Spring Season in League of Legends esports has started, and in just a few weeks, many teams have already shown their passion to participate in the Mid-Season Invitational 2022. As always, the second best international tournament in League of Legends will only include the champions of Spring Seasons, so if any team wants to hop into the action in Texas, they have to work hard and stop focusing only on Worlds.
After a one-year hiatus, MSI 2021 was played in Iceland last year and Royal Never Give Up secured the title after defeating DWG KIA in the finals. While there isn’t any official news, as League of Legends fans, we hope that this year, we will be able to attend MSI in-person.
Korea
This shouldn’t come as a surprise but South Korean team will be one of the favourites of MSI 2022. Last year, DWG KIA made it to the finals, but this year it doesn’t look like they will repeat the same success.
As of now, two teams with history in League of Legends lead the LCK. With their roster centered around Faker with young promising players, T1 is the leader of the league. Their number one rival is Gen.G, who recently took a loss and fell just behind T1, but they are still the super-team of LCK with five superstars. Which one will succeed and take the MSI ticket? We shall see.
China
Because of the crowded schedule, it is not as easy to consider China at this point. Last year, Royal Never Give Up played League of Legends that was better than their opponents, and in the end, they won MSI 2021. This year, there are a lot of candidates fighting for the MSI 2022 ticket.
Last years’ Summer and Worlds champions EDward Gaming still haven't taken a loss, as they are the finest looking team right now. They are followed by Doinb’s LNG, Royal Never Give Up, Weibo Gaming, Bilibili Gaming and Victory Five. Any of these teams could make any team in the world struggle, so China looks very strong in terms of both MSI and Worlds title race.
Europe
2021 was a disappointment for LEC internationally. G2 Esports, the locomotive of the region, has fallen down, and MAD Lions couldn’t do a great job while trying to take their place. MSI 2021 semifinals and Worlds 2021 quarterfinals wasn’t enough for European fans.
Today, Rogue seems to lead the league, they have recently defeated G2 Esports too and with 9-0, have remained unbeaten in the LEC. While Fnatic and G2 are behind in terms of wins, but considering gameplay quality, they are following closely behind Rogue. Team Vitality with their super-team should also improve their form and find a place in the title race.
North America
While they have some history making it to finals, North American teams generally have a hard time at MSI. Last year, Cloud9 was bested by PSG Talon and MAD Lions, stuck at the bottom with 3-7 and couldn’t even make semifinals. This year, LCS has just started, but LCS Lock In gave us some ideas.
While not every team had their full roster, Team Liquid did, and although their opponents were weaker than they will be in the regular season, TL has shown great promise. If they can make use of Hans sama and CoreJJ together, they could be unstoppable. They will be followed by Cloud9, Evil Geniuses, last years’ champion 100 Thieves and Dignitas.
PCS and minor regions
Quick thoughts! PCS hasn’t started yet, but PSG Talon has lost some important parts and fixed them with new Korean imports. They might have another easy year in 2022 with most of the teams having weaker rosters.
Vietnam’s VCS has also not started, but according to Winter Season performances, GAM Esports and CERBERUS might be the favourites this year as well. Let’s check them out once again before the playoffs.
CBLOL started and we are at the end of the third week, but it isn’t easy to decide which teams are still ahead because of how easily they can lose a game. KaBuM!, FURIA and RED Canids lead the league, but that can change in the playoffs, as last year, both in spring and in summer CBLOL was won by a team which had a lower placement than the top four of the league.
Six games into the TCL 2022 Winter and things have already stirred up, and the standings are definitely not what we expected. Favorites NASR Esports are stuck at fifth place with Galatasaray, SuperMassive Blaze and Fenerbahçe. While the big investments are stuck, the old titan of TCL, Dark Passage, leads the league 5-1, and they are followed by Team AURORA, 5 Ronin and Istanbul Wildcats. Other than IW, these are teams with mediocre rosters, so it has been a surprising year for TCL.
CIS’ LCL also hasn’t started, but judging by the little information we have right now, Unicorns of Love are probably one step ahead. Most of the names we know from the CIS scene have found a place in European Regional Leagues, so MSI 2022 slot is up for grabs.
Japan’s LJL hasn’t started and rosters aren’t finalized yet. Latin America’s LLA is led by Infinity Esports and Rainbow7 as always. Additionally, Oceania’s LCO is led by two undefeated teams, Chiefs and PEACE. So stay on the lookout for those ones.
If you follow these leagues with passion also, you don’t want to miss any of the games to find out your favourites for the championship and MSI 2022 slot. Watch the games, and place your best on Luckbox.
