The League of Legends Mid-season invitational is a testing grounds for the best teams in the world. It is also often a time for some teams to reassess and change strategy. Last year, TSM, G2, and the Flash Wolves all represented at MSI. Each team had 4 wins with TSM taking one extra loss, putting them at 3rd and 5th place respectively. However, come Worlds 2017, those teams did not perform nearly as well. Misfits were the stars of Europe and Cloud9 were the leading American team. What that means is that MSI is only a real ranking of where teams are now, but it gives teams time to look at their opponents, asses, and regroup for the rest of the year. So what does this year’s MSI say?

Last year, only Korea’s SKT and China’s Team WE managed to place high in MSI and at Worlds. SKT would make it all the way to the finals with Team WE following closely behind them in the semi-finals. Rather surprisingly, neither of those teams have made it to MSI this year.

Instead, Royal Never Give Up will be representing China and KING-ZONE DragonX (previously Longzhu Gaming) will be representing Korea. Despite MSI often being a warm-up for Worlds, things are looking pretty poor for the previous top teams. In Korea’s LCK, SKT finished in 4th place and KSV – the team formed from the old members of Samsung Galaxy – finished in 5th. In China’s LPL, Team WE also finished in 4th, with Invictus Gaming and Edward Gaming leading the pack despite Royal Never Give Up snaking a surprise win in the playoffs.

This means that most of the international teams will get a hint at the current Chinese meta, but they won’t get much first-hand experience of the top teams. Despite being a great team, Royal Never Give Up technically have the 4th, highest score in the LPL, meaning any one of the other teams in the top six of China could be strong contenders for Worlds later in the year. For those looking to take out the ever-oppressive Korean teams, DragonX is a good bet for a strong presence in Worlds. However, there is always one other factor to consider  – a team’s force of will.

Teams like SKT and TSM are known contenders, and it has been remarked in the past that they often get more serious the closer things get to Worlds. TSM could still rise to the top of the Summer Split and make a push for Worlds later. Even though Team Liquid took home the Spring Split victory, like China, there are many top competitors in the NA LCS right now, so MSI will give international teams little information on whom they will be facing in Worlds.

One team that everyone is definitely excited about, however, is Fnatic. Despite losing in the quarterfinals of Worlds last year, Fnatic showed a tenacity and will that few teams could match. The big teams to watch in MSI this year are Fnatic and DragonX, because we can almost certainly expect to see them back on the international stage at Worlds.