League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational

SKT T1 - Champions Spring 2015 Winners



Edward Gaming - 2015 LPL Spring Winners



Team Solomid - 2015 NA LCS Spring Winners



Fnatic - 2015 EU LCS Spring Winners



Ahq e-sports club - 2015 LMS Spring Winners



Besiktas e-sports club - International Wild Card Invitational Winners - Champions Spring 2015 Winners- 2015 LPL Spring Winners- 2015 NA LCS Spring Winners- 2015 EU LCS Spring Winners- 2015 LMS Spring Winners- International Wild Card Invitational Winners

Team Previews

SKT T1

Edward Gaming

TSM

Fnatic

Ahq e-sports Club

Besiktas e-Sports Club

Group Stage - SK Staff Predictions:

5-0

2nd – Edward Gaming 4-1

3rd – TSM 3-2

4th – Fnatic 2-3

5th – ahq e-Sports Club 1-4

6th – Besiktas e-Sports Club 0-5 1st – SKT5-02nd – Edward Gaming4-13rd – TSM3-24th – Fnatic2-35th – ahq e-Sports Club1-46th – Besiktas e-Sports Club0-5

5-0

2nd – Edward Gaming 4-1

3rd – TSM 3-2

4th – Fnatic 2-3

5th – ahq e-Sports Club 1-4

6th – Besiktas e-Sports Club 0-5 1st – SKT5-02nd – Edward Gaming4-13rd – TSM3-24th – Fnatic2-35th – ahq e-Sports Club1-46th – Besiktas e-Sports Club0-5

Semi-Final - SK Staff Predictions:

vs Fnatic SKTvs Fnatic

vs TSM Edward Gamingvs TSM

Final - SK Staff Predictions:

vs Edward Gaming SKTvs Edward Gaming

Pictures courtesy of lolesports

The six invited teams are:These six teams will clash in a round robin group stage. The top four teams that emerge from the group stage will advance to the bracket stage. The semifinals and finals will both be best-of-five matches with the tournament coming to its epic conclusion during the finals on May 10 at 14:30[PDT], 17:30[EDT], 23:30[CEST], and 6:30 [KST]. Learn more about some of the key players and their favorite champions below.Top – MaRinJungle – bengi/TOMMid – Faker/EasyhoonADC – BangSupport – Wolf/PiccabooCoach – KkOmaThe clear favorites for the event, SKT have had a resurgence in the past few months. After a disappointing Season 4 performance, both SKT teams merged leaving SKT S with bengi and Faker. A slow start to the season was turned around when they went undefeated in the second half, and proceeded to crush the playoffs. Despite recovering from being 2-0 down against CJ they swept GE Tigers 3-0 and deservedly earnt their MSI spot. A question is whether it will be Faker or Easyhoon playing in the midlane. Faker is still Faker, but Easyhoon really stepped up his performance in the final. With only 1 sub allowed, Easyhoon has been chosen to fill that role. Opponents will have trouble keeping Faker/Easyhoon off their comfort champions and woe betide them if they overlook Leblanc. Faker maintains his perfect record with her and he will individually destroy teams if allowed to play her.Top – Koro1Jungle – ClearloveMid – PawN/U/FireloliADC – DeftSupport – Meiko/FzzfCoach – AaronThe most dominant team over any Spring Split this year, EDG had an 86% win rate over the regular season, and went 9-4 in the playoffs. The introduction of Korean stars Deft and PawN added an extra dimension to their already strong team fighting strategy, and they dominated the majority of competition in China. Support Meiko has been a revelation and normally passive jungler Clearlove has experienced a renaissance, having the best season of his career. Like SKT, there are certain power picks that must be kept away from EDG - Koro’s Gnar is almost undefeated and PawN’s Kassadin is a force to be reckoned with. The possible weakness of EDG is PawN’s health problems. We don’t know if he will be playing at all, and although U is still a very good player, he won’t have had much time to synergise with the team.Top – DyrusJungle – SantorinMid – BjergsenADC – WildTurtleSupport – LustboyCoach – LocodocoTSM are like the Yankees of esports. You either love them fnatically (pun intended) or you hate them. Whatever your stance on the Baylife bros is, no one can argue with the success they’ve had lately. Their 13-5 in the NA LCS Spring Split, 1st place at IEM Katowice, and 1st place in the NA Spring playoffs records give them tons of momentum coming into Riot’s first Mid-Season Invitational. Lustboy’s success is often indicative of TSM’s success as a whole. His ability to snowball Wildturtle from the bottom lane allows TSM to steamroll over teamfights in the midgame. Look for him to play a lot of Janna and Kennen; he went a combined 7-1 with an 11.3 KDA last split on those champions. And of course you can’t talk about TSM without mentioning Bjergsen. The 19 year old prodigy has frequently proven he can solo carry TSM through games with his diverse champion pool (He won with 8 different champions during the Spring Split and playoffs) and stellar mechanics. Because he’s impossible to ban out, look for opposing teams to put a lot of jungle pressure on him early to try to keep him down.Top – HuniJungle – ReignOverMid – FebivenADC – SteeelbackSupport – YellOwStaRCoach – DeilorFnatic beat the Unicorns of Love in a thrilling best-of-5 that went all the way to the 5th game to claim victory in the European 2015 Spring Split and punch their tickets to the Mid-Season Invitational. Going 13-5 in the Spring Split and 6-4 in the playoffs they proved why their organization has been so dominant for so long. Look for their MVP, Huni, to take carry champions like Rumble, Lissandra, and Hecarim to the top lane. His teleport usage on Hecarim was sublime during their series against UOL in the finals. Rumble was his most played champion during the split and for good reason; sporting a 5-2 record with a 3.85 KDA. On the other side of the map, Steeelback has proven that he can stand toe-to-toe with the best ADCs that Europe has to offer. Look for the other teams to try to ban or pick away his Corki; it was his most played champion during the Spring Split with a 5-2 record and 8.73 KDA.Top – ZivJungle – Albis/MountainMid – WestdoorADC – AnSupport – GreenTeaCoach – BackstairsMany people will remember Ahq from their impressive worlds performance but after many roster changes the team only managed to scrape 4th place in the LMS regular split. A shocking run of good form saw them crush the playoffs only dropping 1 game and beating the much fancied Yoe Flash Wolves. Led by star mid laner Westdoor, they have the necessary skills to cause an upset. If they can continue to ride their wave of excellent form then they could take a couple of games. It’s up to them to try and show the LMS’ strength, as it is now viewed as only the 5th best region.Top – ThaldrinJungle – TheokolesMid – EnergyADC – NardeusSupport – DumbledogeCoach - LethilionBesiktas e-Sports Club (BJK) comes into this event as the international wildcard team and clear underdog. However, they have dominated their region as of late taking 1st place in the 2015 TCL Winter season, 1st place in the 2015 TCL Winter Playoffs, and 1st at the International Wild Card Invitational going a combined 27-5 against the likes of Dark Passage (Turkey’s representative at Worlds 2014), the Bangkok Titans from the GPL, and Japan’s best team, DetonationN FocusMe. Besiktas will definitely have their work cut out for them against the likes of TSM and EDward Gaming, but their key to success will be getting their mid-laner Energy on a comfortable champion. Look for him to take Ahri early in the draft; he won with her multiple times in BJK’s run through the International Wild Card Invitational tournament. Their AD Carry, Nardeus, can’t be ignored either. As a Graves and Lucian main he likes to go aggressive early and snowball his lead, but he has shown that he can play the late game carry as well, going 11-3-14 on Jinx vs INTZ e-Sports (Brazil) in the IWCT. If these guys are allowed to get their comfort picks they could steal a game from one of the other teams.Jonathan 'Qualk' MartinI’m expecting SKT to take first place in the group stage, as they have a legacy of winning in the most competitive region in the world. I’m expecting EDward Gaming with their star-studded lineup and Korean infusion of talent in PawN and Deft to only drop a single game to the South Korean representative. TSM is going to ride their momentum to a 3-2 finish in the group stage, dropping games to EDG and SKT but I predict they’ll be able to handle Fnatic, ahq, and Besiktas. Fnatic is going to be the last team to qualify for the bracket stage; I think they’ll be able to beat ahq and Besiktas.Alex 'Krahft' FerridaySKT are the clear favorites for the title and should handily take 1st place, with only EDG being able to really challenge them. TSM could be the surprise factor - if they play like they did at IEM then anything could happen, but chances are they will end up third with a 3-2 record. Besiktas will unfortunately go 0-5 with Ahq's only win being over them, and Fnatic are hard to predict but I can't see them doing that well.Jonathan 'Qualk' MartinThe Korean squad is going to take this series 3-0. Fnatic is good, but both of their playoff series going to all 5 games against the likes of H2K and UOL doesn’t show me that they’re in dominant enough form to take down the Korean powerhouse.Alex 'Krahft' FerridaySKT will win an easy 3-0, I can't see Fnatic being able to surprise them and SKT will simply be far too strong in a best of 5, either Faker or Easyhoon are good enough to stop Fnatic, and MaRin may be able to nullify Huni in the top lane.Jonathan 'Qualk' MartinI think EDward Gaming will take this series in 4 games. TSM is playing very well right now and I think it’ll be enough for them to take one game off of the Chinese squad, but in the end EDG’s experience and teamfighting prowess will win out.Alex 'Krahft' FerridayI think EDG will triumph 3-1, TSM will get a game through their excellent preparation, but they are never great at adapting on the fly, something they must do to beat EDG who can run multiple strategies and still be successful.Jonathan 'Qualk' MartinThis is going to be the best series of the tournament and I think it’ll goto all 5 games. These teams are very evenly matched but I think in the end the team-fighting and mechanical skill of Bang will win out. He posted an 8.2 KDA going 14-5-27 in 3 wins against the GE Tigers.Alex 'Krahft' FerridaySKT will win 3-1, they are (once again) the best team in the world right now, and as great as EDG are I don't expect them to take more than 1 game. PawN vs Faker would be very interesting as PawN always had the better of that match up, but I believe EDG lack the creative edge to out think SKT.by Jonathan 'Qualk' Martinand Alex 'Krahft' Ferriday