The Mid-Season Invitational bracket is finally updated

_{^{Image credit: LoL Esports (Twitter/X)}}

The bracket for the eight teams in the Mid-Season Invitational Play-In Stage have been confirmed.

The all-new format for the upcoming Mid-Season Invitational in Chengdu, China will feature some of the biggest names from around the world as they will kick-start the tournament with the Play-In Stage. The bracket was confirmed via the LPL live stream after its Spring Split grand finals, which saw Bilibili Gaming overcome Top Esports to book a spot in the Bracket Stage of MSI.

And that loss saw Top still qualify to MSI but in the Play-In Stage, where they got selected into the Play-In Bracket B where they will go up against the winner of the CBLOL, LOUD. On the other side of the bracket, there is also Fnatic and GAM Esports to finalise the B Bracket.

This means that the likes of T1 will be in Bracket A where they will go up against Estral Esports from the LLA with FlyQuest and PSG Talon on the other half. With the defending world champion fighting for a spot in the Bracket Stage, it will be interesting to see how well T1 can cope in the Play-In Stage.

MSI 2024 — Play-In Stage Bracket

Group A

• T1 vs Estral ESports
• FlyQuest vs PSG Talon

Group B

• Top Esports vs LOUD
• Fnatic vs GAM Esports

The Play-In Stage is unlike any other of the previous iterations of MSI. Instead, both Brackets A and B will be a double-elimination format, with every game being a best-of-three series. The winners from each respective series will go up against one another while the losers will drop to the lower bracket where they will have to play an additional series to qualify.

Both groups will have plenty of fireworks on display once MSI starts, as some of the biggest names in the scene will have to fight to stay in the tournament. Group A already features plenty of firepower as it has the defending world champions in it. And it will be none other than Estral that has the opportunity to go up against T1 in the first series. This will also be Estral's first-ever appearance at MSI, with two of its players also making their debuts.

FlyQuest is another team that will be making its MSI debut as an org, but it boasts a strong lineup of experienced players coupled with a talented bottom lane duo at their first-ever international event. They will be going up against one of the PCS' most dominant teams in recent years, PSG Talon, who are making its fourth MSI appearance in a row. However, its top-four finish during its debut has been the org's best finish to date.

GAM Esports managed to still clinch the VCS title despite the match-fixing controversy just a few weeks ago. They will be looking to put it behind them as they prepare to go up against Fnatic once again, having previously last met at Worlds 2023 during the Swiss Stage, which Fnatic won 1-0. This will also be Fnatic's first MSI appearance in six years, with the last one dating back to 2018 where they finished in the top-four.

Top Esports will have to wait until later today to determine who they will face from the CBLOL. Both LOUD and paiN Gaming have only ever been to MSI once, with the former losing out to PSG last season while the latter was in 2021 where they got eliminated during the group stage phase. Top should have a relatively easy road to the upper bracket final, provided they don't get complacent against the Brazilians.

The Mid-Season Invitational 2024 is set to start on May 1st to the 19th.