Cover-Credits:
The League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), which is held between the first and second splits of the regular competitive season, is kicking off on 10th May and the leading teams of each regional league will be competing for the title. Busan Esports Arena and the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO) in Busan, Korea are hosting the MSI 2022. The first three days of the Group Stage will see matches from all the three groups, followed by three more days of group-specific matches.
Here are the must-watch matches of MSI 2022 Group Stage:
Saigon Buffalo vs T1 - 10th May
This is officially the first match of the tournament and the favorites T1 will be facing the first-time MSI participant Saigon Buffalo from the Vietnam Championship Series (VCS), a region that missed out on the opportunity last year due to COVID-19 travel curbs.
Notably, Saigon Buffalo has the youngest roster in the tournament with an average age of 18. This match representing Group A is an important one to look out for since it will reveal to the viewers what the meta for the MSI is going to look like this year around. With Riot Games making patch changes ahead of MSI, it should clearly reflect in the drafting of the two teams.
T1 will be walking into the match-up after having a clean-sweep run in the Spring split in the Korean league. Saigon Buffalo, on the other hand, will be looking to make a name for itself on the international stage and give T1 a run for its money.
Evil Geniuses vs G2 Esports - 10th May
How can anyone miss the North America (NA) vs Europe (EU) classic? This match between Evil Geniuses and G2 Esports is going to be extra spicy with young guns like Joseph "jojopyun" Joon Pyun, Kyle "Danny" Sakamaki, Victor "Flakked" Lirola Tortosa, and Raphaël "Targamas" Crabbé taking center stage. The trash talk and the banter between the two teams have already gotten the community hyped up.
In a post-match interview with James "Dash" Patterson at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, jojopyun said, “I mean I saw the MSI bracket, we’re against EU [Europe] so. I mean I think we’re gonna sh** on EU but we’ll have to see. I think we’re just way better than them.”
Responding to this G2 Esports jungler Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski said, “I mean it makes sense, right? It makes sense he would say that because he never actually played against international players so he doesn’t understand. But it is fine. We’ll make him understand.”
G2 and Evil Geniuses were drawn into Group C with just three teams in it since the League of Legends Continental League (LCL) did not send a representative to the tournament because of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and due to the LCL (Commonwealth of Independent States) Spring Split being canceled.
With certainty, one can say that both the teams will look to make proactive plays but viewers will have to have their eyes glued to the bottom part of the map as much of the action will likely take place there.
DetonatioN FocusMe vs Saigon Buffalo - 11th May
This is a Group A match featuring two teams that will be eyeing the top two spots in the group. DetonatioN FocusMe from the League of Legends Japan League (LJL) proved last year that it was a serious contender and won the hearts of the viewers. Many people still believe that it is the best wild card region team at MSI. However, it has to outshine Saigon Buffalo, which placed second in the VCS in the Spring. Since the group has the likes of T1, this match is very important to determine which one of these minor-league teams will make it out to the Rumble Stage.
PSG Talon vs RNG - 11th May
This match is going to be a fun one since it is a rematch of the MSI 2021 semis. Reigning champion and League of Legends Pro League (LPL) representative Royal Never Give Up (RNG) emerged victorious last year but PSG Talon will look to rewrite history this time around.
Notably, PSG Talon’s roster has undergone major changes and is not exactly the same team that went up against the LPL giants last year. However, it has roped in two League of Legends Championship Korea (LCK) Challengers players - Lee “Juhan” Ju-han and Park “Bay” Jun-byeong from Nongshim RedForce. RNG, too, has had its share of roster changes since it has added former Suning top-laner Chen “Bin” Ze-Bin and moved Li “Xiaohu” Yuan-Hao back to the mid-lane.
The match will have explosive team fights over control of neutral objectives and monsters in-game. These two teams will likely be fighting over the top two spots in Group B and are currently favored to make it out to the Rumble Stage of MSI 2022.
Honorable mentions
Group C of the MSI 2022 will be fighting in a Quadruple Round Robin bracket which means more games between the same three teams. Of course, the NA vs EU rivalry is going to live up to the hype but both the teams need to beat ORDER, the dark horse in Group C. If the Oceania representative ORDER makes it out of the group, it will be the biggest ever upset of this tournament and it will take quite some time for either of those two teams to recover.
So watch out for ORDER vs G2 Esports on 10th May and ORDER vs Evil Geniuses on 11th May to get an idea of how the group matches will be panning out.
Likewise, DetonatioN FocusMe vs T1 on 12th May will tell the viewers if the Japanese squad can defeat the mammoths of the Korean region and cement its position in the group.
Fans can watch the MSI 2022 games live on LoLEsports and on the Twitch and Youtube channels of Riot Games once the tournament kicks off. Even if you miss a game, you can watch the video on demand (VOD) on the LoL Esports VODs and Highlights channel. Make sure to log into the LoLEsports website for a chance to get MSI 2022-related drops.
