Teams, schedule, Pick’Ems... everything to know about MSI 2026

The Mid-Season Invitational 2026 will take place in Daejeon, South Korea, from June 28 to July 12, bringing together eleven teams for one of the most prestigious international League of Legends titles. This year’s edition stands out not only for its level of competition, but also for its full best-of-five structure, with 20 BO5 series and no best-of-ones or best-of-threes.

The Play-In stage alone already carries huge stakes, as T1, Team Liquid, Karmine Corp, and Deep Cross Gaming will battle in a bracket where only one team can survive and qualify for the main event. From there, the eight remaining teams will enter a double-elimination main stage, with the final scheduled for July 12.

As since the 2024 edition, this year’s MSI carries major stakes, as the winner will earn a direct qualification spot for Worlds 2026. That qualification will become official once the team in question reaches the playoffs in its region’s Summer Split.

The qualified teams for this year’s MSI are:

Riot’s schedule shows the Play-In stage running from June 28 to July 1, followed by the Bracket Stage from July 3 to July 12. Matches will be played every day, with start times alternating between 5 a.m. CEST / 12 p.m. KST and 10 a.m. CEST / 5 p.m. KST.

Several of the tournament’s biggest names will be under immediate pressure. T1, Team Liquid, Karmine Corp, and Deep Cross Gaming all have to battle through Play-Ins, while the rest of the field is already locked into the Bracket Stage. The LPL, however, skips Play-Ins entirely thanks to BLG’s victory at First Stand 2026, which secured a direct Bracket Stage spot for the region’s second seed.

The event will feature a total prize pool of $2,000,000, with $500,000 going to the winner and $60,000 awarded to the last-placed team.

Riot is also bringing back MSI Drops, this time with new rewards including the “Ducky!” and “No Running!” icons featuring Yunara and Renekton. Players can earn them by watching live matches on LoLEsports.com while logged in with their Riot ID.

Pick’Ems also return, and can be played either on LoLEsports.com or in the League client. Rewards include:

Riot is also introducing Crystal Ball for MSI 2026 for the first time, allowing fans to predict meta trends and tournament outcomes before the event begins.

While co-streaming has sparked heated debate in recent months, Riot Games is sticking to its course. MSI 2026 will feature Riot’s largest co-streaming roster yet, with more than 100 co-streamers taking part. Allowing coverage across a wide range of languages and regions, Riot’s MSI co-streaming program will remain invite-only. The system is designed to reward creators who have consistently covered the ecosystem throughout the year.

The full remote lineup has not yet been publicly revealed, despite Riot initially saying it would be announced by June 22. A few creators will also be allowed to co-stream on-site from inside the arena, helping better capture the atmosphere around the event. Riot has also confirmed that all qualified teams may co-stream the tournament and work with officially affiliated creators, as usual.

MSI 2026 is shaping up to be one of the most open meta environments in recent international memory. With Fearless Draft still in place and a full best-of-five format from start to finish, teams will need more than just a strong comfort draft. They will need genuine depth across multiple champions and multiple styles. That naturally raises the value of flexible picks, strong blind lanes, and players who can still perform when their best options are removed series after series.

So far, the meta appears wide enough to reward both standard and unconventional choices. Champions like Cassiopeia, Orianna, Varus, and Rumble are expected to stay highly contested, but recent competitive play has also shown room for less common picks such as Zyra mid (as shown by Heo "" Suin in LCK), Nasus jungle (picked by Rudy “” Semaan in LEC’s Spring final), Sion mid (picked by Lee "" Sang-hyeok against Gen.G in LCK), Gangplank top, and even Vayne top. That kind of variety means preparation will be just as important as raw mechanics, especially in long BO5s where adaptation can decide entire series.