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League of Legends MSI is the first of two major international tournaments that are conducted by Riot Games on an annual basis. MSI is a smaller version of Worlds, and the participants are usually the winners of various regional leagues across the world.
On March 30, 2022, Riot Games officially announced that this year's MSI will be held in Busan, South Korea. This is the first time that the country will be hosting MSI, though it has played host to Worlds back in 2014 and 2018.
South Korea is one of the most successful regions when it comes to competitive League of Legends. Teams like T1 and Damwon KIA dominate the international stage on a yearly basis.
It will be interesting to see how European, American, and Chinese teams fare when they fight inside the lion's den.
Everything League of Legends fans need to know regarding MSI 2022 in Busan, South Korea
Starting Date and Location
MSI 2022 will be held in the month of May. The tournament will commence on May 10, and the finals will be conducted on May 29.
This is the first time since 2019 that a major international League of Legends tournament will be held in front of a live audience.
As of now, LCK and LPL are being held in front of a live audience. The COVID-19 concerns in South Korea are almost nil, though precautions will still be taken to ensure safety.
The tournament will be held at the Bexco Exhibition Hall, and tickets will be made available in the near future.
Tournament Format
MSI 2022 will be divided into three different stages. The tournament will see Spring Split winners from 11 different regions battling it out for the title of the best in the world. However, the LCL (CIS) region will not be participating this year as the Spring Split for the region was called off.
The group stages will be held from May 10 to May 15. There will be three groups in total, with two of them having four teams and one of them having three teams. The respective teams in the group will play in a best-of-one double round-robin format.
The second stage of the tournament has been termed the rumble stage. This round will be held from May 18 to May 22. During this stage, the top two teams from each of the previous groups will be selected and pitted against each other.
These teams will once again have to play games in the best-of-one double round-robin format until four of them remain. The rest of the teams will be eliminated from the tournament.
Finally, the knockout stages will be held between May 27 and 29. During this time, the final remaining teams will play one best-of-five game each until only two teams remain. As expected, the remaining two teams will compete in the finals for the title of League of Legends MSI 2022 champion.
The finals of MSI 2022 will also mark the end of one-half of the competitive season for the calendar year.
Busan's brief history with gaming tournaments
Busan is the esports capital of South Korea. The city has been home to various competitive tournaments like the StarCraft Brood War finals from 2004 to 2010, as well as League of Legends Worlds 2014 and 2018. It also hosts the largest gaming convention in the country called G-Star.
The city is quite famous for its festivals and films. Thus, fans who decide to travel for MSI 2022 are going to have the time of their lives.
