The
2016 Mid-Season Invitational was the second edition of the tournament created by Riot Games as part of its competitive
League of Legends circuit. Held midway through the year between the Spring and Summer Splits of the regional leagues, the event featured six teams and saw
SK Telecom T1 crowned champions after a clean sweep versus
Counter Logic Gaming in the Grand Final.
Location, Dates, Prize Pool and Format
The 2016 MSI was held in Shanghai, China, from May 4 to 15, with six teams from around the world competing in a double round-robin group stage played in best-of-one games. Only the top four advanced to the bracket stage, a single-elimination bracket played in best-of-five series. The tournament also introduced a new feature: regions whose representatives performed well at MSI were rewarded with higher seeding at Worlds later in the year.
The prize pool was increased by 2.25 times compared to the previous edition, reaching $450,000. Winners SKT T1 took home $250,000, while runners-up CLG received $100,000. The two semifinalists, Royal Never Give Up and Flash Wolves, each earned $50,000. The increase in prize money reflected the continued growth of both the competitive ecosystem and the event itself.
Participating Teams
Five of the six participating teams qualified directly for the Main Event as the Spring champions of their respective regions: CLG from the NA LCS, SKT T1 from Korea, RNG from the LPL,
Flash Wolves from the LMS, and
G2 Esports from the EU LCS. The sixth team, Turkey’s
SuperMassive, earned its place through the
International Wildcard Invitational.
The tournament took place at the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City, with eight regional champions competing. Turkey’s TCL was represented by SuperMassive, while Japan’s LJL and the CIS region’s LCL sent DetonatioN FocusMe and Hard Random, respectively, just like last year.
Brazil’s CBLOL was once again represented by INTZ, with Lyon Gaming representing Latin America North and Isurus representing Latin America South. Southeast Asia sent GPL winners Saigon Jokers, while Oceania was once again represented by the Chiefs Esports Club.
How the Tournament played out
This year’s MSI Group Stage was dominated by Royal Never Give Up, a team that did not yet know it would go on to become the most decorated organization in the tournament’s history. RNG finished the Group Stage with an 8-2 record, closely followed by CLG at 7-3 and the Flash Wolves at 6-4. SKT T1 also finished 6-4 in fourth place, having lost both of their games against the Flash Wolves.
The two eliminated teams were G2, who finished 2-8, and SuperMassive, who managed to win just one game. The semifinals then saw a clash between Lee "
Faker" Sang-hyeok and his future teammate, coach, and 2014 World Champion Cho "
Mata" Se-hyeong, who was representing RNG. SKT T1 prevailed 3-1, while CLG eliminated the Wolves by the same score on the other side of the bracket.
In the grand final, Faker claimed his first MSI title after falling short in the final the previous year against EDward Gaming. He would go on to win his third World Championship later that year, further cementing his legacy as the most accomplished players in League of Legends history.
Team’s Rosters
Royal Never Give Up
- Jang "Looper" Hyeong-seok
- Liu "Mlxg" Shi-Yu
- Li "Xiaohu" Yuan-Hao
- Wang "Wuxx" Cheng
- Cho "Mata" Se-hyoung
SK Telecom T1
- Lee "Duke" Ho-seong
- Kang "Blank" Sun-gu
- Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok
- Bae "Bang" Jun-sik
- Lee "Wolf" Jae-wan
Fnatic
- Mateusz "Kikis" Szkudlarek
- Kim "Trick" Gang-yun
- Luka "Perkz" Perković
- Kim "Emperor" Jin-hyun
- Glenn "Hybrid" Doornenbal
Flash Wolves
- Yu "MMD" Li-Hong
- Hung "Karsa" Hao-Hsuan
- Huang "Maple" Yi-Tang
- Hsiung "NL" Wen-Ann
- Hu "SwordArt" Shuo-Chieh
Counter Logic Gaming
- Darshan "Darshan" Upadhyaya
- Jake "Xmithie" Puchero
- Choi "huhi" Jae-hyun
- Trevor "Stixxay" Hayes
- Zaqueri "aphromoo" Black
SuperMassive
- Berke "Thaldrin" Demir/Asım "fabFabulous" Karakaya
- İlyas "Stomaged" Furkan
- Koray "Naru" Bıçak
- Nicolaj "Achuu" Ellesgaard
- Mustafa Kemal "Dumbledoge" Gökseloğlu
