MSI groups have officially been drawn! While the LCS and VCS haven’t yet decided their representatives, we now know where every participating region will land. And, considering how the groups fell, we’re going to have some fierce competition between the minor region representatives.
Group A pits LCK powerhouse T1 against fan-favorite Japanese team DetonatioN FocusMe, LATAM representative Team Aze, and the to-be-determined VCS team. T1 is an obvious favorite here, but there’s a strong chance we get to see DetonatioN FocusMe's new and improved roster have a chance at high placement.
Group B has the newly crowned LPL champions RNG pitted against the PCS’s PSG Talon, CBLOL’s Red Canids, and the TCL’s Istanbul Wildcats. Again, a clear favorite here in RNG, but the competition between PSG Talon and the other two minor region teams will be fierce. PSG will likely be favored over the other two minor region teams, but don’t count them out just yet.
Group C is… Well, to put it simply, William "Meteos" Hartman saved NA with his draw of the group. Both G2 and whoever wins the LCS will be in Group C, along with ORDER, the OCE rep this year. As much as we’d love to see an OCE miracle run, this group is all but set in stone as far as who moves on.
While it’s a shame we won’t see many major regions clash through the initial group stage, the fact that we’ll be seeing at least two minor region teams move on to the next stage feels like a very apt pairing for what MSI is all about: showing the best players the world has to offer. And, if the legendary Valorant run of the Japanese team Zeta Division is anything to go by, we should never write off smaller regions in esports.
