The Mid-Season Invitational is heading to Reykjavík, Iceland from the 6th to the 23rd of May 2021. This will be two of Riot Games' biggest esports events of the year for League of Legends and Valorant.
For the upcoming MSI, games will be played at the Laugardalshöll indoor sporting arena, known for being the battleground of the historic 1972 World Chess Championship that featured the "Match of the Century".
Unfortunately, as COVID-19 is still very much relevant to this day, MSI 2021 will not be able to accommodate a live audience. All teams and players must also adhere to the protocols set in Iceland, which includes a mandatory quarantine for health and safety reasons.
MSI 2021 will also bring about some new changes to the format. First off, there will be no more Play-Ins; all teams from across the regions will now start in the same three group stages. Each group will have four teams where they will play a best-of-one in a double-round robin. Only the top two teams will advance to the next stage.
For the six remaining teams, they will play another best-of-one in a double-round robin format where only the top four will advance to the playoff bracket. From there, it's the knockout stages, which will be a single-elimination best-of-five semifinal, followed by the finals.
As for the Valorant Champions Tour Stage 2 Masters, it will have 10 of the top teams from around the world competing against one another for the first time to determine who will reign supreme as we head into the second half of the season.
The VCT Masters Reykjavík will begin on the 24th of May, a day after MSI 2021 and will culminate in the grand final on the 30th of May. But to participate, teams will have to compete in their respective regional Challenger events to qualify for Masters Stage 2.
Verizon will also be playing a big part in both MSI 2021 and the Valorant Champions Tour Stage 2 Masters as the official 5G partner. They will be supporting both LoL Esports Global Events as well as Valorant Esports as the Official 5G Wireless and Network Service Partner in all future tournaments and events.
This includes the League of Legends World Championship (aka Worlds) in North America in 2022, the LoL Esports All-Star Event, three VCT Masters events, and even Valorant Champions.
But there is more to Verizon's partnership with Riot Games that meets the eye. They are also a key partner in Valorant's recently announced VCT Game Changers. This programme is all about empowering female players by giving them more opportunities to compete at the semi-pro and grassroots level with monthly tournaments.
We will be updating more on both MSI 2021 and the VCT Stage 2 Masters in the coming weeks so be sure to stay tuned!
