This year’s Mid-Season Invitational may be canceled, but there’s still something international League fans can look forward to.
Riot Games will host a tournament pitting the top four teams from the LCK and the LPL against each other later this month, the League of Legends developer announced today.
“Beginning Thursday, May 28, the top four teams from the LPL (China) Spring Split will line up against the best four from the LCK (South Korea) Spring Split in a special League of Legends Mid-Season Cup,” Riot wrote. “In this star-studded showcase of League of Legends talent, the best teams from each league’s 2020 Spring Splits will face off in a series of epic matches to see which team is truly the greatest!”
As victors of the 2020 LPL Spring Split, JD Gaming will lead the Chinese region as the first team from the LPL. They will be joined by this year’s runners-up Top Esports and the 2018 and 2019 world champions, Invictus Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix, respectively. The tournament will also feature the 2020 LCK Spring Split champions, T1, as well as Gen. G, DragonX, and DAMWON Gaming.
LCK teams will compete from the region’s home stadium, LoL Park in Seoul, while the LPL teams will play out of the Shanghai LPL Arena. The tournament will “adhere to the local health regulations of both cities,” and there will be no live audience at either stadium. To ensure competitive integrity, Riot will artificially standardize ping to 30-40m/s.
“While the current environment has made it difficult to host international events, the close proximity of the LCK and LPL allow for the opportunity to create a meaningful inter-league competition that fans all over the world are eager to see,” Riot said.
These matches are the first of “multiple events” to replace this year’s Mid-Season Invitational, according to the League developer. The annual international tournament, which was originally pushed back to July, was canceled in April due to the global spread of COVID-19.
Fans can catch the action live from the LoL Esports website when games begin on May 28.
