Ever since 2015, Riot started giving us some other tournaments where we could see our favorite teams from different regions battle it out between each other. Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) gave us a lot to look forward to, while waiting for Worlds.

2015 MSI

1st – EDward Gaming

2nd – SK Telecom T1

3rd – Fnatic / ahq eSports Club

The very first MSI tournament was a bit of an upset. Everyone thought SKT were just unbeatable but to everyone’s surprise, EDG beat them in an epic 5 game series.

But what was even more surprising, Fnatic took it to game 5 also against SKT but sadly history wasn’t made back then, they lost 2:3.

TSM did not get out of the group stage.

2016 MSI

1st – SK Telecom T1

2nd – CLG

3rd – RNG / Flash Wolves

This was an interesting tournament. G2 Esports did not make it out of the group and started the whole “vacation” meme. CLG performed really well but fell short of the title losing 0:3 in the final against SKT. SKT showed up in the playoffs to win it all, but they did struggle a bit in groups.

2017 MSI

1st – SK Telecom T1

2nd – G2 Esports

3rd – Flash Wolves / Team WE

Could anyone stop SKT, this was the question on everyone’s mind. And the answer was – No, no they cannot. This was a bit bigger MSI than we were used to, a few other regions sent their best teams too. But in the end, SKT dominated everyone. Including the 3:1 win over G2 Esports in the final.

TSM did not get out of the group stage.

2018 MSI

1st – RNG

2nd – Kingzone DragonX

3rd – Fnatic / Flash Wolves

The year everyone else had a chance to play. SKT was not present so RNG took it all down. 3:1 in the final against Kingzone. 3:0 against Fnatic in the semi-final.

Team Liquid did not get out of group stage yet again, making NA fans ever so slightly more frustrated.

2019 MSI

1st – G2 Esports

2nd – Team Liquid

3rd – Invictus Gaming / SK Telecom T1

Alternate reality year. We witnessed history. Europe vs America Grand Final.

With China’s IG and Korea’s SKT watching from the sidelines. Both G2 and TL got out of the group in 3-4 places respectively yet both performed out of their minds in the playoffs.

Many said that G2 were really good against Korea that year, and they got to show that against SKT beating them 3:2 in a nailbiter series. Many said TL with their extremely aggressive playstyle completely demolished iG in a 3:1 series. Final, on the other hand, wasn’t very close.

G2 Esports dominated TL and beat them 3:0. But what a showing from the western teams.

2020 MSI

1st – Coronavirus pandemic.

Sadly 2020 MSI was postponed and then eventually canceled due to uncertainty and difficulty of the global Pandemic. Riot decided to focus on making Worlds happen instead.

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