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10 thoughts going into MSI Group Stage
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When looking up past Mid-Season Invitational videos and content, I had a little shock at seeing "two years ago" after Kien Lam's byline.
Sure I knew in my head that the last time we had a Mid-Season Invitational was in 2019, but two years ago? Two years ago? Where did all of that time go? What have I been doing with my life?
Sometimes it feels like the entirety of last year disappeared into a nebulous void.
Now that I've made all of you feel the inevitable pull of entropy on your minds and bodies, how about some League of Legends?
Let's get it.
**1. Two years ago in MSI history…**
The year was 2019. The demise of all three South Korean teams was fresh in everyone's memory while the rise of Invictus Gaming had overshadowed the fall of Royal Never Give Up. iG entered 2019 MSI as odd favorites alongside SK Telecom T1 and proceeded to both smash their opponents and themselves, leading to a G2 Esports sweep of Team Liquid in the finals.
That's right, Team Liquid is a reigning MSI finalist. G2 Esports are the reigning champions.
This year, in case all of them have begun blending together for you as they have for me, is 2021. DAMWON KIA are the current reigning champions of the world and favorites to win it all. Legacy SK Telecom T1 coach Kkoma is now with DAMWON KIA (which could, theoretically, explain some of their recent passivity). Rekkles is now on G2 Esports, who lost to both MAD Lions and Rogue and didn't make it to Iceland to defend their title. The current iteration of iG was eliminated in the first round of the LPL playoffs by themselves and also definitely-not-Vici-Gaming Rare Atom. Perkz is now on Cloud9. Xiaohu is now a top laner.
A lot has happened in two years.
**2. Listen to this victory song**
What if I told you that this iteration of DAMWON KIA used to have more in common with 2018/19 Invictus Gaming than their stout, LCK predecessors? (Okay, I'm talking about SK Telecom T1--now T1, let's be real whenever someone says "LCK team" or LCK style" who they're really talking about is almost always T1.)
This past split in the LCK, DAMWON KIA have been far more passive than the 2020 World Champion DAMWON or the team that played fast-and-loose as a 2019 Worlds semifinalist.
A player at MSI who shall remain nameless described the current state of the MSI meta as a skill-check meta. In other words, you pick something you feel comfortable on and you load into the game believing, more than anything else, in your own two hands. Most of the teams that made MSI this year embodied this in some way back in their domestic regional play. Yes, even DAMWON KIA. Perhaps, especially DAMWON KIA, since they haven't been challenged all that much in this past LCK season and have relied on late-game teamfighting. Even with Khan playing tanks like Sion, which has been the standout difference with DAMWON KIA this year as compared to their previous iteration with Nuguri. Even with Showmaker playing more passively than he has in his career. Even with Ghost as the patented weak-side bot laner.
It's a departure for Khan too, although he still plays lane similarly, pushing and pressuring his opponents sometimes to the point of overextension.
DAMWON KIA are narrative favorites to win this tournament for a few reasons. The first was the seemingly-inevitable statement that was bound to return as soon as a South Korean team won worlds once again: South Korea is back! The second is because they've razed through the LCK in similarly dominant fashion that they did last year when they won Worlds, and what's rumored to be developing as the MSI meta should suit them well due to their flexibility. In a jungle-focused meta, Canyon is the best jungler at this tournament and, more importantly, has good communication with his strong lanes, even Khan who has had jungle-to-lane or lane-to-team communication troubles in the past. Every member of DAMWON KIA can be considered a mechanical carry for the team but they can also be the unassuming "weak side" player as well, which makes them both dangerous and formidable.
Are DAWMON KIA infallible? Not in the slightest. Are they still the best team here? Yeah, probably.
**3. On the shoulders of kings**
Speaking of skill-check teams, let's talk about MAD Lions. MAD Lions' superpower is their ability to believe in their own skills and hands. Look no further than rookie Spanish jungler Elyoya, who would like nothing more for early gankers to re-enter the meta so he can get involved with lanes even earlier and show off his strong mechanical skill. (Hint, at MSI, it may, but scrim rumors only go so far when teams historically play a bit more passively at international tournaments when on stage as opposed to scrims.)
In making it to MSI, MAD Lions have redemption in their sights after their 2020 Worlds performance, which Carzzy, Humanoid, and Kaiser all remember. Going into this tournament they also have the ghost of G2 Esports, reigning MSI champions, behind them.
We joke about how much the LEC broadcast says "kings" or "dynasty" or hypes up G2 Esports and Fnatic, but there's a reason why: both of these teams, G2 in particular, have indubitably been the best in Europe and strong international contenders. Despite MAD Lions' roster changes and improvements, it's still surprising to see them as Europe's representative. I don't think we've seen anything close to what this group of players is capable of, which makes them particularly fun to watch, albeit volatile in a different way than previous European representatives like G2.
**4. "Hello, I am RNG's top laner, Xiaohu."**
In the 2021 LPL Spring Finals trash talk segment, Xiaohu leads off the video by introducing himself, "Hello, I am RNG's top laner, Xiaohu." There's a pause, and then the video moves on to the next player.
If you haven't seen RNG since their last international competition, you may be confused. Wasn't Xiaohu a mid laner. Wasn't he the RNG mid laner?
Now Cryin (former RNG trainee and an important part of eStar's unexpected 2020 Spring run) is the RNG mid laner. Xiaohu is in the top lane.
Arguably, Xiaohu was always a top laner, he just wasn't in the top lane until this year. In previous years he bore the brunt of criticism, especially when LetMe retired, whenever RNG performed poorly at international events, like a true top laner would. He additionally received fewer resources (particularly side lane farm even while RNG were running a 1-3-1 setup) than other LPL mids so RNG could focus more on the bot side. Now, Xiaohu is a top laner who receives more side lane farm relative to his position, again as a part of RNG's 1-3-1 or 4-1 setups designed to pressure the entire map.
Role-swapping is hardly new, but the ease with which Xiaohu has transitioned from mid to top is admirable. His champion pool has allowed for necessary flexibility in draft between top and mid — although I doubt we'll see the Syndra or Orianna top at this tournament — and his management of the long lane as opposed to the much shorter control point of mid has been shockingly strong. There's a lot to like about this RNG despite not being a more aggressive "LPL style" team like FunPlus Phoenix or Top Esports.
**5. PSG Talon plus Doggo**
It's difficult to talk about any LMS or PCS team without the shadow and narrative of Flash Wolves hanging over them. In the wake of Flash Wolves' breaking up and the dissolution of the LMS over the past few years, the bot lane duo of Unified and Kaiwing have risen up as standout players of the region. Former Flash Wolves mid laner Maple returned from the LPL to once again be one of the best in the LMS/PCS as the mid laner of PSG Talon.
Unfortunately, like 2020 Worlds, PSG Talon will be without one of their starters. Unified is recovering from a collapsed lung, and was unable to fly to Iceland for the tournament. PCS runner-up Beyond Gaming's Doggo will substitute in for Unified during PSG Talon's MSI run. Doggo is a much more volatile laner — LPL casters and analysts recently compared him to JackeyLove in a PSG Talon team review — and may require a bit more attention on the bot side of the map. For a team that relied on the sheer strength of their laning power to dominate the PCS, having to pay a bit more attention to Doggo in lane may disrupt their usual style, but they should be able to overcome this in draft and with strong synergy between jungler River and support Kaiwing. The hope for a surprising PSG Talon deep run will come with combining Doggo's strong teamfighting with PSG Talon's willingness to play a variety of picks and strong laning.
**6. Cloud9**
In the context of MSI and international competition, this Cloud9 team is a particularly interesting beast. With the absence of MSI last year, C9's Spring Split victory has always seemed like an LCS footnote, particularly when the team didn't make it to Worlds at all in Summer.
Throughout this split, C9's players have remained remarkably cognizant of two key factors. The first is that their team did peter out embarrassingly at the end of the 2020 Summer Split and that they're (more specifically, Blaber, Zven, and Vulcan, the holdovers from last year) doing everything they can in their preparation to ensure that this doesn't happen again. The second is that, while they have a strong coaching staff full of top-tier coaches and analysts and a mechanically-talented lineup, they're not going to get the best practice that they possibly can while playing in the LCS.
Given how quickly C9 improved from the beginning of the Lock-In Tournament to Lock-In finals, and again from the beginning of Spring to winning it all in the LCS Mid-Season Showdown, they've already set a precedent for rapid improvement. The question is now of how quickly they can improve while bootcamping against better teams and playing in a stronger solo queue environment to be a potential contender.
**7. Players to watch that you may not know**
**DFM Aria:** With any discussion of this particular DetonatioN FocusMe lineup, Aria is always highlighted as the first player mentioned or the best player on this team. Aria replaced Ceros (the erstwhile DFM mid laner known for his Ziggs and Zilean) and has been widely touted as the current best player in the LJL.
In mentioning Aria, I also want to call attention to Evi, who I still think is one of, if not the strongest Japanese League of Legends player the region has ever had (even if he hasn't been punished yet for the team's tendency to blind-pick Gnar).
**PNG Cariok:** In a jungle-focused meta, Cariok is a jungler in the same vein as MAD Lions Elyoya in that he is a mechanically-gifted young player who works very well with his more-experienced mid laner in Tinowns, to affect the rest of the map. If paiN Gaming is to upset the expected fight between MAD Lions, İstanbul Wildcats, and PSG Talon to get out of Group B, it will be behind the strong synergy of Cariok and Tinowns, yes, even if brTT locks in Draven and manages to skill-check someone.
**UOL BOSS:** When most people look at this Unicorns of Love roster, mid laner Nomanz is the staple performer who immediately stands out. Yet, it's UOL top laner BOSS that I'll be watching given how top-side-focused the meta has been and how much he's improved from last year.
**IW Ferret:** The Wildcats are primarily known for their teamfighting, but it's Ferret who can help the team get ahead in the early laning phase. His experience in playing with both Starscreen and Serin in top and mid over the past year has been a key component of the Wildcats' success this year.
**INF WhiteLotus and Ackerman:** In their reverse sweep of Furious Gaming to qualify for MSI, it came down to the bot lane difference of WhiteLotus and Ackerman. Infinity Esports have some particularly tough bot lane opponents in their group, especially from DAMWON KIA, but if they're going to make some noise in their group, it's likely going to come from this bot lane.
**PGG Pabu:** Pentanet.GG have a tall task ahead of them since they'll have to take out either Unicorns of Love or Royal Never Give Up to get out of their group (even with GAM Esports being unable to come). I've been highlighting a lot of junglers in this section, but that's because jungle is so important. Pentanet.GG have also been cited as a teamfighting team — five-as-one more than a standout player specifically — and generally the smartest Oceanic team. Pabu pays a lot of attention to other regions, workshops a lot of interesting picks, and additionally spearheads whatever Pentanet.GG want to do on the rift.
**8. Team facts you may not know**
DetonatioN FocusMe's lineup of Evi, Steal, Ceros (although it would be surprising to see him play over Aria), Yutapon, and Kazu have been together in some fashion since 2018. Kazu recently came out of retirement to play support for the team while DetonatioN FocusMe waits for their South Korean support, Gaeng, to get his Japanese residency for this upcoming summer split.
Unicorns of Love have changed a bit since last year, and it's been all about finding a stable bot-laner. After Gadget — best known for playing mages or non-traditional AD champions bot — left the team, UOL turned first to French AD carry player Frappii. In late March, Lodik took over the starting position and the improvement in overall team synergy was noticeable. Another fun fact is that Lodik has been working his butt off playing on UOL all while attending university. Lodik has been on top LCL teams before, most notably 2018 Gambit, so look for him to potentially make a splash.
Wei and Cryin of Royal Never Give Up played together on eStar during eStar's 2020 Spring unlikely run to playoffs before joining RNG this past year. Cryin was also brought up by the RNG organization as one of their most promising mid-lane trainees prior to playing on eStar.
PSG Talon have only been behind in gold at 15 minutes once this split: a Week 1 loss to Beyond Gaming.
**9. Live, from Reykjavík**
In asking the players how they like Iceland, the inevitable "We haven't really left the hotel" line comes up which makes sense. Even without a COVID-19-mandatory quarantine, preparing for an event means a lot of scrims, a lot of solo queue, and a lot of not leaving your hotel room outside of going to your practice room (also in the hotel). For players who had experienced a bit more of Reykjavík, the responses were all soft smiles and "It's chill. It's different. I like it here."
Team content people, please let me live vicariously through your photographs and videos. Especially if you go to the volcano.
**10. Narrative one-liners**
If you don't want to do any pesky things like research or talk to experts who follow a region that you do not, here are some handy one-liners that are sure to be useful in your inevitable social media commentary.
"NA sucks." — A classic. Simple. Understated. True even when they had their deepest MSI run because they were promptly swept in the finals by G2 Esports.
"They're just here to get experience/learn/have fun that they'll take back to their region." — Apply this tagline whenever you haven't researched how a minor region team plays and want to give them a verbal consolation prize without realizing how it undercuts their desire to win. Yes, even teams that know they're coming from worse regions domestically still want to win. Shocking, I know.
"Chinese teams always choke at international competition." — Another classic since 2015 Worlds that's been proven false time and again, and will remain untrue even if RNG shockingly don't make it past the group stage.
