Group C has been decided. G2 Esports and Evil Geniuses have qualified for the Rumble stage of the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational and it wasn't even close. Both teams annihilated the LCO's representative ORDER, and for the viewers, the day was over before it even started.
There are still two games left that matter, but they are from another group (A), where RNG has to replay their three matches that were postponed due to ping issues.
Despite RED Canids still having a chance of qualifying, a miracle is needed. The team will have to beat RNG and rely on them also beating PSG Talon. If the stars align, a tiebreaker will be forced against PSG Talon and judging by RNG’s gameplay so far, that seems impossible.
After their loss against @EvilGeniuses, @ordergaming_gg are eliminated from #MSI2022 Rumble Stage contention. pic.twitter.com/tdKBn44p62
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) May 14, 2022
There is a CANYON gap
Unfortunately, the gap between minor and major regions is too big. Although bo1 offers a chance of a surprise, the games are never close and I can assure you that minor region teams are not enjoying this at all.
Yes, you are gaining international experience, but at what cost? You are getting stomped all over the place, and can we even call that gaining experience? The players look demoralized on the camera, wishing that they could check-in for their return flights as fast as possible.
Order still had a chance of qualifying, but EG threw all of their rage at them, and this happened:
What is the solution?
As of now, there is no apparent solution, and this is a heavy topic in the community. The Group Stage of the tournament is all about the top four teams gaining some playing time at the cost of the lower teams being punching bags.
A fair discussion can be made about the top four teams making it directly to the Rumble stage. Would that be fair? Probably not, but it would give the viewers closer games as the minor regions would clash against each other during the Play-in stage.
Despite a potential drop in viewership, at least we won’t get many one-sided stomps like the majority of the current group stage.
League of Legends World Cup
Something that the community desires is a World Cup in the game. Like football, it would be a clash between the countries' best players, and the entertainment would be tremendous.
Of course, there would be problems arising with this format: How do you even organize a thing like that? Who will make the teams, as some countries don't even have their own competitions? Is it going to be boring if the tournament is hosted every year?
Questions will be asked, but it would be a change of scenery. MSI doesn't feel as prestigious as Worlds, and you have to come up with a solution for that. A World Cup is the next step in the development of the game, and the sooner it comes, the better.
Even if that is years ahead of us, one thing is certain: MSI needs a colossal format change!
