The fourth edition of the
Mid-Season Invitational concluded with China's
securing their first MSI championship by taking down South Korea's
Kingzone DragonX 3-1 in the Grand Final. The outcome brought an end to an era of Korean supremacy in international
League of Legends, marking the LPL's first trophy at the tournament since
victory at the inaugural 2015 event. Star bot laner Jian "
Uzi" Zi-Hao claimed the Finals MVP, delivering a legendary performance on Kai'Sa and lifting his first official international Riot Games trophy.
Location, Dates, Prize Pool, and Format
MSI 2018 was split across two European stages from May 3 to May 20, bringing together 14 regional champions. The competition kicked off at the EU LCS Studio in Berlin for the Play-In and the six-team Main Group Stage, before shifting to the ZĂ©nith Paris - La Villette in Paris for the Knockout Stage. The format began with a multi-round Play-In phase that sent two advancing squads into a double round-robin Best-of-1 group stage alongside four direct seeds, with the top four teams qualifying for the Best-of-5 semifinals.
The total prize pool climbed to $1,370,520, boosted by sales of Conqueror Varus and thematic in-game items. Champions Royal Never Give Up took the largest share of $527,650 (38.5%), while finalists Kingzone DragonX earned $267,251 (19.5%). Semifinalists Flash Wolves and Fnatic were each awarded $130,199. Team Liquid and EVOS Esports, which finished tied at fifth and sixth, took home $68,526 apiece, with the remaining eight Play-In squads dividing the remainder, led by SuperMassive Esports and Gambit Esports securing $34,263 each.
Participating Teams
A total of 14 champions from 14 distinct regions earned qualification, with direct seeding into the tournament phases based on international results from previous seasons. Four major regions advanced straight to the Main Group Stage: Royal Never Give Up (
LPL), Kingzone DragonX (
LCK), Fnatic (EU LCS), and Team Liquid (NA LCS). The LMS champions Flash Wolves and Vietnam's EVOS Esports directly entered Round 2 of the Play-In, while the remaining eight champions began in Round 1: Gambit Esports (LCL), SuperMassive Esports (TCL), KaBuM! e-Sports (CBLOL), Rainbow7 (LLN), Ascension Gaming (GPL), PENTAGRAM (LJL), Dire Wolves (OPL), and Kaos Latin Gamers (CLS).
Following the opening matches in Berlin, Flash Wolves swept Gambit Esports 3-0, and EVOS Esports defeated SuperMassive 3-1 in Round 2 to claim the remaining two spots in the Main Event.
Uziâs crowning moment and the LPL era
Uzi celebrates his long-awaited international trophy | Photo Credit: LoL Esports
The group stage defied early predictions when LMS representatives Flash Wolves mounted a 6-0 undefeated opening streak. RNG recovered from an uneven start to match the Wolvesâ 7-3 record, ultimately defeating them in a tiebreaker to lock in first place. At the other end of the standings, Fnatic and Team Liquid finished deadlocked at 4-6, triggering a high-stakes tiebreaker where Martin "Rekkles" Larsson and the European roster eliminated Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng's squad to secure the final bracket seed.
The action in Paris opened with RNG dismantling Fnatic in a clean 3-0 sweep behind dominant 5v5 teamfighting, while Kingzone DragonX halted the Flash Wolves' tournament run with a 3-1 victory.
The Grand Final signaled a monumental power shift toward the LPL. Kingzone DragonX entered the series as heavy favorites following a dominant run at the LCK Spring Split, but they proved unable to counter RNG's play around botlane. Uzi delivered an all-time tournament performance, piloting Kai'Sa, Ezreal, and Kog'Maw with near-flawless positioning to tear through Kingzone's frontline. Game 4 ended with a decisive base push on the Red side, securing RNG a 3-1 victory. The championship marked the start of an unprecedented golden run for Uzi and RNG, who followed this victory by sweeping LPL Summer, Rift Rivals, and the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
Team Rosters
Fnatic
- Gabriël "Bwipo" Rau
- Mads "Broxah" Brock-Pedersen
- Rasmus "Caps" Winther
- Martin "Rekkles" Larsson
- Zdravets "Hylissang" Galabov
Kingzone DragonX
- Kim "Khan" Dong-ha
- Han "Peanut" Wang-ho
- Gwak "Bdd" Bo-seong
- Kim "PraY" Jong-in
- Kang "GorillA" Beom-hyun
Royal Never Give Up
- Yan "Letme" Jun-Ze
- Hung "Karsa" Hao-Hsuan
- Li "Xiaohu" Yuan-Hao
- Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao
- Shi "Ming" Sen-Ming
Team Liquid
- Jeong "Impact" Eon-young
- Jake "Xmithie" Puchero
- Eugene "Pobelter" Park
- Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng
- Kim "Olleh" Joo-sung
Ascension Gaming
- Atit "Rockky" Phaomkhan
- Sanpett "Intreso" Marat
- Nuttaphoin "G4" Menkasikan
- Juckkirsts "Lloyd" Kongubon
- Warich "Rich" Kittiwattanawong
Dire Wolves
- Ryan "Chippys" Short
- Shern "Shernfire" Tai
- Richard "Triple" Dong
- Calvin "k1ng" Truong
- Andy "Cupcake" van der Vyver
EVOS Esports
- Phan "Stark" CĂŽng Minh
- Nguyá»
n "Yijin" LĂȘ HáșŁi ÄÄng
- ÄoĂ n "Warzone" VÄn Ngá»c SÆĄn
- Nguyá»
n "Slay" Ngá»c HĂčng
- LĂȘ "RonOP" ThiĂȘn HĂ n
Flash Wolves
- Su "Hanabi" Chia-Hsiang
- Kim "Moojin" Moo-jin
- Huang "Maple" Yi-Tang
- Lu "Betty" Yu-Hung
- Hu "SwordArt" Shuo-Chieh
Gambit Esports
- Alexander "PvPStejos" Glazkov
- Danil "Diamondprox" Reshetnikov
- Mykhailo "Kira" Harmash
- Stanislav "Lodik" Kornelyuk
- Edward "Edward" Abgaryan
KaBuM! e-Sports
- Lucas "Zantins" Zanqueta
- Filipe "Ranger" Brombilla
- Matheus "dyNquedo" Rossini
- Alexandre "Titan" Lima
- Marcelo "Riyev" Carrara
Kaos Latin Gamers
- DamiĂĄn "Nate" Rea
- Sebastiån "Tierwulf" Andrés Mateluna Cibrario
- JoaquĂn "Plugo" PĂ©rez
- NicolĂĄs "Fix" Sayago
- Eduardo "Slow" Franco Garcés
PENTAGRAM
- Shirou "Paz" Sasaki
- Jang "Once" Se-yeong
- Ramune "Ramune" Ozawa
- Yuta "YutoriMoyasi" Noguchi
- Yang "Gaeng" Gwang-woo
Rainbow7
- Daniel "Jirall" del Castillo
- Sebastiån "Oddie" Alonso Niño Zavaleta
- Ădgar "Seiya" Ali Bracamontes MunguĂa
- MatĂas "WhiteLotus" Musso
- Mariano "Genthix" Polonsky
SuperMassive Esports
- Asım Cihat "fabFabulous" Karakaya
- Furkan "Stomaged" GĂŒngör
- Lee "GBM" Chang-seok
- Berkay "Zeitnot" AĆıkuzun
- No "SnowFlower" Hoe-seong
