5 Must watch match-ups at MSI 2019

With this year’s Mid Season Invitational soon beginning we are about to see some great League of Legends matches between some amazing teams. Every team coming in to this tournament has shown a wide range of domestic success in the past few months and are coming into MSI hungry. We’ve seen some of the best players in the world spend the spring split of their respective league dominating the competition and proving time after time that they are the best their region has to offer. In this piece I’ll be taking a look at the 5 most must watch match-ups coming in to this tournament and who might be leaving these matches victorious.

G2 vs TL

The classic match of Europe versus North America, this will be the most hyped match for most western viewers as these are the only teams attending the main event of this tournament from outside of Asia. Last year we saw a clear disparity in skill between these two regions with Europe consistently offering up better results than North America at each international tournament the regions attended. Coming into the 2019 season both of these teams made major overhauls to their rosters, each team received major upgrades across the board and were clearly the most dominant teams in their respective regions.

G2’s strengths are far clearer cut than Team Liquids, having highly skilled players in each position they achieve most of their victories through sheer mechanical outplays. Throughout the spring split of the LEC G2 consistently outperformed their domestic competitors, even the second and third place LEC teams didn’t come close to toppling G2’s dynasty of domination. This streak of dominant performances could be G2’s downfall though as they come up against these international competitors. If G2 isn’t quick to adapt to the preferred play-style or meta at this tournament then their mechanical skill may not be enough to carry them through the later stages of the tournament.

Team Liquid’s strengths are far more complex than that of G2, Liquid’s players aren’t the best mechanical players on paper but their ability to work as a team is what makes them shine. In the LCS grand final it was clear that TSM outclassed Liquid in terms of individual skills, it was however Team Liquid’s strategic game-play and vision control that allowed them to take the grand finals from TSM after dropping the first 2 games of the series. This match will be a true showing of brains versus brawn, G2 have the mechanical skill that can get them early leads and snowball the game where-as Liquid have the late game team fighting ability that can secure them clutch wins if the game drags out long enough.

With the current meta being so snowbally i believe this match-up will inevitably be G2 favored as their ability to snowball an early lead is far greater than Liquid’s ability to stall out a game and capitalize on late-game team fights or picks.

IG vs SKT

Arguably the most talked about match in recent history, SKT vs IG is a true clash of the titans. 3 time world Champion and most successful League of Legends organisation of all time SK Telecom up against the current world champion and most people’s pick for best team in the world Invictus Gaming. The unstoppable force meets the immovable object, easily the two strongest teams at this tournament and the two with the most to lose.

Both of these teams achieved victory in their domestic regions with ease, both of which took the grand final in their region in dominant 3–0 series. Each of these lineups is filled with stars from top to bottom, names such as TheShy, Faker, Rookie, and Mata are just a few of the S class pieces of talent that have culminated into these two rosters. This will truly be one of the greatest League of Legends battles of all time. With the amount of star power and carry potential that each of these teams have it’s next to impossible to predict a clear winner for this.

IG vs G2

One of the more interesting matches for this years MSI is G2 versus Invictus Gaming. At last years world championship we saw these two teams go head to head in the semi-finals with IG taking a 3–0 victory against G2. Since this crushing defeat occurred G2 has overhauled their roster and received clear upgrades in Mid, ADC, and Support. An extra thing to factor in to this match is the mid lane match-up of Caps vs Rookie which will be the deciding factor when these two teams meet. Although Caps was not playing for G2 last year he is no stranger to waging war against Invictus Gaming. On an even more prestigious stage Caps also fell victim to an IG thrashing at the season 8 world finals as a part of his previous team Fnatic.

G2 will definitely be coming into this match hungry for revenge and looking to show that they can stand toe-to-toe with the top dogs. A G2 victory would be huge here and would be enough of a kick to their momentum to propel them to a tournament win, if you can take down the alpha male then you can take down the whole pack. While a victory for G2 will be a rough road it is still doable if they prepare correctly, focusing on Perkz’ never ending champion pool will be key to G2 seeing victory in this match-up.

SKT vs FW

For years Flash Wolves were touted as being the legendary ‘Korean killers’, for a long time they were the only team you could rely on to take a single game from a Korean team let alone a whole series. During a time when Korean teams were the clear kings of League of Legends Flash Wolves offered up an option of revolt in their anti-Korean strategies that seemed to leave even the best Korean teams at a stand still. In recent years Flash Wolves have had a marginal fall from grace and while still being the clear cut top team in Taiwan they are only a shadow of their former international self.

While for SKT this match may not seem important for Flash Wolves it is huge, if Flash Wolves can defeat SK Telecom they could usher in some remnants of their old legacy. Having a victory over the strongest Korean team is nothing to scoff at and for Flash Wolves this could be make or break for them. As of right now there is no designated Korean killers, while Europe, North America, and China have all taken series off Korea none of those regions or teams stand out as excelling against Koreans. If the current rage of Chinese dominance is short lived and we go back to the Korean League of Legends monarchy then Flash Wolves may be our only hope. If Flash Wolves can perform to the standard that they have in years prior then they may be able to take this series, if they are unable to recreate the magic that they saw in times gone by then this should be an easy win for SK Telecom.

TL vs IG

The final interesting match-up at MSI will be Team Liquid against Invictus Gaming. A true David versus Goliath story. Korean and European teams know the beast they are up against when facing Invictus Gaming, North American teams however have barely had a taste of this beast’s fury. The only North American team to face this star-studded IG roster was a crumbling 100 Thieves at last year’s world championship. Could Team Liquid step up to the plate and take down the giant? Or will they see the same fate as their brothers did last year? More than likely the second one but wouldn’t it be amazing to see TL of all teams come up victorious against IG.

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