5. Royal Never Give Up vs SK Telecom T1, MSI 2016 Group Stage Game 2: coming in as world champions and South Korea’s spring split winners, SK Telecom T1 started MSI 2016 had a surprisingly lackluster group performance. In the very last game of the group stage, they faced off against China’s powerful RNG team which had already beaten them once. The LPL champions started strong and after several hard-fought fights in the mid-game slowly grew their lead and nearly ended the game after catching SKT off a Baron. Yet in the end, two immaculate teamfights turned the tide as Bae "Bangi" Jun-sik’s Lucian danced around danger and piled on the damage. SKT turned the game around and would continue to win their first ever MSI. Credit: Riot Games
4. Gigabyte Marines vs Team WE, MSI 2017 Group Stage Game 1: while wildcard teams were long a fixture of the MSI scene, few people took them seriously until 2017, when the southeast Asia champion Gigabyte Marines burst into the stage. The Vietnamese champions took Team SoloMid to five games in the play-in and showed they had come to play in the main event as well. Their best game was their aggressive throwdown against LPL champions World Elite. Đỗ "Levi" Duy Khánh had a monster performance on his signature Kha’zix. GAM were just one game short of making the semifinals, but their signature early aggression would herald the rise of Vietnam on the League of Legends scene.Credit: Riot Games
3. Royal Never Give up vs Kingzone DragonX, MSI 2018 Grand Finals Game 4: after several years of being seen as the best player to not win a championship, Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao finally won his first LPL championship in the spring of 2018 and with it, he stamped his ticket to the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational. In the grand final, RNG faced off against LCK’s Kingzone Dragon, and in game 4,they were at match point for their first MSI title. The Korean team came strong, however, and a 4-1 fight for KZ near the baron 28 minutes in saw the LCK team extend their lead and take two inhibitors. Yet despite the super minions in their base, RNG held on until they found a chance to strike - and with two quick kills going to Uzi’s already fed Kai’sa, they routed Kingzone to secure their first MSI title. Credit: Riot Games
3. G2 Esports vs SK Telecom T1, MSI 2019 Semifinals Game 4: the 2019 tournament was probably the most impressive throughout, with multiple big upsets and emotional rollercoasters. However, for us probably the best game of the tournament was in the semifinals, where G2 had their backs to the wall against the powerhouse SKT team. It was a hard-fought back and forth, with the European team having a great start but Faker doing, well, Faker things. In the end, the LEC champions managed to secure a win and went to game 5, eventually besting SKT and taking the MSI crown. Credit: Riot Games
1. SK Telecom T1 vs EDward Gaming, MSI 2015 Grand Finals Game 5: after missing from the 2014 World Championship, SKT was back with a vengeance in 2015. At MSI,the team went undefeated in the .group stage before taking down Fnatic in a hard-fought five-game series in the semifinal, leading to a grand final against China’s EDward Gaming. The series went back and forth, with Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok coming in for game four and locking his undefeated Leblanc for game five - only for EDG to build a composition against it. Faker put up an amazing effort, even buying a Mejai’s Soulstealer to put the team on his back, but EDG were not to be outdone - and after a titanic clash, the LPL champions took their first MSI title.Credit: Riot Games
With the upcoming Mid-Season Invitational announced, it’s time to look back at the great games the tournament has delivered before. With only the best teams from each region’s spring split attending the event, MSI has seen some of the most impressive clashes in League of Legends history. It is hard to narrow the best MSI games to just five, but we tried - and here are our picks.
