LPL representative to compete in MSI 2022 remotely from China due to COVID-related constraints

The 2022 League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational, scheduled to begin on May 10, will not feature an in-person appearance from the representatives of China’s LPL. Due to COVID-related travel restrictions and precautions, the winner of the LPL will not travel to Busan, South Korea to compete in the tournament next month. Instead, the team will participate in the tournament remotely, according to an update from Riot Games’ head of global esports Naz Aletaha. 

“After extensive diligence performed by our technology, events, and competitive operations teams, we are able to allow the qualifying LPL team to compete remotely from China,” Aletaha said in today’s release. “The team will play from either their team training facility or from the LPL Arena in Shanghai, in accordance with local health and safety protocols.”

Top Esports and Royal Never Give Up, two teams who have both represented the LPL at international League events since the beginning of the pandemic, are the final two teams left in the running to represent the region at MSI 2022. The two teams will play in the LPL Spring Split finals on Saturday, April 23, to determine which squad will be participating in MSI. RNG won last year’s Mid-Season Invitational in Reykjavík, Iceland, joining SK Telecom T1 as the only other team to win the tournament twice. 

With the LPL participating remotely this season, Riot will be using a special network latency tool that will keep the ping between China and Korea at or near 35 milliseconds. “To ensure the competitive integrity of the competition, all MSI teams will be able to practice and scrim at this ping, and we will deploy referee support and monitoring throughout the tournament in both Korea and China,” Aletaha said. 

This season’s MSI will mark the third consecutive edition of the tournament that has been directly affected by the pandemic in some regard. Last season, teams from Vietnam’s VCS were not able to participate in the event, while the year prior, MSI was canceled outright. 

The 2022 Mid-Season Invitational is scheduled to begin on May 10. Apart from the LPL, three other leagues—the VCS, Brazil’s CBLOL, and North America’s LCS—have yet to determine a representative. 

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