Following the cancellation of the 2020 edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mid-Season Invitational returned in 2021, bringing back the international League of Legends competition for the first time in nearly two years. The tournament took place in Reykjavík, Iceland, from May 6 to 23, and featured eleven teams from across the globe. Royal Never Give Up won the MSI 2021, securing their second trophy in the competition after their initial win in 2018. In a thrilling best-of-five final, the Chinese representatives edged out reigning world champions DAMWON Gaming with a narrow 3-2 victory.

The event was held under strict health and safety protocols, with no live audience and limited staff presence due to ongoing pandemic concerns. Travel restrictions continued to impact international mobility, and most notably, GAM Esports—the champions of the Vietnam Championship Series (VCS)—were unable to attend the event. Their absence was a significant blow to regional representation, but despite the circumstances, MSI 2021 successfully marked the return of high-level international competition and set the stage for the rest of the season.

Format and overview

MSI 2021 was played across three stages. It began with a Group Stage where the eleven participating teams were split into three groups based on pre-established seeding. Groups B and C played in a double round robin format, while Group A — due to only having three teams — competed in a quadruple round robin. All matches were best-of-one, and the top two teams from each group advanced to Stage 2. The Rumble Stage featured the six qualified teams in another double round robin, also played in a best-of-one format. Only the top four teams from this stage moved on to the Knockout Stage — a single elimination bracket played in best-of-five series to determine the MSI 2021 champion.

Eleven regions were represented at MSI 2021, each sending their respective champions. Pool 1 included the top seeds from the major regions: Royal Never Give Up from the LPL, DAMWON Gaming from the LCK, and MAD Lions from the LEC. In Pool 2, Cloud9 represented the LCS, while PSG Talon stood in for the PCS. Pool 3 featured Unicorns of Love from the LCL, Infinity Esports from the LLA and İstanbul Wildcats from the TCL. Finally, Pool 4 was made up of paiN Gaming from Brazil, DetonatioN FocusMe from Japan, and Pentanet.GG from Oceania.

Expectations and stakes

No real surprises here, the Korean and Chinese champions entered the tournament as clear favorites. DWG, the 2020 World Champions just a few months prior, were naturally at the center of attention, while RNG were also strong contenders after a convincing LPL split. They had a solid regular season, though their playoffs proved more difficult — a clean sweep loss to FunPlus Phoenix led by Kim "Doinb" Tae-sang, followed by back-to-back five-game series against Top Esports and EDward Gaming before earning another shot at FPX in the final, which they ultimately won. DAMWON, on the other hand, had no trouble cruising through the LCK Spring Playoffs, clean sweeping Hanwha Life Esports and Gen.G to claim the title.

It’s worth noting that technically, Europe still held the MSI crown at this time thanks to G2 Esports’ victory in 2019 in Taipei. This year, however, the LEC was represented by MAD Lions, a young roster featuring players like Matyáš "Carzzy" Orság, Marek "Humanoid" Brázda, and Javier "Elyoya" Prades Batalla. While less experienced than the G2 lineup, the team carried plenty of promise heading into the tournament.

A predictable group phase and a hard-fought rumble stage

Across the three groups, everything went as expected. In the first, RNG completely crushed PGG and UOL in all eight BO1s. The two teams canceled each other out twice and had to play a tiebreaker, which the Australians won. The second group saw MAD dominate across the board, except for a single game taken by IW. PSG comfortably secured second place. In the last group, DK only dropped one game to C9 but won the rest; the North Americans followed suit and locked in the second spot.

The Rumble Stage then brought together DK, RNG, PSG, MAD, C9, and Pentanet.GG, and it ended in that exact order. Thirty BO1s were played, with plenty of memorable highlights: Huang "Maple" Yi-Tang winning his 1v1 against Luka "Perkz" Perković, Heo "ShowMaker" Su deleting opponents with Zoe, Chiu "Doggo" Tzu-Chuan’s outplay against the C9 botlane, and Robert "Blaber" Huang mistakenly dooming his own botlane. A contested Rumble Stage, full of great moments.

Three BO5s to close out the tournament

Royal Never Give Up and PSG Talon opened the semifinals. Yan "Wei" Yang-Wei only played Morgana throughout the four-game series, while Kim "River" Dong-woo stuck to Udyr. Chen "GALA" Wei and Chiu "Doggo" Tzu-Chuan each played Kai’Sa and Tristana three times, swapping them just once. RNG ultimately came out on top, but not without resistance. PSG showed some great moments, and Doggo, only 18 years old and not even supposed to be at the tournament, impressed the world.

With Wong "Unified" Chun Kit sidelined due to health issues, Doggo was loaned from Beyond Gaming and seized the chance to showcase his talent, which later earned him a spot with Bilibili Gaming in the LPL. One of the most memorable moments came in game four, when he pulled off a spectacular triple kill while outnumbered, with Baron Nashor in reach for RNG. For a brief instant, the young AD Carry completely shifted the course of the fight, though it wasn’t enough to win the game. RNG eventually closed out the series 3-1, but the last match was anything but simple. Despite trailing by over 3,000 gold, they clawed their way back to secure their place in the final.

The other semifinal almost gave European fans flashbacks to 2019, as MAD Lions came within a single game of an international final. The first game was relatively quick in favor of DK, despite a strong early showing from the Spanish team. The next two games were the longest of the series, both exceeding 30 minutes. Matyáš "Carzzy" Orság delivered a huge performance on Xayah, stealing Baron Nashor to keep his team ahead after a fight that was going badly. In game three, the gold lead swung constantly, with Marek "Humanoid" Brázda on Orianna keeping DK dancing in teamfights—MAD were just one win away from the final.

Unfortunately for Europe, games four and five turned into stomps from the LCK champions. Kim "Canyon" Geon-bu played Rumble in all four games and topped damage in the fourth, while ShowMaker on Sylas delivered his usual, timeless performance on the champion. The final game followed the same pattern, a solid DK win that sent them to face RNG in the grand final of MSI 2021.

A finale in grand style

The first game was extremely close between the two Asian giants. While RNG held the lead, DK contested heavily and even nearly secured an Elder Dragon. GALA capitalized on a Zhonya timing from Canyon to dive into the pit and steal the dragon, keeping his team alive and allowing them to open the score. The LCK champions ran Lee Sin top in four games with Kim "Khan" Dong-ha in this MSI, winning each time, showcasing the player’s mechanical mastery. One standout mechanical play helped DK pull ahead in a tight game.

At just 20 years old, GALA was participating in his first international event. Unlike some rookies, he showed no hesitation: in game three, he initiated a bold play that closed the match and put his team one win away from the MSI title. The only Nidalee played by a Chinese or Korean team came from Canyon in game four of the final, highlighting how decisive this jungler can be under pressure. DK stomped that game, with Jang "Ghost" Yong-jun recording over 87% kill participation to force a game five, sending Silver Scrapes echoing through Reykjavik’s Laugardalshöll.

Midlane was by far the most diverse role in the tournament, with over 30 different champions played, including Nocturne, only seen on Yuan "Cryin" Cheng-Wei. In game five, the gold lead never shifted away from RNG, who dominated and secured the second MSI in the organization’s history. This marks China’s third MSI win, following EDward Gaming in 2015 and RNG in 2018, allowing the country to surpass South Korea, which has only two titles thanks to SKT T1’s back-to-back victories with Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok.