League of Legends: The Mid Season Invitational

The defending World Champion's come to another international tournament to defend the dominance of the LPL. Invictus Gaming will have to prove themselves against a resurging SKT side, that will want to show the world that Korea can still be the most dominant region. Invictus Gaming has the best players in multiple roles and is rated as the favorites to retake the tournament. Like many other sports, League isn't purely won on paper. A crucial matchup will be G2 versus Invictus Gaming, a rematch of last year's Worlds Semi-Finals.

Top Lane: TheShy/Duke

TheShy comes into the MSI as the world's best top laner. He was injured during the 2018 LPL Spring Finals and unable to help IG defeat RN. Once he recovered from injury, he proved what he was capable of doing on the World's stage. TheShy had some memorable moments showing his skillset on champions such as Fiora, Aatrox, as well as various tank champions. Throughout the Spring Split, TheShy had an 80% win rate while also sporting a 3.2 KDA. Also, TheShy and Rookie share a lot of champions, which makes them difficult to play against.

Duke became a two-time World Champion with two different teams. He is the rock that stabilizes the team when TheShy finds himself to be tilted or unwilling to change picks. Duke played much more last year than he has for this split. He is still a crucial tool to have, especially going into a best-of-five series. TheShy will probably be the main competitor going into the tournament, but Duke will be there if IG needs an experienced Top laner to neutralize any matchup.

Jungle: Ning

The former Worlds MVP comes into the MSI with one great season so far. The problem Ning has encountered in the past has been his inconsistencies within tournaments and splits. Ning is still one of the two best junglers in the tournament, his main competitor being Clid from SKT (T1). Ning has unbelievable power due to the strength of his solo lanes, thus making it easier to control the map.

Mid Lane: Rookie

Rookie was partially unsatisfied with his victory at Worlds due to the absence of Faker, one of the greatest League players of all time. He mentioned that Faker had always been a challenge he had never surpassed. Going into the MSI, however, many consider Rookie as the best player in the world. With the defending champion coming into the tournament with a 32-10 win record it is hard to argue against it. Rookie will also have the opportunity to prove that Caps was indeed the inferior mid laner when IG plays against G2 Esports, who some consider the second best team in the tournament.

Bottom Lane: JackeyLove

Invictus Gaming's bottom lane may be the best lane in the tournament. JackeyLove is a great player by all regards, but he is a player that consistently makes high-risk plays. This does work with IG's playstyle, but it has backfired in the past causing deficits that cost the team a massive lead or even the game. One thing JackeyLove brings to the table is a high-tier understanding of almost all of the ADCs, and that could be seen as a potential strength when it comes to pick/ban.

Support: Baolan

Baolan is one of the longest standing members of IG, being part of the team for the better part of three years. This could be one of the reasons IG has such an incredible feeling of synergy. Baolan is best when put into playmaking supports that can help with roams or the use of game-changing ultimates. One of his most played champions is Galio (likely to be picked or banned throughout the whole tournament), but he also found a lot of success on Braum, Rakan, and Alistar. In comparison to other bot lanes, it is hard to say that they the undeniable first, it will be decided once we see all of them play.

You can find more MSI & LoL content on our League of Legends page.