The Mid-Season Invitationals event hit its stride this yr, and the info suggests an upward pattern.
League of Legends esports event MSI 2024 reached its finish this weekend. All through the practically three-week-long derby, we noticed large performs and ugly losses. However amidst the ups and downs, Riot’s diehard neighborhood amounted to the very best concurrent viewer rely for MSI since its 2017 begin.
MSI 2024 concluded with the explosive Grand Remaining between LCK powerhouse Gen.G and Chinese language reps Bilibili Gaming. The perfect-of-five denied all expectations because the Korean seed broke China’s win streak; a well-earned victory given GEN’s utter dominance in home tournaments.
On this article, we’re taking a look at how MSI 2024’s fruits — and all the pieces that led as much as it — gave us the most important mid-year celebration in League of Legends historical past.
MSI 2024 Breaks Document for Most Concurrent Views
A New Hope
For the primary time in LoL esports historical past, the winner of MSI this yr could be assured a spot at Worlds, Riot’s largest championship of the yr.
The modifications had been introduced early this yr, priming the LPL, LCK, LCS, PCS and CBLOL, LLA, VCS and LEC for a banger mid-season invitational. Whereas the outcomes had been anticipated, the views mirrored the hype MSI 2024 garnered.
In a submit, Esports Charts listed peak viewership for the previous seven invitationals. And the numbers present that MSI 2024 did one thing proper.
Mid-Season Invitational comparability by Peak Viewers:#MSI2024 – 2.8M (🆕 report)#MSI2023 – 2.3M#MS2022 – 2.2M#MSI2021 – 1.8M#MSI2019 – 1.7M#MSI2018 – 993K#MSI2017 – 916K
Stats excl. Chinese language streaming platforms.
Detailed statistics of occasions 👇
— Esports Charts 🇺🇦 (@EsportsCharts) Might 19, 2024
MSI 2024 had 500,000 extra views than final yr’s and greater than twice the height viewers of the inaugural Invitational, making it the most well-liked MSI ever.
It is value noting that this solely accounted for eyeballs that had been on streaming websites like Twitch and YouTube, which implies that the precise quantity (if you happen to account for Chinese language streaming websites) might be increased than what we now have.
Struggling Legends
The beginning of MSI 2024 was extraordinarily controversial.
For starters, it was the primary time in latest reminiscence that we noticed T1 — Korea’s poster youngster for LoL esports excellence — in Stage A Play-ins, a class reserved for groups punching as much as the season’s most dominant groups.
As anticipated, T1 completed robust to carry out within the higher brackets. They hit the bottom working towards groups like G2 Esports and Workforce Liquid. However a fateful Silver Scrapes towards semifinalist BLG eradicated the LCK legends from MSI 2024.
This felt harking back to Fnatic’s surprising fall of their home courtroom again in Winter 2023. The once-legendary EU org floundered within the early levels, and could not get into Teams for the primary time in Fnatic’s historical past.
Humanoid and co. have risen to raised heights since then, pinching a runner-up spot within the Season Finals, getting a number of deep runs in 2024, and finally exhibiting up at MSI 2024.
Whether or not you had been a T1 fan or not, you could not take your eyes off the display screen, particularly while you noticed Faker making errors.
The once-untouchable reigning champs dedicated some avoidable blunders of their MSI run; errors which star participant Lee “Faker” Sang-Hyeok blamed on a scarcity of correct apply as a consequence of steady DDoS assaults towards T1. Whereas T1 finally picked themselves again up, it was uncommon to look at gods bleed.
Hungry Underdogs
Regardless of their losses, these “David vs. Goliath” match-ups nonetheless had hyped moments that nearly upset your complete bracket!
Fnatic vs High Esports (Play-Ins Stage)
The primary stage of MSI 2024 pitted Fnatic’s boys towards China’s 2nd seed, and regardless of the ability hole, Humanoid’s squad nonetheless took the fights wherever they might, choosing the higher fights till they reached a collection level.
High Esports vs Gen.G (Bracket Stage)
Early in the primary stage, LPL #2 seed High Esports went up towards Korean titans Gen.G, a workforce identified for being T1’s Waterloo in home tournaments. That stated, not solely did they discover some huge wins, however they brawled for the complete best-of-five collection in probably the most surprising Silver Scrapes of your complete championship.
G2 Esports vs T1 (Bracket Stage)
We nearly noticed the most important upset in 5 years when Caps and co. went toe-to-toe towards the Unkillable Demon King’s squad.
G2 Esports appeared the strongest they’ve ever been, evoking 2019 recollections of EU supremacy. And all of it appeared like it will go their approach till the fifth and last Silver Scrapes match, when Zeus and Faker devastated the Rift with their impenetrable armor for a T1 win.
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