2018 Mid-Season Invitational

2018 Mid-Season Invitational
Tournament information
SportLeague of Legends
LocationGermany
France
Dates3 May–20 May
AdministratorRiot Games
VenueEU LCS Studio (Berlin, Play-in stage & Main Group stage)
Zénith Paris (Paris, Main Playoffs Stage)
Teams14
Final positions
ChampionsRoyal Never Give Up
Runner-upKingzone DragonX
MVPJian "Uzi" Zihao
(Royal Never Give Up)
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The 2018 Mid-Season Invitational was the fourth edition of the Mid-Season Invitational, a Riot Games-organised tournament for League of Legends, the multiplayer online battle arena video game. The tournament is the culmination of the 2018 spring split, the first part of 8th season of the game competitive scene.

Each of 14 premier League of Legends leagues have a team representing them; Europe (EU LCS), South Korea (LCK), North America (NA LCS) and China (LPL) had their teams automatically admitted into the main event whereas the other 10 leagues will compete among each other in a "play-in" with the top 2 teams advancing to join the main event. [1][2]

The tournament was hosted in Germany and France from 3 to 20 May 2018. Matches of the play-in and group stages were held in EU LCS Studio in Berlin, while playoffs took place in multi-purpose indoor arena Zénith Paris.[3] Royal Never Give Up are the champions of the 2018 MSI, after taking down Kingzone DragonX in the finals. Jian "Uzi" Zihao was named the MVP of the entire tournament, due to his outstanding performances. The results of the tournament have received numerous international debates and reactions.[4][5]

The event's finals, where LPL (China)'s Royal Never Give Up took on LCK (South Korea)'s Kingzone DragonX, became one of the most watched eSports matches in history, greatly attributed to China's viewership. The finals were watched by over 127 million unique viewers, while the entire event boasted a total viewing time of over 2 billion hours. The event also became one of the greatest League of Legends' tournaments in history, as well as one of its historical milestones, as a South Korean team was thwarted by a non-South Korean team in a major match for the first time in 3 years.[6][7][8][9]

  1. ^ "2018 Mid-Season Invitational Event Overview". LoL eSports. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  2. ^ "2018 Mid-Season Invitational: Schedule released – RealSport". RealSport. 2018-04-30. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
  3. ^ "League of Legends Gives Baron a Conqueror Skin". WWG. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
  4. ^ "Uzi finally meets his destiny by claiming the MSI crown with RNG". Dot Esports.
  5. ^ "[KR Reaction] MSI Finals: "The PC is overheated generating all those CS for Uzi"".
  6. ^ "The MSI Final for League of Legends becomes the most watched esports match ever". destructoid.
  7. ^ "Over 127 million people watched the MSI Final, making it the most watched esports match in history".
  8. ^ "Which LCS team will survive and advance at MSI?". Dot Esports.
  9. ^ "RNG and KINGZONE have always been desperately close to greatness". Dot Esports.