Mid Season-Invitational Play Ins Begin

The Mid Season Invitational is about to get started, and we break down the four teams that will kick off the tournament this week.

The Spring Seasons for all of the League of Legends leagues around the world have all wrapped up, bringing us to the first international event of the year. Last week we took a look at half of the play in teams who will take the rift on Wednesday, but today we are going to take a quick look at the four teams kicking off the event.

DetonatioN FocusMe vs PSG Talon

When: Tuesday, May 2nd – 8 AM ET

Odds: PSG Talon (-220) vs DetonatioN FocusMe (+159) 

To start off the tournament, we have a really great matchup between two teams that have somewhat similar stories. PSG Talon started their 2023 PCS Spring Split with a few bumps finding themselves with a 4-2 record at the end of Week 2, which put them in a tie for 3rd place in the standings. Luckily they recovered and learned from their mistakes, moving into 1st place the following week and never looking back. 

PSG Talon’s run through playoffs was just as impressive, showing poise and confidence, taking down both Impunity and CTBC Flying Oyster in 3-2 matches before absolutely demolishing Frank Esports in the finals 3-0. If they can continue to stay calm with their backs against the wall, this team should have a shot to make it out of Play Ins.

DetonatioN FocusMe started their season with a loss. They would work themselves up to 3rd in the standings in Week 2. Though they spent the back half of the season in 2nd place, they never were able to catch up to Sengoku Gaming in the regular season. That all changed in the playoffs finals when DetonatioN FocusMe swept Sengoku 3-0. 

G2 Esports vs LOUD

When: Tuesday, May 2nd – 11 AM ET

Odds: G2 (-1200) vs LOUD (+525) 

G2 Qualified for the Mid Season Invitational by winning the LEC Winter Split. G2 has consistently dropped a few games in the regular seasons and yet has powered through in the playoffs. Though they failed to win the Spring Split as well, they still were a Top 4 team that made it to playoffs. They’ll need to be at the top of their game if they want to fend off LOUD who is coming off a league title. 

LOUD, as many of the teams discussed earlier, had a rough start to the season, finding themselves barely holding onto playoffs position by Week 3. They found themselves with a 6-6 record and in a three-way tie for 4th place in Week 6. That’s when they were able to turn it around, not losing another game all season. They ended the regular season 12-6 in a tie for first place. 

In Round 1 of the Winner’s Bracket in the Split 1 Playoffs, LOUD found a 3-1 win over Los Grandes the team that held 1st place in the standings for a majority of the season. They followed that up by taking down the top seed in the tournament, paiN Gaming, 3-1. paiN would go on to win in the Loser’s bracket, and LOUD took them down again, this time in a clean 3-0 sweep. 

Conclusion

With the persistence that both of these teams have shown this year, it’s assured that the Mid Season Invitational is going to start with a bang. You won’t want to miss any of it. Catch all of the action on YouTube and Twitch as the first international event of the year gets started.