-in and group stages were held in EU LCS Studio in Berlin, while playoffs took place in multi-purpose indoor arena Zénith Paris.{{Cite news|url=http://comicbook.com/gaming/2018/04/15/league-of-legends-baron-conqueror-skin/|title=League of Legends Gives Baron a Conqueror Skin|work=WWG|access-date=2018-05-02|language=en}} Royal Never Give Up are the champions of the 2018 MSI, after taking down Kingzone DragonX in the finals. Jian "Uzi" Zihao was named the MVP of the entire tournament, due to his outstanding performances. The results of the tournament have received numerous international debates and reactions.{{cite news|title=Uzi finally meets his destiny by claiming the MSI crown with RNG|url=https://dotesports.com/league-of-legends/news/uzi-rng-win-msi-2018-23877|work=Dot Esports}}{{cite news|title=[KR Reaction] MSI Finals: "The PC is overheated generating all those CS for Uzi"|url=https://www.invenglobal.com/articles/5101/kr-reaction-msi-finals-the-pc-is-overheated-generating-all-those-cs-for-uzi}}
The event's finals, where LPL (China)'s Royal Never Give Up took on LCK (South Korea)'s Kingzone DragonX, became one of the most watched eSports matches in history, greatly attributed to China's viewership. The finals were watched by over 127 million unique viewers, while the entire event boasted a total viewing time of over 2 billion hours. The event also became one of the greatest League of Legends' tournaments in history, as well as one of its historical milestones, as a South Korean team was thwarted by a non-South Korean team in a major match for the first time in 3 years.{{cite news|title=The MSI Final for League of Legends becomes the most watched esports match ever|url=https://www.destructoid.com/the-msi-final-for-league-of-legends-becomes-the-most-watched-esports-match-ever-503875.phtml|work=destructoid}}{{cite news|title=Over 127 million people watched the MSI Final, making it the most watched esports match in history|url=https://www.invenglobal.com/articles/5103/over-127-million-people-watched-the-msi-final-making-it-the-most-watched-esports-match-in-history}}{{cite news|title=Which LCS team will survive and advance at MSI?|url=https://dotesports.com/league-of-legends/news/which-lcs-team-survive-msi-playoffs-23694|work=Dot Esports}}{{cite news|title=RNG and KINGZONE have always been desperately close to greatness|url=https://dotesports.com/league-of-legends/news/rng-kingzone-close-to-greatness-finals-msi-2018-23871|work=Dot Esports}}
Qualified teams
Last year, team from Vietnam had qualified for MSI via Southeast Asian league. From 2018, Vietnam region will be separated from Southeast Asia region. The Spring split Champion team from Vietnamese league will qualify for MSI without take part in the Southeast Asian league. Number of regions up to 14.
Based on the result of the MSI and World Championship in 2 years before (2016–2017), 4 teams from Europe (EU LCS), North America (NA LCS), South Korea (LCK), and China (LPL) are started in Main Group Stage, 2 teams from Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau (LMS) and Vietnam (VCS) are started in Play-in round 2, 10 remaining teams are started in Play-in round 1. Unlike last year, loser at round 2 will be eliminated because there's no round 3 in Play-in Stage.
| class="wikitable" style="white-space:nowrap"
!Region !League !ID |
| colspan="4" |Start in Main event's Group stage |
|---|
| China
|LPL |RNG |
| Europe
|FNC |
| North America
|TL |
| South Korea
|LCK |KZ |
| colspan="4" |Start in 2nd play-in round |
| TW/HK/MO
|LMS |FW |
| Vietnam
|VCS |EVS |
| colspan="4" |Start in 1st play-in round |
| Brazil
|CBLOL |KBM |
| CIS
|LCL |GMB |
| Japan
|LJL |PGM |
| Latin America North
|LLN |Rainbow7 |R7 |
| Latin America South
|CLS |Kaos Latin Gamers |KLG |
| Oceania
|OPL |Dire Wolves |DW |
| Southeast Asia
|GPL |Ascension Gaming |ASC |
| Turkey
|TCL |SuperMassive e-Sports |SUP |
Venues
Berlin, Paris were the two cities chosen to host the competition.
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!Berlin, Germany !Paris, France |
| Play-in Stage & Main Group Stage
|Playoffs Stage |
| EU LCS Studio |
| 150px
| 150px |
| Capacity: 174
|Capacity: 9,000 |
| {{Location map+|Germany|float=center|width=250|places={{Location map~ |Germany|lat=52.536667 |long=13.405000 |label=Berlin |position=left}}|caption=}}
!{{Location map+|France|float=center|width=250|places={{Location map~ |France|lat=48.894167 |long=2.393056 |label=Paris |position=right}}|caption=}} |
|---|
Play-In Stage
= Groups =
First place teams of each group advance to round 2 of the stage
{{stack begin|float=left|margin=true}}
;Group A
{{#invoke:Sports table|main|style=Custom
|num_cols=4
|colstyle1=pld
|colstyle2=win
|colstyle3=loss
|colstyle4=pct
| update = complete | source = [https://www.lolesports.com/en_US/msi/msi_2018/standings/play_in_groups LoL Esports]
| team1= GNV | name_GNV = Gambit Esports
| team2= R7 | name_R7 = Rainbow7
| team3= KLG | name_KLG = Kaos Latin Gamers
| team4= ASC | name_ASC = Ascension Gaming
| win_GNV = 5 | loss_GNV = 1
| win_R7 = 3 | loss_R7 = 3
| win_KLG = 2 | loss_KLG = 4
| win_ASC = 2 | loss_ASC = 4
| result1 = PK
| res_col_header = Q
| col_PK = green1 | text_PK = Advance to Play-In Knockouts
}}
{{stack end}}
{{stack begin|float=left}}
;Group B
{{#invoke:Sports table|main|style=Custom
|num_cols=4
|colstyle1=pld
|colstyle2=win
|colstyle3=loss
|colstyle4=pct
| update = complete | source = [https://www.lolesports.com/en_US/msi/msi_2018/standings/play_in_groups LoL Esports]
| team1= SUP | name_SUP = Bahçeşehir SuperMassive
| team2= KBM | name_KBM = KaBuM! e-Sports
| team3= DW | name_DW = Dire Wolves
| team4= PGM | name_PGM = PENTAGRAM
| win_SUP = 5 | loss_SUP = 1
| win_KBM = 4 | loss_KBM = 2
| win_DW = 2 | loss_DW = 4
| win_PGM = 1 | loss_PGM = 5
| result1 = PK
| res_col_header = Q
| col_PK = green1 | text_PK = Advance to Play-In Knockouts
}}
{{stack end}}
{{clear}}
= Knockouts =
Random draw. Winners of the series advance to group stage. Losers will be eliminated.
As the highest ranking emerging region in the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational, Vietnam (VCS) was given a direct spot in the main event at the 2018 World Championship, which was awarded to their summer champions.
{{4TeamBracket-Info|maxround=1
| boldwinner = high
| RD1-text1 = Winner to Group Stage
| RD1-seed1 = 1
| RD1-team1 = EVOS Esports
| RD1-score1 = 3
| RD1-seed2 = 2
| RD1-team2 = SuperMassive eSports
| RD1-score2 = 1
| RD1-text2 = Winner to Group Stage
| RD1-seed3 = 1
| RD1-team3 = Flash Wolves
| RD1-score3 = 3
| RD1-seed4 = 2
| RD1-team4 = Gambit eSports
| RD1-score4 = 0
}}
Group stage
Double Round Robin. Top 4 teams advance to Knock-out stage.
China, Europe, South Korea and TW/HK/MO will get pool 1 in 2018 World Championship Main Group Stage for Summer split Champion. North America and Vietnam will get pool 2.
{{#invoke:Sports table|main|style=Custom
|num_cols=4
|colstyle1=pld
|colstyle2=win
|colstyle3=loss
|colstyle4=pct
| update = complete | source = [https://www.lolesports.com/en_US/msi/msi_2018/standings/groups LoL Esports]
| team1= RNG | name_RNG = Royal Never Give Up
| team2= FW | name_FW = Flash Wolves
| team3= KZ | name_KZ = King-Zone DragonX
| team4= FNC | name_FNC = Fnatic
| team5= TL | name_TL = Team Liquid
| team6= EVS | name_EVS = EVOS Esports
| win_RNG = 8 | loss_RNG = 3
| win_FW = 7 | loss_FW = 4
| win_KZ = 6 | loss_KZ = 4
| win_FNC = 5 | loss_FNC = 6
| win_TL = 4 | loss_TL = 7
| win_EVS = 2 | loss_EVS = 8
| result1 = KO | result2 = KO | result3 = KO | result4 = KO
| res_col_header = Q
| col_KO = green1 | text_KO = Advance to Knockout Stage
}}
Knockout stage
- 1st place team of Group Stage chooses between 3rd and 4th place to be their semifinal opponent (RNG chose FNC)
- Matches are best of five
{{4TeamBracket-Info
| boldwinner = high
| RD1-seed1 = 1
| RD1-team1 = Royal Never Give Up
| RD1-score1 = 3
| RD1-seed2 = 4
| RD1-team2 = Fnatic
| RD1-score2 = 0
| RD1-seed3 = 2
| RD1-team3 = Flash Wolves
| RD1-score3 = 1
| RD1-seed4 = 3
| RD1-team4 = King-Zone DragonX
| RD1-score4 = 3
| RD2-seed1 =
| RD2-team1 = Royal Never Give Up
| RD2-score1 = 3
| RD2-seed2 =
| RD2-team2 = King-Zone DragonX
| RD2-score2 = 1
}}
= Semifinals =
{{Esports match
| match = Semifinals | date = May 18 | year = 2018 | time = 11:00 UTC
| team1 = Royal Never Give Up | team1score = 3
| team2 = Fnatic | team2score = 0
| map1 = Game 1 | map1team1score = 1 | map1team2score = 0
| map2 = Game 2 | map2team1score = 1 | map2team2score = 0
| map3 = Game 3 | map3team1score = 1 | map3team2score = 0
| recap = [https://www.redbull.com/us-en/league-of-legends-msi-2018-recap Recap] | location = Paris, France | stadium = Zénith Paris | host = }}
{{Esports match
| match = Semifinals | date = May 19 | year = 2018 | time = 11:00 UTC
| team1 = Flash Wolves | team1score = 1
| team2 = King-Zone DragonX | team2score = 3
| map1 = Game 1 | map1team1score = 0 | map1team2score = 1
| map2 = Game 2 | map2team1score = 1 | map2team2score = 0
| map3 = Game 3 | map3team1score = 0 | map3team2score = 1
| map4 = Game 4 | map4team1score = 0 | map4team2score = 1
| recap = [https://www.redbull.com/us-en/league-of-legends-msi-2018-recap Recap] | location = Paris, France | stadium = Zénith Paris | host =
| final_in_list=yes}}
= Finals =
{{Esports match
| match = Final | date = May 20 | year = 2018 | time = 11:00 UTC
| team1 = Royal Never Give Up | team1score = 3
| team2 = King-Zone DragonX | team2score = 1
| map1 = Game 1 | map1team1score = 1 | map1team2score = 0
| map2 = Game 2 | map2team1score = 0 | map2team2score = 1
| map3 = Game 3 | map3team1score = 1 | map3team2score = 0
| map4 = Game 4 | map4team1score = 1 | map4team2score = 0
| recap = [https://www.redbull.com/us-en/league-of-legends-msi-2018-recap Recap] | location = Paris, France | stadium = Zénith Paris | host =
| final_in_list=yes}}
Ranking
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; white-space:nowrap; width: 70%;"
!Place !League !Teams !title="Play-in Stage round 1"|PS1 !title="Play-in Stage round 2"|PS2 !title="Group Stage"|GS !title="Semifinals"|SF !Final |
| style="background-color: gold;"|1st
|style="text-align: left;" title="League of Legends Pro League"|LPL |style="text-align: left;"|Royal Never Give Up |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"| |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"| |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"|7–3 |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"|3–0 |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"|3–1 |
| style="background-color: silver;"|2nd
|style="text-align: left;" title="League of Legends Champions Korea"|LCK |style="text-align: left;"|King-Zone DragonX |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"| |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"| |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"|6–4 |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"|3–1 |style="background-color: #ffcccc;"|1–3 |
| rowspan="2" style="background-color: #c96;"|3rd–4th
|style="text-align: left;" title="League of Legends Master Series"|LMS |style="text-align: left;"|Flash Wolves |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"| |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"|3–0 |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"|7–3 |style="background-color: #ffcccc;"|1–3 | |
| style="text-align: left;" title="European League of Legends Championship Series"|EU LCS
|style="text-align: left;"|Fnatic |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"| |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"| |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"|4–6 |style="background-color: #ffcccc;"|0–3 | |
| 5th
|style="text-align: left;" title="North American League of Legends Championship Series"|NA LCS |style="text-align: left;"|Team Liquid |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"| |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"| |style="background-color: #ffcccc;"|4–6 | | |
| 6th
|style="text-align: left;" title="Vietnam Championship Series"|VCS |style="text-align: left;"|EVOS Esports |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"| |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"|3–1 |style="background-color: #ffcccc;"|2–8 | | |
| rowspan="2" |7th–8th
|style="text-align: left;" title="Turkish Championship League"|TCL |style="text-align: left;"|SuperMassive e-Sports |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"|5–1 |style="background-color: #ffcccc;"|1–3 | | | |
| style="text-align: left;" title="League of Legends Continental League"|LCL
|style="text-align: left;"|Gambit Esports |style="background-color: #ccffcc;"|5–1 |style="background-color: #ffcccc;"|0–3 | | | |
| rowspan="2" |9th–10th
|style="text-align: left;" title="Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends"|CBLOL |style="text-align: left;"|KaBuM! e-Sports |style="background-color: #ffcccc;"|4–2 | | | | |
| style="text-align: left;" title="Liga Latinoamérica Norte"|LLN
|style="text-align: left;"|Rainbow7 |style="background-color: #ffcccc;"|3–3 | | | | |
| 11th
|style="text-align: left;" title="Oceanic Pro League"|OPL |style="text-align: left;"|Dire Wolves |style="background-color: #ffcccc;"|2–4 | | | | |
| rowspan="2" |12th–13th
|style="text-align: left;" title="Copa Latinoamérica Sur"|CLS |style="text-align: left;"|Kaos Latin Gamers |style="background-color: #ffcccc;"|2–4 | | | | |
| style="text-align: left;" title="Garena Premier League"|GPL
|style="text-align: left;"|Ascension Gaming |style="background-color: #ffcccc;"|2–4 | | | | |
| 14th
|style="text-align: left;" title="League of Legends Japan League"|LJL |style="text-align: left;"|PENTAGRAM |style="background-color: #ffcccc;"|1–5 | | | | |
References
{{Reflist}}
{{2018 Spring League of Legends|state=expanded}}
{{Professional League of Legends competition}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mid-Season Invitational, 2018}}
Category:2018 multiplayer online battle arena tournaments
Category:May 2018 sports events in Europe
Category:Spring 2018 in League of Legends competitions