Competition begins on May 1st.
The groups for the upcoming Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) Play-In Stage has been drawn, with the eight minor teams split into two groups of four.
Here’s a look at both groups courtesy of the “lolesports” twitter feed:
The 2019 Mid-Season Invitational Play-In Draw Show Results #MSI2019 Group A:@FBespor Phong Vũ Buffalo@teamisurus @bombers Group B:@MEGAEsportsSEA @VegaSquadron @INTZeSports @team_detonation pic.twitter.com/PM0frLejBO
lolesports (@lolesports) April 23, 2019
Group A features Turkish squad 1907 Fenerbahce, Vietnamese team Phong Vu Buffalo, Latin American side Isurus Gaming and Oceania’s Bombers. Going by their previous appearances on the international stage, Phong Vu Buffalo will likely be the team to beat here.
In Group B, there’s SEA’s MEGA, CIS’ Vega Squadron, Japan’s DetonatioN FocusMe and Brazil’s INTZ e-Sports. This will likely be a tougher contest to call, with both Japan and CIS in with a strong chance of advancing.
The winners of both groups will have a tough task ahead of them in the Play-In Knockout Stage, though. Group A’s victor will have to face off against North America’s Team Liquid, while Group B’s winner will take on Taiwan’s Flash Wolves.
The teams which come out on top will join Invictus Gaming, G2 Esports and SK Telecom T1 in the Group Stage.
MSI 2019’s Play-In Stage begins on Wednesday, May 1st at 3 AM PDT (that’s 11:00AM BST for those of us in the UK).
