The Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) 2022 was Riot Games' first international event of the year, held from May 10 to May 29 in Busan, South Korea. Eleven teams from around the world advanced through the Group Stage and the Rumble Stage before reaching the Grand Finals, hosted at the Busan Esports Arena then the Busan Exhibition & Convention Center. In front of over 4,000 spectators, Royal Never Give Up defeated T1 3-2 on their home turf to claim the title.

This victory marked the third MSI trophy for Li "Xiaohu" Yuan-Hao—an all-time record. RNG achieved this feat while competing remotely from China due to COVID-related travel restrictions, with all matches played at a standardized 35ms latency to ensure competitive fairness.

format and overview

MSI 2022 began with a six-day group stage featuring eleven teams, divided into one group of three playing in a Quadruple Round-Robin format, and two groups of four in a Double Round-Robin format. All matches were best-of-one. By the end of the group stage, the top two teams from each group advanced to the Rumble Stage.

The six qualified teams then faced off in another Double Round-Robin format, where the top four would move on to the final phase of the tournament—a traditional single elimination bracket, with all matches played in best-of-five series.

The 2022 international event brought together the top seeds from eleven regions, divided into four pools. Pool 1 was stacked with heavyweights: Royal Never Give Up from the LPL, T1 from the LCK, and G2 Esports representing the LEC. Pool 2 included Evil Geniuses as the LCS champions, PSG Talon from the PCS, and Saigon Buffalo, who stepped in for the VCS despite being the second seed—GAM Esports, the actual winners, were committed to the 31st SEA Games and couldn’t attend.

Pool 3 was set to host three teams, but only two made it: Istanbul Wildcats, champions of the Turkish TCL, and Team Aze from the Latin American LLA. The third spot, reserved for the LCL champion, remained vacant due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. As for Pool 4, it brought together RED Canids from Brazil, Japan’s DetonatioN FocusMe, and ORDER, the reigning champions of Oceania.

Expectations and stakes

No surprises here—the Korean and Chinese champions came into the tournament as clear favorites, especially Royal Never Give Up, who were defending their 2021 MSI title. The roster had only grown stronger with the addition of young toplaner Chen "Bin" Ze-Bin, a Worlds 2020 finalist who was looking to bounce back after a rocky 2021 with Suning. The rest of the squad remained unchanged: Yan "Wei" Yang-Wei continued to shine in the jungle, Xiaohu further cemented his legacy as a Chinese legend, while Chen "GALA" Wei and Shi "Ming" Sen-Ming remained a fearsome duo in the botlane, terrorizing opponents across the LPL.

Across the Yellow Sea, T1 looked reborn in the LCK. After a disappointing end to 2021, where they narrowly missed out on a Worlds final, they finally locked in what would become a legendary lineup. Choi "Zeus" Woo-je had made the toplane his own, Mun "Oner" Hyeon-jun proved more than worthy of the T1 jersey, and the timeless Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok continued to lead the charge. Their botlane—Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyeong and Ryu "Keria" Min-seok—was a force of nature. T1 went on to deliver one of the most dominant regular seasons in history, finishing 18-0, a record they solidified with a 3-1 victory over Gen.G in the LCK finals.

Expected results at the group stage

The first group stage saw T1, Royal Never Give Up, and G2 Esports dominate their respective groups, each finishing at the top with an undefeated record. They cruised through the matches with ease, asserting their dominance from start to finish. It's worth noting that, due to a discrepancy in the latency data recorded in the game logs, all first round-robin matches involving Royal Never Give Up had to be replayed. As a result, Gala's original pentakill against RED Canids was invalidated, as the match was no longer considered official. Remarkably, in the rematch held the following day, Gala managed to secure yet another pentakill, reaffirming his exceptional form on the international stage.

The second-place finishers, who also qualified for the Rumble Stage, included Saigon Buffalo with a 4–2 record, PSG Talon with a 3–3, and Evil Geniuses with a balanced 4–4. While these teams didn't display the same overwhelming dominance as the group leaders, they showed enough resilience and consistency to secure their spot in the next phase of the competition. Their performances hinted at potential upsets to come, with each squad showing glimpses of the firepower needed to challenge the tournament's top contenders.

The Rumble Stage brought together the six qualified teams in a series of best-of-one matchups, and once again, the outcome held little surprise: the reigning champions of the LPL and LCK rose to the top. RNG concluded the stage with an impressive 8–2 record, dropping only two games—one to G2 and the other to T1. The Korean powerhouse followed closely with a 7–3 scoreline, suffering defeats at the hands of G2, RNG, and Evil Geniuses. G2 Esports and Evil Geniuses were the final two teams to secure spots in the semifinals, each finishing with an even 5–5 record, edging out the competition with just enough consistency when it mattered most.

With the Rumble Stage complete, the four semifinalists were set. T1 would go head-to-head against the Samurais, in what promised to be a high-stakes clash between storied organizations, while Royal Never Give Up were slated to face the LCS champions, Evil Geniuses. The bracket was poised for intense showdowns between East and West, with every team looking to etch their name into the tournament’s legacy.

Two stomps and a grandiose final

The first semifinal took place between Royal Never Give Up and Evil Geniuses, and to say it was one-sided would be an understatement. Game 1 saw Gala get his hands on Kai’Sa, resulting in a 22–1 stomp in favor of the LPL champions. It lasted just 27 minutes, during which EG were utterly powerless—unable to take anything, unable to fight back, left simply watching their opponents dismantle them. Unsurprisingly, Kai’Sa was banned for the remainder of the series. In the following two games, Bin locked in Gangplank—a champion who had seen immense popularity during that MSI. The young toplaner topped the damage charts across all three games, while support Ming also shone, finishing the series with over 70% kill participation and dying only four times.

The second semifinal between T1 and G2 was nothing short of a complete stomp from start to finish. At no point in the series did G2 even hold a gold lead of a few hundred; they were smothered in every phase of the game. Game 1 ended in 24 minutes, and the third game wrapped up in a mere 20. There was simply no contest. Every T1 player posed a threat—whether it was Zeus solo-killing Rasmus "Caps" Winther or drawing all five G2 players' attention while his teammates closed out the game, Gumayusi tearing through G2 in utterly one-sided teamfights, or Oner playing nothing but high-impact carry junglers. It was a massacre, and T1 advanced to the final more determined and confident than ever, chasing the MSI title that had eluded them for far too many years.

The grand final between these two titans was long, bloody, and unforgettable—a best-of-five that went the distance, echoing Silver Scrapes throughout the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center and across the screens of ecstatic League of Legends fans around the world. It was a clash of the ten best players on the planet, each vying for the right to lift the Mid-Season Invitational 2022 trophy. The level of play throughout the series was consistently high, with standout performances from every participant. The games were filled with highlight-worthy moments: miraculous escapes from Faker, calculated and aggressive engages flawlessly executed by Wei, and even a solo kill from Gumayusi onto Gala. Every match delivered drama, precision, and spectacle.

Both teams gave it their all, but in the end, the scales tipped in favor of Royal Never Give Up. The Chinese squad secured the trophy from home, while T1—fighting in front of their home crowd—fell just short. Still, this was only the beginning for a roster playing its very first international event together. The loss may have stung, but the promise they showed suggested a bright future ahead. Who knows what awaited them down the line?