MSI 2023: All qualified League of Legends teams

April 17, 2023

by Brian Bencomo

Last updated April 23

The first international League of Legends tournament of the year, the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), is right around the corner as teams around the world wrap up their spring splits and spring champions are crowned. Usually, it’s only the spring champions that go to MSI. This year, however, the champions and runners-up from the four major regions -- Korea (LCK), China (LPL), Europe (LEC) and North America (LCS) -- will go as well as the champions from the other regions to make this the biggest MSI ever. A total of 13 teams across nine regions will go to London. That’s not the only change. For the first time ever, the tournament will feature a double-elimination format during both stages of the tournament.

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Qualification is ongoing, and so far, these are the teams that have qualified:

Gen.G
T1
Cloud9
Golden Guardians
JD Gaming
Bilibili Gaming
MAD Lions
G2 Esports
PSG Talon
Detonation FocusMe
LOUD
Movistar R7
GAM Esports

To get you ready for MSI, here’s a primer on each of the qualified teams.

Gen.G

LCK - Korea

Photo credit: Riot Games

It’s hard to believe this will be the first time Gen.G will be at MSI. They’ve gone to the League of Legends World Championship each of the past three years, but this is the first time Gen.G are appearing in Riot’s other international League of Legends tournament. They beat T1 in the LCK spring final to capture their second consecutive domestic title. Gen.G are going to MSI with the same star mid laner as last year, Jeong "Chovy" Ji-hoon, and the veteran leadership of Han "Peanut" Wang-ho in the jungle. They have a brand-new bot lane duo though after Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk, the organization’s longtime ADC, joined Chinese team JD Gaming in the offseason. Rookie ADC Kim "Peyz" Su-hwan is now in the bot lane alongside support Yoo "Delight" Hwan-joong.

T1

LCK - Korea

Photo credit: Riot Games

T1 had yet another excellent domestic split, with the entire team being named to the all-LCK first team and Ryu "Keria" Min-seok being named MVP. No other League of Legends team can compare to the standard of excellence T1 has set over the past year. They were finalists at both LCK finals last year and reached the finals of MSI and Worlds. This spring they were once again in the LCK finals and have qualified for MSI. It’s shocking they won last year’s LCK spring final and have finished second in four consecutive major tournament finals since then. In fact, T1 and their star player Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok haven’t won an international title since MSI 2017. Will this finally be the tournament they break through? It feels like it’s only a matter of time before T1 are international champions again.

Cloud9

LCS - North America

Photo credit: Riot Games

In being crowned LCS champions this spring, Cloud9 became the first North American team to win back-to-back LCS titles since Team Liquid won four straight from spring 2018 to summer 2019. This is the same Cloud9 roster that went to Worlds last year but with a new mid laner -- Jang "EMENES" Min-soo instead of Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen. The team appeared to get stronger in the second half of the spring split after making a switch in the mid lane from Dimitri “Diplex” Ponomarev to EMENES and cruised through the playoffs. Kim "Berserker" Min-cheol was named MVP of the split and Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami, Robert “Blaber” Huang and Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen had characteristically excellent splits.

Read more: Why esports fans will miss CLG

Golden Guardians

LCS - North America

Photo credit: Riot Games

For the first time in organization history, Golden Guardians have qualified for an international tournament. Despite a seven-game winning streak during the season, Golden Guardians only finished the split 9-9 and entered the LCS playoffs as the sixth seed. They beat more heavily favored teams 100 Thieves, Evil Geniuses and FlyQuest to reach the spring final where they ultimately lost to Cloud9. The team’s AD carry Stixxay is returning to the international stage for the first time since 2016 with CLG. Huhi, who also was on that CLG team, is now on this Golden Guardians team and will be going to his second consecutive international tournament after going to Worlds with 100 Thieves last year. Golden Guardians jungler River and top laner Licorice also are returning to the international stage. Only Gori will be making his international debut, and interestingly, he’s the only member of the team who made the LCS all-pro first-team this spring.

JD Gaming

LPL - China

Photo credit: Riot Games

JD Gaming were already one of the best teams in China and the world last year and reloaded in the offseason en route to an excellent spring. Longtime mid laner Zeng "Yagao" Qi left and was replaced by former Top Esports mid laner Zhuo "knight" Ding. JDG also added a new bot laner, longtime Gen.G AD carry Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk, who helped lead Gen.G to much success in Korea last year. Ruler led all players in the LPL in KDA this spring by a wide margin. He and top laner Bai "369" Jia-Hao were both named to the LPL all-pro first team, while the rest of the starting five were on the second team. The organization has gone to Worlds twice before and were semifinalists last year, but this will be JDG’s first appearance at MSI.

Bilibili Gaming

LPL - China

Photo credit: Riot Games

It’s typical for Royal Never Give Up to represent China at MSI. They’ve won the tournament a record three times, including each of the past two years. Although RNG didn’t qualify for MSI this year, one of their former players and their coach did. Chen "Bin" Ze-Bin actually joined Bilibili Gaming last summer after a successful run with RNG at MSI 2022. Wong "Tabe" Pak Kan took over as Bilibili’s head coach this year after being with RNG since the 2020 season, first as an analyst and then as head coach the past two seasons. If you’re an RNG fan, this is probably the team to root for. The organization is making its international debut as will most of the team except Bin and Zeng "Yagao" Qi, who’s gone to Worlds twice with his previous team JD Gaming.

MAD Lions

LEC - Europe (EMEA)

Photo credit: Riot Games

MAD Lions could have qualified for MSI if LEC winter champs G2 won the spring final too. Instead, MAD took matters into their own hands and beat G2 in the spring playoffs followed by wins over Team Vitality and Team BDS in a reverse sweep. By being spring champs, MAD Lions guarantee themselves a spot in the playoff bracket and avoid the MSI play-in stage. MAD are LEC champions for the third time and will be making their second MSI appearance. Javier "Elyoya" Prades Batalla has been the one constant on the team since its success in 2021. Matyáš "Carzzy" Orság returned to the team this spring after spending last year with Vitality. Yasin "Nisqy" Dinçer is a veteran who will be making his first MSI appearance and became the fourth player to win both the LCS and LEC. He was previously champion in North America with Cloud9 in spring 2020 but was denied a trip to MSI because the event was canceled due to COVID.

G2 Esports

LEC - Europe (EMEA)

Photo credit: Riot Games

G2 Esports became the first team to qualify for MSI after winning the inaugural edition of the LEC winter split. While other regions have only spring and summer splits, this year the LEC introduced a winter split too. G2 are in the spring playoffs, but regardless of where they finish, their place at MSI has long been secure. If they win the spring split they’ll qualify directly to MSI’s bracket stage, otherwise they’ll start in the play-in stage. G2 are the perennial European favorites, having competed in numerous international tournaments, including MSI and Worlds last year. They’re led by longtime star mid laner Rasmus "Caps" Borregaard Winther and Sergen "BrokenBlade" Çelik in the top lane. The rest of the team has changed over from last year. Support Mihael "Mikyx" Mehle is back for his second stint with the team, and G2 added rookie jungler Martin "Yike" Sundelin and AD carry Steven "Hans Sama" Liv, who returned to Europe after spending a year in North America with Team Liquid.

PSG Talon

PCS - Southeast Asia

Photo credit: Riot Games

PSG Talon have been perennial representatives of the PCS at international tournaments since 2020, so it was strange to not see them at Worlds last year. It broke a streak of four consecutive international appearances for PSG Talon. Now, they’re back, having qualified for MSI as champions of the PCS this spring. However, this team looks very different from the one that qualified for MSI last year. The only player remaining from that roster is Huang "Azhi" Shang-Jhih, who wasn’t the team’s main top laner but did play a couple games at MSI last year. The team’s bot lane of Tsou "Wako" Wei-Yang and Lin "Woody" Yu-En were first and second in KDA during the PCS spring split. In an interesting turn of events, two former PSG Talon players, Kim "River" Dong-woo and Kim "Gori" Tae-woo, also will be at MSI with Golden Guardians.

Detonation FocusMe

LJL - Japan

Photo credit: Riot Games

For the fifth consecutive time and the ninth time in the last 10 splits, Detonation FocusMe have won the LJL championship. DFM finished second to Sengoku Gaming during the spring split but beat them 3-0 in the spring playoffs final to capture their latest title. With the exception of Worlds 2020, DFM have been Japan’s sole representative at both MSI and Worlds every year since 2018. This will be DFM’s fourth MSI appearance. The team has been remarkably consistent and the roster has largely remained the same over this stretch with Shunsuke "Evi" Murase in the top lane, Mun "Steal" Geon-yeong in the jungle and Yuta "Yutapon" Sugiura in the bot lane. For the first time since 2017, DFM had a new top laner as Evi went to Europe in the offseason to compete in the LEC and Haruki "tol2" Shibata was promoted from the team’s academy squad.

LOUD

CBLoL - Brazil

Photo credit: Riot Games

LOUD have qualified for their second consecutive international event. They were Brazil’s representatives at Worlds last year and also will represent the region at MSI after beating paiN Gaming in the CBLoL spring final. It’s the same roster that went to Worlds except Denilson "Ceos" Oliveira Gonçalves, who joined the team this spring. This will be the third consecutive international appearance for top laner Leonardo "Robo" Souza and mid laner Leonardo "Robo" Souza who went to MSI last year with paiN Gaming before joining LOUD last summer.

Movistar R7

LLA - Latin America

Photo credit: Riot Games

Movistar R7 beat Six Karma 3-2 in the LLA opening split final after losing 3-2 in the upper final to qualify for MSI. This organization, which was previously known as Rainbow7, will be making its first international appearance since Worlds 2020 and first MSI appearance since 2018. All the players on the roster except Sebastián "Oddie" Alonso Niño Zavaleta will be making their debut on the international stage. Oddie is one of the most internationally experienced players in Latin America, having qualified for MSI and Worlds five previous times, however, none since 2019. R7’s mid laner Jeong "Mireu" Jo-bin, was a mid laner on T1’s challengers team in 2021. T1’s mid laner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, of course, isn’t going anywhere, so Mireu went to Latin America last year. Mireu was teammates with Kim "Berserker" Min-cheol on T1 Challengers, and now Berserker is LCS MVP with Cloud9 and the two former teammates might face off at MSI.

GAM Esports

VCS - Vietnam

Photo credit: Riot Games

GAM Esports are once again representing Vietnam on the international stage. They also were Vietnam’s No. 1 seed at Worlds last year. GAM went undefeated during the VCS spring season and then won three series to capture the spring VCS title. The roster is mostly the same as last year, led by team veteran by Đỗ "Levi" Duy Khánh. Levi and GAM are returning to MSI for the first time since 2017 when the team was known as Gigabyte Marines. The one new addition to the team this spring is support Nguyễn "Zin" Tuấn Thọ, but he’s no newcomer to the organization. Zin has had multiple previous stints with GAM and Gigabyte Marines and went to Worlds 2019 with the org.

Lead photo credit: Riot Games