The 2024 League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational will debut this Wednesday, May 1st, in Chengdu, China. To introduce the tournament, Sheep Esports reporters created a Power Ranking of the Top 10 teams based on expected strength.

GenG arrives at the MSI after an ultra-dominant Spring Split. The team finished first in the regular season with a 17-1 record, losing just five games out of 39. Not to be outdone, GenG went on to claim the title by winning all their Best-Of-Fives, including the finals against T1.

This Spring Split was also historic for the league, as GenG became the first team to win the LCK four times in a row, confirming their dominance on the domestic stage more than ever.

With the arrival of Kim "Kiin" Gi-in on the toplane and Kim "Canyon" Geon-bu in the jungle, the team has sublimated its already excellent gameplay, capable of controlling the pace of a game with insane ease. The team now has five players able to carry a game, as we saw in the finals with an outstanding Kiin. On top of this, with a Chovy at the top of his game, GenG truly are in the best possible shape for the MSI. The only challenge for this team will be to finally perform internationally and take home the title to put that "choker" tag behind them.

- REMA

Following an ultra-dominant season in the LPL, which saw the MSI runner-up lose only one Best-Of-Three this year, BLG arrives in Chengdu in tremendous form. After their surprising performance last year, the team made only one change, which wasn't significant: team leader Zeng "Yagao" Qi was replaced by the double Chinese champion Zhuo "knight" Ding.

Outstanding throughout the season and the MVP of the Spring Split, the mid-laner has secured a third consecutive domestic title and is ready to defend his first and only international title, which he won last year with JDG, also earning the Finals MVP.

But his teammates are not to be underestimated, especially Zhao "Elk" Jia-Hao and Luo "ON" Wen-Jun, arguably the best botlane in the world since the beginning of the year. Central to BLG's ultra-aggressive playstyle, the duo is more united than ever, and both players enhance each other through mechanical displays. They mainly shine on popular bot lane combos like Lucian/Nami or Caitlyn/Lux, which they wreaked havoc with throughout the LPL season.

- Thibaut "Drako" Vancaeyseele

T1 began their season with a significant achievement: keeping their World Champion Team. The Korean structure also repatriated its legendary Head Coach, Kim "kkOma" Jeong-gyun, to work alongside the rest of the roster.

T1's Spring Split got off to a strong start; after conceding a series to GenG on the opening day, Faker and his team secured 11 wins in a row. In the end, they finished second in the regular season with a score of 15-3, losing twice to GenG and once to HLE.

In the Playoffs, things got more challenging for T1. They were sent straight to the lower bracket after a surprising 3-0 defeat against HLE. After this rout, news of the cyber-attacks that had taken place throughout the Spring Split continued to spread, targeting T1 players in particular and making training extremely difficult for them. Nevertheless, the World Champions managed to climb back up the lower bracket, taking revenge on HLE to challenge GenG in the finals. They led their opponents all the way to Game 5 but lost after a high-level Best-Of-Fives.

For the MSI, T1 can count on their Toplaner Zeus, which once again proved to be one of the team's main carry. However, we felt a general slowdown, particularly on the bot lane, with Keria being slightly less sharp than usual. We'll still have to watch out for T1 at the MSI, as the team remains excellent, and opponents must be wary of T1's "international Buff."

- REMA

After a disappointing 2023, in which the team narrowly missed out on qualifying for Worlds, Top Esports rebuilt an all-star roster to return to the forefront of the Chinese scene. Alongside veterans Gao “Tian” Tian-Liang and Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo, TES recruited the crème de la crème (no pun intended).

Firstly, two superstars, Bai "369" Jia-Hao and Tian "Meiko" Ye, reached a stratospheric level during the season. The top laner was arguably the best player in his role throughout the Chinese season, while Meiko returned to his glory days with impeccable performances throughout the split.

Finally, Lin "Creme" Jian, the young mid-laner with the arduous task of succeeding Rookie, fulfilled his role perfectly, entering the elite circle of the best LPL mid-laners while competing with them. He will experience international competition in this MSI 2024, which will also be the organization's first MSI in history. Its last experience outside its borders, at Worlds 2022, ended poorly, and the team will be keen to seek redemption in Chengdu.

As usual, G2 Esports are joining an international tournament as Europe's first seed. While this didn't come without losses, G2 Esports have been working on improving many of their flaws, such as their mid-game. Domestic success doesn't matter to this team; they practice with one clear goal: winning internationally. This mentality is what makes G2 the strongest team in the West.

Despite faltering to NRG and failing to make it past the Swiss stage last Worlds, the team also showed bright signs in their Best-Of-Ones against Dplus KIA and Weibo Gaming. The team, which comes in 2024 with an unchanged roster, has worked all year on learning from this failure and improving its international results.

In a meta that might be dominated by lane swaps, G2 Esports could be a very underrated team. The players have shown a lot of confidence in executing those strategies, which could help them get safely to the midgame against strong opponents.

For this unarguably strongest roster in Europe, not finishing in the top four would be considered a failure for the team this tournament. While still ranked fifth in our ranking, if any team above them ends up having a bad tournament, G2 Esports is the most likely team from the West to break into the top positions.

- Brieuc "LEC Wooloo" Seeger

Dominant in the LCS' group stage and earlier playoff rounds, FlyQuest has established itself as a strong contender this split. Hailing from North America, the team is looking to upset the competition and continue the trend started by NRG at Worlds in 2023, putting the region back on viewers' radars.

One of the league's most exciting rosters this year, FlyQuest has set itself apart from local competition through MVP-worthy performances from its jungler Kacper "Inspired" Słoma. Unfortunately, while the organization is expected to be a strong contender going into MSI, it must redeem itself after a disappointing finals performance against Team Liquid. Despite recent results, having a potentially higher ceiling, and having shown consistency throughout most of the season, FlyQuest holds the title of the most promising North American team.

As shown in their latest match, the team still suffers from coordination issues and must step up to make a dent in international competition. If FlyQuest can work on its existing issues and properly weaponize Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen, it could prove a solid foe for other international teams.

- Armand Luque

PSG Talon is an old hand at international events. Since their last international appearance, only the AD Carry position has changed with the addition of Lu "Betty" Yu-Hung.

Like last year, the PSG Talon team is built around its superstar, world champion Yu "JunJia" Chun-Chia. The Taiwanese jungler is mechanically a notch above any competition he may have in the league, and he clearly embodies this in the summoner's rift by making the team revolve around him.

PSG Talon is a team that has shown to shine in the PCS, especially in the mid-game, through their map control and setting up objectives. They are the team in the league that makes the most neutral objectives per game. The style of the Taiwanese team is very clear: a champion who can dominate the early game for JunJia and look to snowball the mid-game through the jungler-mid duo with a solid bot lane.

PSG Talon will play their first match against Flyquest. They will be looking to prove that the gap between the Western NA and US teams is a myth of the past and that they will not fall again to an American team, as happened last year at MSI.

- Marian "Eros" Stoica

Fourth, no more! Team Liquid has proved its doubters wrong and exceeded all expectations after taking a 7-7 group stage score to a championship win through the playoffs' lower bracket. Destroying the likes of Cloud9 and 100 Thieves, the team effectively performed a miracle run this season, achieving its first championship victory since 2019.

Breaking its curse, the team was the clutch when it mattered and went through a complete reawakening. Still, while it is easy to hype up the squad, its performance at the Mid-Season Invitational will largely depend on its ability to uphold its recent results and avoid falling back on previous bad habits. One thing is certain: If Eom "UmTi" Seong-hyeon can play as he wishes, Team Liquid will cause some severe damage.

Jokingly referred to as the "worst LCS mid-laner", Eain "APA" Stearns has silenced his doubters and shown he has what it takes to compete locally. Nonetheless, after his lackluster Worlds 2023 performance, the 22-year-old mid-laner will have much to prove against international competition. In the end, if "All Chat" is enabled at MSI, and his opponents can comprehend him, sources indicate that APA and his team could get a sizeable mental buff against other potential opponents.

- Armand Luque

Fnatic returned to the LEC this year with the addition of support Yoon "Jun" Se-jun to their roster. One game away from making the playoffs last world, the team returns as the LEC's second seed for the upcoming MSI. Despite not accomplishing the desired split during the winter, Fnatic still finished first in the regular season by performing well.

Although they lost in the finals to G2 Esports by a score of 1-3, the black and orange team has managed to maintain much more consistent form. Both the botlane and the toplane have been back to their best this split, and although they have not yet been able to return as LEC champions, Fnatic and G2 are clearly the two best European teams.

The British team relies on the best jungler in the Western region, Ivan "Razork" Martin Diaz. The Spanish jungler has undoubtedly become Fnatic's biggest threat, and the team clearly embodies this in their style, being the team with the most significant early-game advantage in the entire LEC. Fnatic is one of the few teams in the LEC that can make a game last around 22-25 minutes with only one gear going forward.

If there is one thing we are sure there will be during Fnatic's games, it is action; this way, the British team will try to return to the MSI by the big door, a competition they have yet to attend since 2018.

- Marian "Eros" Stoica

Loud has secured their spot at MSI once again, marking a tradition as the Brazilian giant has won the CBLOL Split for the fourth consecutive time and defeated Pain Gaming for the fourth time in a row. This victory was more complex, as Loud won 3-2 in the finals after finishing second in the regular season, with Vivo Keyd Stars obtaining the most victories.

Loud is a team to be reckoned with, though they are a step behind significant regions like Korea and China. LOUD's strengths primarily lie in their ADC, Moon "Route" Geom-su. He has great potential to carry games, especially with hyper-carry picks like Aphelios, Zeri, and Jinx.

Additionally, LOUD has a core group that has been playing together for a long time. Top laner Leonardo "Robo" Souza, jungler Park "Croc" Jong-hoon, and midlaner Thiago "tinowns" Sartori have strong synergy due to nearly two years of competing together.

Some may think that the weakest role is the support, Ygor "RedBert" Freitas, who replaced Ceos, but we are confident that he will make waves and demonstrate his capabilities at MSI.

- Alejandro "anonimotum" Gomis