Over the history of competition League of Legends, Chinese teams have dominated the competition. The region is home to the last three Mid-Season Invitational champions, and next year, they could be getting homefield advantage.
MSI 2024 is reportedly being hosted in Chengdu, and will be first time in eight years that MSI will be hosted in the country, according to reports by Korean news outlet Naver. Riot Games did say that nothing can be confirmed for the tournament, but fans have already started buzzing for a return to mainland China.
Back when MSI was hosted by China in 2016, it was hosted in Shanghai, where Faker and the ever-dominant SK Telecom T1 took home yet another piece of hardware for their trophy case. Royal Never Give Up was dispatched in four games by the Korean superteam in the semifinals, while CLG took out Flash Wolves to reach the finals.
From 2018 onward, however, the LPL has maintained a tight grip on the MSI crown. G2 Esports might have won the trophy in 2019, but RNG has won three of the last five iterations of the tournament. It hasn’t been close when it comes to MSI, even with a new format that has allowed two representatives from each region to attend the tournament for the first time in history.
This year, Chinese juggernaut JD Gaming took down Bilibili Gaming with ease to take home the title in their quest for the ever-elusive Grand Slam, which could come to fruition with a win at the 2023 World Championship. Even still, JDG and BLG were the best teams at MSI, overcoming other top seeds like T1, Gen.G, G2 Esports, Cloud9, and MAD Lions, and now, they might have the crowd on their side if the tournament makes its way over to Chengdu in 2024.
In the meantime, catch both BLG and JDG in action when Worlds 2023 continues on Thursday, Oct. 26 at 2am CT.
