The League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) 2025 is almost ready to start in Vancouver, Canada.
The strongest two teams from the LEC, LTA, LCK, LPL, and LCP will all compete at the international event.
But first, four of the teams will have to compete in the Play-Ins to qualify for the main Bracket Stage.
MSI’s first games will be G2 Esports vs FURIA and Bilibili Gaming vs GAM Esports.
Out of these four teams, only two will advance to the main tournament.
The winners of the two aforementioned series will face each other to decide the first qualifier.
However, the loser of that series will have a second chance to qualify in a series against whoever wins the Loser’s Bracket.
We’ve already covered just about everything you need to know about LoL MSI 2025.
Now, to help with the first round of your LoL MSI Pick’Ems, here is a look at all four Play-In teams.
G2 Esports
Things have not gone G2’s way in the LEC this year.
Two finals have resulted in two defeats, losing 3-0 to Karmine Corp in Winter and 3-1 to Movistar KOI this Spring.
However, historically the organisation has performed pretty well internationally, especially at LoL MSI.
In fact, they’re the only European team to have ever won the international event.
Fearless Draft should favour the team, though it hasn’t helped them in LEC Playoffs, and they won’t want to reveal surprise picks early into the tournament.
However, League of Legends Patch 25.13 has brought buffs to Ryze and Twisted Fate, two mid-lane champions who excel at roaming.
This could be crucial in unlocking their star player, Rasmus ‘Caps’ Winther and allow him to impact the entire map.
FURIA
G2 will undoubtedly be heavy favourites heading into their opening-day meeting with FURIA.
However, the LTA South champions should not be underestimated.
The Brazilian team dominated their region, sweeping pAIN Gaming 3-0 in the final.
According to former LEC coach Peter Dun, the team has a lot of promise.
The Brit commended the team’s scouting and their “excellent coaching staff that brings noticeable improvement to the team literally every week.”
FURIA will undoubtedly be a test for G2, especially with their willingness to try unique strategies.
In Game 3 of the LTA South final, FURIA played a bot lane of Yasuo and Rakan and proceeded to win the game with 20 more kills than their opponents.
BLG
The LPL second seeds are heavy favourites to escape MSI Play-Ins, according to LoL betting sites.
With superstar players Chen ‘Bin’ Ze-Bin, Zhuo ‘Knight’ Ding, and Zhao ‘Elk’ Jia-Hao they will always cause teams problems.
However, last year’s Worlds finalists have struggled to reach their peak this year.
The lack of trophies puts a lot of pressure on jungler Yang ‘Beichuan’ Ling.
He is the only new member on this year’s roster and this will be his first international event.
Still, BLG have more than enough quality to make it through Play-Ins. In fact, they’ll probably benefit from the extra games.
It’s also worth noting that the organisation has defeated G2 in all three of their previous meetings, including at Worlds last year.
And the two teams are likely to face each other in the first qualification match.
GAM Esports
Vietnam’s GAM Esports are no strangers to Play-In stages at international events.
They have qualified through Play-Ins at the last two World Championships.
But MSI Play-Ins are notoriously harder, with only the top two seeds from each region.
At last year’s MSI, GAM failed to escape the Play-Ins after losing 2-0 to a struggling Fnatic team.
Only one player has changed from then with the addition of ADC Trần ‘Artemis’ Quốc Hưng
Though he’ll be helped by support Phạm ‘Elio’ Thạch Nhân Băng who had the second highest kill participation of MSI supports this split with an impressive 80.7% KP.
History suggests GAM will struggle, but Vietnamese teams are always scary when they’re underestimated.
In my seven years of esports writing, I’ve introuduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I’m most proud of the latter.
