MSI 2022 Power Rankings

MSI is one of the biggest Esports tournaments of the year. It brings together the Spring Split champions of all the main League of Legends regions in order to crown the true champion of them all. The tournament will take place in Busan, South Korea, where 11 teams will fight for international glory starting on the 10th of May and ending on the 29th of May.

The tournament will have three phases. The group stage will take place in the Busan Esports Arena, teams will be divided into three groups where they will play a double round-robin with all the matches being a best-of-one, and the top two from each group advancing to the second phase.

Both the second and third phases will take place in the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center.

In the second phase, the six best teams will face off in a double round-robin with the matches being once again a best of one.

The top four teams will then move to the knockout stage, where we will have a single-elimination bracket, with the matches being best-of-five, and it will be in this phase that the MSI 2022 champions will be crowned.

MSI will be played on patch 12.8.

Being the first international tournament of the year MSI features the best international talent you could hope for. However, the LCL will not be represented since the league is suspended and will not return in the near future.

Another unfortunate situation is the one about the LPL champions RNG. The team will not be able to travel to South Korea due to the Covid-19 situation in China which made it impossible for RNG to attend the event in Busan.

In order to allow the LPL champions to still play, Riot Games allowed RNG to play remotely from China, using the tools that were already used on the Mid-Season-Cup 2020. they are able to play with a 35 ping which is viable in Riot Games opinion.

However, playing on 35 ping is something that will benefit RNG and prejudicate the South Korean champions T1, since they are used to playing at a ping of 11 in solo queue and a much lower one in LAN.

All teams come to MSI with the dream of achieving international glory and having their names written in the history books.

So without further ado, let’s get right into the power rankings.

1. T1

After an 18-0 regular Split and also going undefeated in the LCK playoffs T1 are the massive favorites to take the MSI trophy back to South Korea. The team has performed at a level no one has been able to reach domestically and is looking to bring that dominance to the international competition.

With the best Bot Lane in the world, Gumayusi, and Keria, it’s going to be hard for any other Bot Lane in the tournament to overcome this duo.

Keria is seen by many as the best support in the world and maybe even the best player overall.

T1 is an incredible early game team, mainly because they are able to get a lot of advantages in the laning phase.

They average almost a 4k gold lead at 15 minutes, an absurd 38.5 cs advantage also at 15, which proves how good their laners are. Combine that with an 85.7% first tower percentage, and 71% first blood, and you can see why T1 is the best early game team at MSI.

They also thrive at team fighting and I risk saying they are already one of the best teams in the history of League of Legends. With talent spread across the board T1 are the heavy favorites to win MSI 2022.

2. RNG

The LPL champions will have to play from China but that doesn’t mean they won’t be as dangerous as ever. With the focus being on revalidating their MSI title you can expect a strong RNG heading into MSI.

Contrary to T1, RNG is a more late-game-focused team. They have a low first tower percentage of just 35.7, and a 57.1% first blood.

However, it’s on team fights and skirmishes that RNG shines. Gala is the main source of damage of the team, dealing 33.3% of the team damage.

RNG also has a very deep champion pool which is also the main factor that makes it so hard to draft against them.

With the addition of Bin this offseason, the team got another player that can play the carry role but will play the tank role if necessary at a very high level.

They are a very talented and experienced team, so expected RNG to go far in this competition.

3. G2 Esports

G2 Esports reclaimed the European crown and will once again represent Europe at MSI. The kings of Europe dint started their playoff adventure in the best way losing to rivals Fnatic 3-1, but after dropping to the lower bracket G2 Esports entered a new level, not dropping a map and going 12-0 to claim the LEC title.

The team has a good early game, despite only having an average gold advantage of +153 at the 15 minutes mark, they have a 90% win rate when ahead at the 15-minute mark, 68.8% first blood, and a 68.8% when it comes to the first tower.

Flakked is the main damage dealer of G2 Esports, the rookie ADC performed really well in the playoffs, proving he is a reliable carry.

The first blood king was also back, has Jankos once again proved why he is the best jungler in Western history.

G2 Esports also thrives on team fights, and Broken Blade being able to play a more tanky and supportive role was a big part of that.

Claps is also back and wants to once again challenge for the mid-lane throne, if we can continue to perform at the level he showed in playoffs he just might be able to do it.

Targamas also showed to have a champion ocean, and it seems the support can play almost anything at the highest level.

When it comes to drafting, G2 Esports is also much more consistent and showed great drafts throughout their playoffs run.

Will G2 Esports be able to once again put Europe at the top of the League of Legends mountain?

4. Evil Geniuses

Similar to G2 Esports Evil Geniuses also was unbeatable after being knocked down to the lower bracket by Team Liquid.

They also have a solid early game, despite drafting more for the late game. Their average gold differential at 15 minutes is +329, have a 100% when ahead at the 15-minute mark, and their first tower % is 61.1%.

However, they have a very low first blood percentage, only getting the first kill of the game 27.8% of the time.

Evil Geniuses best quality is their mid and late-game team fight ability. Danny has proved to be a superstar with some great performances in the playoffs, especially in the final.

Impact showed he still got what it takes, and in a more tank role has allowed Danny and jojopyun to truly shine.

jojopyun also proved he is the best mid laner in North America despite only being 17 years old.

When it comes to draft the team normally drafts for the late game, with Impact normally on a tank, Danny and jojopyun being the main damage dealers, and relying on their good team fighting around objectives to get them ahead or even win them the game.

The team is a mix of experienced players, and young superstars.

5. PSG Talon

With some familiar faces such as Hanabi, Kaiwing, Unified, and new ones in Juhan and Bay is back again at MSI.

The team didn’t have an easy path in the playoffs and in some moments it seemed we weren’t going to have PSG Talon at MSI.

PSG Talon is not a good early-game team, having an average gold deficit of -140 at the 15-minute mark, destroying the first tower 47.1% of the time, and getting the first blood only 41.2% of the times.

Unified is the main carry of the team, normally playing with late-game carries such as Jinx and Aphelios. Together with Hanabi who continues to be a very carry-oriented top laners, these two players make 60% of the dagame of PSG Talon.

They rely on their team fight ability to win games, but against teams like RNG, T1 that might not be enough.

Historically PSG Talon performs well internationally so let’s see how far they can go this time.

6. Red Canids

The back-to-back Brazilian champions will be attending MSI and have the goal to see if they can beat the best of the best.

RED Canids is not a good early-game team. They rarely are ahead at the 15-minute mark and have a gold deficit of -455 at 15 minutes.

However, this team thrives on the late game and is very good at capitalizing on their opponent’s mistakes. They are also very good when it comes to team fighting around objectives.

The bot lane is their best lane, and Titan is the primary carry of the team, but against some of the best bot lanes in the world, it’s going to be hard for RED Canids to find the advantages on that part of the map they are used to get.

Probably RED Canids main strength is how versatile they are. They are probably the team with the deepest champion pool, which makes it a little harder to draft against them.

This is still a very young team but one which already has the experience of an international event, so maybe this is the team that will finally bring some happiness to the Brazilian fans.

7. İstanbul Wildcats

Holyphoenix and company are back on the international stage and are looking to make it out of the group stage, and upset some big names. The all Turkish team went undefeated in the playoffs and is looking like one of the best teams to come out of the TCL for the past five years.

İstanbul Wildcats are a very early game centered team. With almost a 4k gold lead at 15 minutes, 100% win rate at the 15-minute mark, 100% first blood, and 66.7% first tower.

The team gains an advantage in the early game and then it’s able to translate that gold advantage into objectives and map control in the mid-game.

With an average game duration of 28 minutes, and an incredible superior kills vs death per game ratio (24.2 kills and 8.3 deaths) you can see how strong and dominant İstanbul Wildcats early game is.

In the draft, the team opts to draft a strong early game composition, but normally always was at least one late-game carrier that can serve as their backup plan, if their strong early game proves not to be enough.

Holyphoenix is still the star of this team and has been performing at a very good level, but the two solo laners, Serin and StarScreen, have also been performing quite well and sound be overlooked by other teams.

The second spot for group B is up for grabs so let’s see if İstanbul Wildcats can become the first TCL team to reach the MSI playoffs.

8. DetonatioN FocusMe

Everyone’s favorite Japanese team is coming to MSI hoping to remake the success they had in last year’s Worlds championship.

Despite losing their superstar mid-laner Aria the team still dominated the LJL regular season. In the Grand Final, they defeated Sengoku Gaming and booked their ticket to Busan.

Similar to İstanbul Wildcats, DetonatioN FocusMe is also a good early game team. With an 85% win rate when ahead at 15 minutes, they get the first tower 87.5% of the time, and also have a good first blood percentage of 62.5%.

Their average gold differential is of +2751 at 15 minutes.

If DetonatioN FocusMe gets ahead they are really good at managing their lead and fighting around objectives. They also have a good macro play when ahead, and are good at increasing their goals lead by taking objectives around the map.

Yutapon is the main carry of the team, dealing 30.55 of the team damage, and Evi continues to be a very solid top laner.

After an amazing performance at last year’s Worlds championships let’s see if the Japanese champions can replicate their performance at MSI.

9. Team Aze

For the first time ever in the organization’s short history, Team Aze will attend an international event.

The team has a solid early game, with a gold lead of 788 at 15 minutes, and an 83.3 % when ahead at the 15 minutes mark.

With a good first blood percentage of 72.6% and a first blood percentage of 63.6%, it shows the team is dangerous if they geat head early in the game.

They are also a good team fight team and rely on 5Kid to carry them when it gets to the late game.

When it comes to the drat, they have a decent champion pool, and they normally draft good compositions.

10. Saigon Buffalo

Saigon Buffalo will be attending MSI in place of GAM Esports as they will represent Vietnam at the 31st SEA Games.

The team doesn’t have an extraordinary early game, only having an average gold lead of +211 at 15 minutes. However, their first tower percentage of 77.8% is quite high, and their win rate of 66.7% when ahead at 15 minutes is also decent.

It’s going to be hard for Saigon Buffalo to face some of the best early game teams in this tournament, and the fact they don’t have a solid early game can come back to bite them.

I think it’s going to be very hard for Saigon Buffalo to have a good showing at this MSI, but like Kevin Garnett once said everything is possible.

11. ORDER

The Oceania representatives come at last place in my power rankings for MSI. I see the region as the weakest one and think its going to be hard for them to compete against teams like G2 Esports and Evil Geniuses in their group.

ORDER has an ok early game, having a gold lead of +24 at 15 minutes. However, it’s going to be hard for them to stay even in the early game and get to the late game in a scenario where they can win the game based on their late-game team fighting.

However, they have a deep champion pool so maybe they can pull off some surprises in the draft that will catch their opponents off guard.