Dot Esports’ official Mid-Season Invitational 2023 power rankings

This season, the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational is getting shaken up.

With a new format and a larger field of teams than ever before, the tournament is wide open. This season, 13 teams are heading to London to compete in MSI, with each of the pro League scene’s major regions getting two representatives each.

Many of the teams competing at this year’s event should be familiar to many League fans: 11 of the 13 teams present at MSI have qualified for international events in the past. With more high-tier teams than ever before at MSI, the tournament could resemble—and even give a preview—of what the World Championship might look like later this year.

Related: Fists, flasks, and fire: 5 champions expected to make an impact at MSI 2023

Here’s how the field of 13 stacks up with each other before the tournament. These are our official MSI 2023 power rankings. 

MSI 2023 power rankings

13) Movistar R7

As a league, the LLA has historically struggled to a point where making it out of the play-in stage at international events is a serious challenge. With even more talented teams from major regions present at MSI this year, Movistar R7’s chances of getting past the initial phase of the event are even slimmer than they have been for other Latin American teams in the past. 

12) LOUD

The split one playoffs breathed new life into LOUD, a team that made the presence of CBLoL and its fans felt internationally during last year’s Worlds play-in stage—complete with an infamous “bot gap” moment that spread like wildfire over social media.

After weeks of back-and-forth battles with paiN Gaming, the eventual first seed in the regular season LOUD regrouped in the playoffs to not only defeat their rivals in the winners bracket finals but sweep them in the grand finals for a spot at MSI.

Yet Worlds 2022 was just the first time that LOUD had earned the opportunity to represent the entire CBLoL internationally. Notably, their run ended before they were matched against a single team from the LCK or LPL. Though they’ve lucked out again for the entirety of the MSI play-in stage, these two regions are more than likely to be difficult to overcome for a team that has struggled against the likes of the LCS and PCS in the past.

11) DetonatioN FocusMe

Despite losing the heart and soul of the team in top laner Evi this past offseason, the most historically dominant domestic team in League history—DetonatioN FocusMe—is back on the international stage. The team retained three-fifths of the 2022 core that came one match away from reaching the Worlds main event, and we expect them to be a thorn in the side of any major region team who expects to breeze through the play-ins. 

10) PSG Talon

PSG Talon are a constant presence in League’s international tournaments. For years, they have dominated their home region and qualified for both MSI and Worlds as PCS representatives. And this year, it looks like it will be no different after they qualified for the first international event of the season.

Actually, this year, something within PSG has changed and the team has soared to new heights. This roster has brought the team’s dominion of their region to a whole new level, even conquering their ticket for MSI 2023 with a 3-0 sweep. PSG closed out all three games of the PCS Spring Final within 30 minutes and with more than a 10,000 gold lead over their opponents. With a well-rounded team of talent and clean gameplay, PSG’s strategy focused on gaining early advantages and winning crucial teamfights thanks to their perfectly-timed setups around objectives.

Their team synergy came through in proactive actions across the Rift and early-game lane advantages largely thanks to Yu “JunJia” Chun-Chia, the jungler who closed out the final match without dying once. He was pivotal to his team’s successful map control and also a threat in one-vs-one situations—and he will undoubtedly be a player to keep an eye on during MSI as well. 

While no team could touch PSG in their region, international tournaments are a completely different matter. The PCS representative will open the 2023 MSI tournament in a waltz with DetonatioN FocusMe, who also haven’t missed an international appearance in years.

9) GAM Esports

In a similar fashion to PSG, GAM Esports prevailed in their region’s Spring Split. But it was not in quite the same dominant style. GAM’s game strategy focused mainly on late-game teamfights that made or broke their game. And while GAM excelled at punishing setup errors made by their opponents, they often succumbed to other teams who dominated the early stages of the game.  

Reaching the late game made it easy for GAM’s scaling drafts to overpower their opponents in those crucial objective fights. And while their jungler Đỗ “Levi” Duy Khánh empowered his teammates’ plays throughout the beginning of the game, it is GAM’s top laner Trần “Kiaya” Duy Sang who is considered to be the team’s driving force. 

The reliable top laner could prove to be a tougher match than anticipated for GAM’s first opponents, LCS representatives Golden Guardians. 

8) Golden Guardians

It takes a lot of strength and self-confidence to ride through the lower bracket all the way to the finals, especially when you’re an underdog. And despite losing in the Spring Finals, Golden Guardians still made the cut as a second LCS representative at MSI 2023, even though not many people believed they could do it.

Golden Guardians’ story this split is one of constant growth and learning step-by-step. After beginning the 2023 LCS Spring Split with a 0-4 record, Stixxay and crew took it slow and never let go of the top six once they secured it. In the lower bracket, they defeated 100 Thieves, Evil Geniuses, and FlyQuest. 

In Golden Guardians’ ranks, we’ll find extremely experienced players who should know the pressure of playing on the international stage. But has this explosive mix gained enough steam to pull off another round of upsets at MSI? They’re capable of doing so, although the Goliaths might be too strong and versatile this time around for David. 

7) G2 Esports

G2 Esports were the first team to qualify for this year’s MSI after winning the first LEC Winter Split with flying marks. The 2023 season saw G2 presenting a new promising lineup made of old and new acquaintances who elevated the already variegating and disruptive playstyle for which the team is known. 

But the Spring Split presented more challengers for the regional title than G2 expected, and they capitulated in the first round of the playoffs stage to MAD Lions. Despite not even reaching the podium in their regional league in the spring, G2 are still considered to be a menace on the international stage. From top to bottom, the org formed a team that is a force to be reckoned with. The only question mark pends over the name of the rookie Martin “Yike” Sundelin, who will have to stand up to more experienced junglers to ensure his team moves on from the play-In stage. 

6) MAD Lions

When MAD Lions were a couple of auto attacks away from being eliminated in the 2023 LEC Spring Groups losers bracket by Fnatic, only fools would’ve predicted them to actually win the whole split. Yet they were crowned the kings of Europe due to incredible resilience, teamfighting, and communication, all of which could carry them far at MSI 2023.

Elyoya and Carzzy have become a powerful driving force behind MAD in the last few weeks. The former has been finding numerous openings on the maps, and it shows with him having 118 assists in the Spring Playoffs, the most out of every player, according to Oracle’s Elixir. Carzzy is often quick to follow, as are Chasy and Nisqy, who sit in the top three in terms of most kills, respectively. 

MAD have once again mastered the art of the aggressive early game and know how to get the ball rolling when they execute it. If they do so at MSI 2023, we wouldn’t be surprised to see them go far and place Europe back among the world’s best. It’s also their Achilles heel, however, and Chinese and Korean teams have shown in the past that they know how to counter this playstyle. 

5) Cloud9

The 2023 LCS Spring Split was a wild ride from beginning to end. The teams that fans anticipated to dominate the competition fell victim to massive upsets, while those at the bottom of tier lists took hold of the top of the standings.

Yet when the smoke cleared, one thing remained true: Cloud9 once again came out on top.

The addition of Emenes to the reigning champion’s roster served to completely revamp what was a frustrating first few weeks for the team, leading the team to take control of nearly every lane in the competition—including four spots on the first All-Pro team.

C9 are headlined once more by star ADC Berserker who, after just two years in the LCS, earned himself the MVP award. He had his first taste of international competition at Worlds last year, though with how much the young upstart has improved since then—both in competition and in his comfortability around his teammates—many believe he is ready to rival the likes of bot lanes from the LCK and LPL.

For C9, this appearance at MSI makes up for the last time they qualified in 2020 when the competition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s also a chance at redemption for the LCS as a whole following a tumultuous trip to Worlds last year, to prove to the rest of the world that the region does have something to offer global competition.

4) Bilibili Gaming

Seemingly every year, there is an LPL team that crawls its way to a top finish in the playoffs, despite starting from a low seeding position. This year, it was Bilibili Gaming’s turn to make it happen, going through a total of six playoff series. Not only did they beat most of their rivals, but they were the only ones who brought JD Gaming to “Silver Scrapes” in a best-of-five series. 

Top laner Bin and ADC Elk have been the big revelations of the year. While most people knew about Bin’s potential, Elk has been delivering performance after performance with incredible consistency toward the end of the split. Whenever it came to late-game teamfights, Elk put on a show. If they keep up what they have shown so far, expect Bilibili to make it to the bracket stage and join the fray for a top-four finish. Even though it’s the organization’s first international appearance, BLG have what it takes to fight with the very best. 

3) Gen.G

Teams that have been able to throw off the momentum of T1 in recent best-of-five series have been incredibly successful, like reigning world champions DRX. The LCK’s first seed at this year’s MSI, Gen.G, also did that in the 2023 Spring Split Finals in an uncharacteristically lopsided loss for T1.

What’s made Gen.G such a fearsome team to face for the past several years is their playmaking game-wide, not specifically focusing on picks versus teamfights but rather taking advantage of any situation that seems remotely favorable. While fans were originally skeptical at what the loss of Ruler and Lehends meant for the team heading into the Spring Split, ADC Peyz and support Delight spent the entire split fully establishing themselves as an important part of Gen.G’s continued success, rivaling the synergy of other renowned LCK bot lanes.

With this new format, this will be the first time that Gen.G will compete at MSI, giving all opponents an opportunity to see first-hand why they are constantly referred to as one of the best teams internationally before they likely meet again later this year at Worlds on their home turf.

2) T1

After winning a historic 17 matches during the LCK Spring Split, T1 fell apart in the Spring Finals, losing to Gen.G and having to settle for the LCK’s second seed at MSI. But due to Korea’s international dominance in recent years, the region will see both of its finalists advance directly to the bracket stage. 

Had T1 won that final match on the domestic stage, they likely would have taken the top spot in our power rankings because one could argue that T1 have the best player in the world at all five positions on Summoner’s Rift. Regardless, the fact that T1 lost yet another final just before the year’s first international tournament is a worrying trend for the team. T1 have appeared in four straight grand finals—MSI 2022, LCK Summer 2022, Worlds 2022, LCK Spring 2023—and have lost all four of them, putting together a streak that even Jim Kelly’s Buffalo Bills would envy. 

This year, T1 are a solid pick to hoist the Summoner’s Cup, but the road to international greatness starts at MSI. Should they fall just inches short again, serious questions need to be raised as to whether T1 can seal the deal in crunch time. 

1) JD Gaming

If you’re wondering who are the favorites at MSI, JD Gaming would probably be the answer. Despite having a slower start compared to other top LPL teams this year, they made the final push to take the first seed for the playoffs. While BLG did give them a hard time in their first encounter, JDG never looked perturbed. They dismantled EDward Gaming in the semifinals and gave BLG a beating in the finals. 

From top to bottom, the team is stacked with some of the most talented players in the modern era of League: 369, Kanavi, Knight, and Missing are crème de la crème as far as individual skills go.

Ruler’s addition to the team only made JDG even more stacked than they already were. The Korean ADC left Gen.G at the end of 2022 with the hopes of joining a team that has the potential of fighting for international titles. Based on how things have gone so far in 2023, Ruler may have made the right choice.

MSI 2023 will take place from May 2 to 21.