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LoL 2021 Mid-Season Invitational enters Rumble Stage

LoL 2021 Mid-Season Invitational enters Rumble Stage

The battle for the coveted LoL Mid Season Invitational (MSI) trophy continues on Friday, May 14, with the Rumble Stage.

The battle for the coveted League of Legends Mid Season Invitational (MSI) trophy continues on Friday, May 14, with the Rumble Stage. It will feature top-six teams from the group stage, who will compete over five days for a spot in the Knockout Stage.

Top Six Battle It Out

The 2021 MSI Rumble Stage will run from May 14-18, featuring the top six teams from the group stage play. The field will consist of the top-two seeded teams from each group, including a surprise appearance from an Oceanic esports team.

Rumble Stage Teams

  • Cloud9
  • DWG KIA
  • MAD Lions
  • Pentanet.gg
  • PSG Talon
  • Royal Never Give Up

DWG KIA and Cloud9 enter Rumble Stage as top-seeded teams from Group C, where they finished with a 5-1 and 4-2 record, respectively. Joining them are Group B top-seeded teams in MAD Lions (5-1) and PSG Talon (4-2).

Royal Never Give Up (8-0) and Pentanet.gg (2-6) have earned their spot for the MSI Rumble Stage via Group A. Their group initially featured four teams but got reduced to only three after the Vietnamese GAM Esports couldn’t make it to Iceland due to travel restrictions.

By advancing into the Rumble Stage Pentanet.gg became the first Oceanic LoL esports team to ever make it out of the group stage at an international event. Their success comes as a big middle finger to Riot Games, who ceased their operations in the Oceanic Pro League (OPL) in November 2020.

MSI Rumble Stage Format

The Rumble Stage will run from May 14-18 with a double round-robin format. Like in the group play, all matches will be played as best-of-one (Bo1).

The teams will face each other twice throughout the Rumble Stage, with only the top four making it out alive. Each day of play will see six bouts, with rematches starting on Sunday, May 16.

Riot Games released Patch 11.10 for LoL on Tuesday, May 11, introducing a handful of nerfs and buffs to champions and a jungle overhaul. However, the MSI will continue to be played on the 11.9 Patch with Viego and Gwen disabled.

This means that champions that dominated in 11.9 will continue to be a priority pick in the MSI Rumble Stage. That includes Thresh, Lucian, Sylas, Xayah, Udyr, Morgana, Rumble, and Gnar.

Who are the favorites to win the Rumble Stage

Not a lot has changed in the MSI outright betting markets after the group play. Even though five teams got eliminated from the tournament, not one of those were the favorite to hoist the trophy.

DWG KIA (-143) remain as the main favorites to win their second international title, followed by Royal Never Give Up (+110) as the second favorites. Well behind are the Western representatives in MAD Lions (+1400) and Cloud9 (+1800).

Entering the MSI Rumble Stage as underdogs are PSG Talon (+2500), who have slightly underperformed in the group stage. The biggest outsiders, however, are Pentanet.gg (+15000), who the esports bookmakers are giving a mere 0.7% chance to succeed.

If the esports bookmakers are to be trusted, DWG KIA and RNG should have an easy time making it out of the Rumble Stage. This would force MAD Lions, Cloud9, PSG Talon, and Pentanet.gg in a fierce battle for the final two tickets leading into the knockout stage.

Considering LoL European Championship (LEC) teams’ success in recent international tournaments, MAD Lions should be joining the Asian sides as the third seed. The fourth team will likely be Cloud9; however, we can be sure PSG Talon will not make it easy.

There is, however, always room for upset wins and miracle runs, and Pentanet.gg can tell you all about it. They might be viewed as the weakest team at the tournament, but they haven’t said their last word just yet.

MSI Rumble Stage kicks off on Friday, May 14 at 13:00 GMT with the opening match between Royal Never Give Up and DWG KIA. It will mark their first meeting in the organization’s history and one no LoL fan should miss.

You can watch 2021 MSI on RIot Games’ Twitch channel, LoL’s official website (lolesports), YouTube, Trovo, or one of many Chinese streaming platforms.

2021 MSI Outright Betting Odds

Odds courtesy of BetOnline Sportsbook:

  • DWG KIA (-143)
  • Royal Never Give Up (+110)
  • MAD Lions (+1400)
  • CLoud9 (+1800)
  • PSG Talon (+2500)
  • Pentanet.gg (+15000)