MSI 2021 Power Rankings (12–7)
20 APRIL 2021 — by League Analyst
After a one-year hiatus, the Mid-Season Invitational is back in the League of Legends calendar and this year we are heading to Reykjavík to decide the Mid-Season champion. This year’s format will work a little bit differently from past years and will include 3 stages: the Group stage, Rumble stage and Knockout stage. The winning region will also be rewarded with an extra seed for the World Championship later this year.
We’ll now dive in to the 11 attending teams, rank them and look a bit closer at their strengths and weaknesses.
Disclaimer
These ratings are based of pure facts and absolutely no subjective opinions. If you disagree you are wrong but feel free to flame me in the comments. Let’s begin!
12 - İstanbul Wildcats (TCL)
Coming in first on the list is the TCL representative, İstanbul Wildcats. This rookie squad ended their regular season 14–1, earning them 2nd place in the TCL. From there they battled their way to the Mid-Season Invitational, taking down 1907 Fenerbahçe Esports 3–1 in the regional finals.
The Wildcats team is built around their veteran ADC HolyPhoenix, known for his aggressive Kalista and Tristana picks. By his side he has Farfetch who was awarded the “Most Improved” player of the split award in the TCL. This botlane is the shining ray of hope for the Cats when comparing them to their opponents in group B.
What puts the Wildcats at 12 place in the ranking is their unproven rookie talent on the top side of the map. The squad has showed the ability to match the competition in the TCL and now have to step it up further to match the level of play on the international stage.
11 - Infinity Esports (LLA)
Similarly to the Wildcats, Infinity Esports is built around their own superstar ADC, Whitelotus who is widely considered to be the best ADC player in Latin America. He formerly attended MSI 2017 and 18 on Rainbow7 and Lyon Gaming respectively.
His support Ackerman was awarded the “Outstanding Rookie” award in the LLA and has solidified this duo as one best in the region. Both players in this botlane-duo were placed in the LLA All Pro Team and is definitely the lane to look towards when the team enters the rift in group C.
Infinity also placed 2nd in their regular season with a 10–4 game score. They qualified for MSI by beating Furious Gaming in a close 3–2 series in the finals. Now they find themselves together with the LCK, LCS and LJL to compete in the first round of MSI.
10 - DetonatioN FocusMe (LJL)
DetonatioN FocusMe is back at the international stage to represent the LJL once again. It’s the same core that we’ve seen so many times before; Evi, Steal and Yutapon, three players that played for the roster since 2018. But what makes me exited for this team is their new Korean superstar midlaner, Aria. His absurd flexibility and playmaking potential has given this legendary organization a new flame.
This is a squad with tons of international experience and with the individual strength coming out from the midlane, they might just be able to challenge for one of the top two spots in group C. Couple that with the fact that they have arguably the two strongest native Japanese players in Yutapon and Evi, you really can’t afford to underestimate this team.
Detonation FocusMe has dominated the LJL and placed 1st in the regular season with a 12–2 game score. From there they qualified for MSI by beating V3 Esports 3–1 in the finals.
9 - paiN Gaming (CBLOL)
It has been a tight season over in the CBLOL but in the end it is paiN Gaming who will be representing the region at MSI. They battled their way to 5th place in the regular season and ran the playoff gauntlet to eventually qualify by beating Vorax 3–1 in the finals.
This is one of the most flexible teams coming out from the minor regions and has pulled out a bunch of interesting picks in multiple roles across the season. We obviously have to mention that paiN has the Draven god brTT on the roster, the player with the most CBLOL titles in the world.
I would also look towards Tinowns in the midlane to provide a lot of value for the team. He usually takes a more controlled and supportive role for the team but also has quite a few pocket-picks in store that has come out during the spring split.
8 - Pentanet.GG (LCO)
The mid game kings from the LCO, Pentanet is making their first appearance on the international stage. This is a team known for their front to back teamfighting style which they use to take over games as soon as the laning phase ends.
This style has resulted in the team often falling behind in the early game, but it’s their ability to scale and turn the game around that has earned them the LCO championship. They ended the regular season 13–1 and qualified for MSI by beating PEACE 3–1 in the finals.
With their iconic teamfighting style, every player on this roster has a very specific role and all of the pieces has to work to pull of the strategy well. But keep an extra eye out for the MVP of the split; their toplane tank mastermind, BioPanther.
7 - Unicorns Of Love (LCL)
Our beloved Unicorns are back once again to represent LCL at MSI! This is mostly the same squad that we saw at worlds 2020 when they qualified for the main stage by battling through the play-ins. In 2021 however, the team has had a shaky road to the championship.
They barely made it into the LCL playoffs in 4th place with a 10–4 game score. With a roster swap in the ADC role the team bounced back and ran the playoff gauntlet, qualifying for MSI by beating CrowCrowd 3–1 in the finals.
The Unicorns are universally known for their off-meta picks and unconventional playstyle. In 2020 however, they have opted for a more standard approach to the meta and relied on clean and calculated play to defeat their opponents. Nomanz and aHaHaCiK are the core of the roster and are the two main players that we can expect to create big plays for the team.
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