MSI 2023 has been announced with a new format and a trip to London.
Another year of League of Legends is upon us as the LoLEsports revs up for the start of their splits. Many changes have come in the regions themselves, along with roster swaps. The LoL Esports Season Kickoff starts the Esports year with a showcase of players from different regions.
With the new Esports calendar year starting, MSI is the next international tournament everyone has their eye on. The past MSI tournaments have been fairly ok to watch, but they really didn’t provide much excitement.
Thus, to change that, Riot is rolling out a new format for MSI 2023. Riot has overhauled the entire system to make it more enjoyable. Let’s discuss where MSI 2023 is being held and this year’s new format.
Read More: All Four New Champions Coming To League of Legends in 2023
MSI 2023 Location
The location for MSI 2023 is in London, in the United Kingdom. It is a long time coming for London to host one of the biggest LoLEsports tournaments. Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, was part of the State of the Game Video by Riot.
MSI 2023 will start on May 2nd and go on until May 21st. More information will come out in the following months.
MSI 2023 Format Changes
There is a lot to unpack regarding format changes for MSI 2023. A total of 13 teams will participate in MSI 2023 as LPL, LCK, LEC, and LCS are getting two teams each to the tournament. Since TCL dissolved and LCO is pseudo-merging with PCS, one representative will come from the VCS, PCS, LJL, LLA, and CBLOL.
The new MSI format will have two stages instead of the previous year’s three phases. MSI 2023 Phases are called Play-ins and Brackets Stage. Also, all the games in MSI will be double-elimination, and this is the first time an international tournament has done that for LoLEsports. As usual, the teams going to MSI 2023 will depend on each region’s Spring Split results (both Winter and Spring for LEC).
Let’s talk about the teams in each stage and what the individual stages will consist of.
MSI 2023 Play-Ins
The Play-ins will feature eight teams as the teams will be divided into groups of four. As it is always determined which seeded teams go into what stage of the tournament, here are the representatives in the Play-ins of MSI 2023.
- LPL 2nd Seed
- LEC 2nd Seed
- LCS 2nd Seed
- VCS 1st Seed
- PCS 1st Seed
- LJL First Seed
- CBLOL First Seed
- LLA First Seed
As the seeds are set, each team will go through the following format shown below.
Each group will be put in a double-elimination bracket. The winners of each double-elimination bracket will go through to the Knockouts. Meanwhile, the winners of the Losers Bracket in both groups will face each other in a Losers Final to determine the third team going to the Bracket stage. All the games in this stage are best of 3s, something Riot is doing for the first time in MSI history.
So to recap, the teams that go through to the next stage for MSI 2023 are the group winners and the winner of the Loser Bracket Finals.
MSI 2023 Bracket Stage
The Bracket stage will also have eight teams in it, with five auto-qualified teams from the major regions and the three teams that advanced through the Play-Ins. Here are the auto-qualified teams for MSI 2023.
- LCK 1st Seed
- LCK 2nd Seed
- LPL 1st Seed
- LEC 1st Seed
- LCS 1st Seed
Since DRX won Worlds 2022, LCK has gotten the leg up, getting their 2nd seed to automatically qualify for the Bracket stage. The rest of the Bracket Stage teams will be from the three teams that emerge victorious in the Play-ins Stage.
In totality, eight teams will play in a best of 5 double-elimination bracket to reach the finals and lift the MSI 2023 trophy. The image below breaks down the entire bracket.
It is expected that the teams will be randomly drawn to play each other in the first stage and then work their way through either the Winners/Losers Bracket to win the Grand Finals. All-in-all, the format is designed to have a lot of explosive games.
In Conclusion
With the new format, MSI 2023 is gearing up to be a revamped tournament. More teams from major regions, along with the new format should be fun to watch. This type of setting gives us a way to create narratives, help teams gauge international strength and have some exciting games for fans to watch. For more information, visit the official announcement article.
