League of Legends: 2023 MSI play-ins round one recap

ByFeisal Merali Hours
Teams on-stage during the 2023 MSI play-ins round one

With its new format, MSI has started, so it’s time to recap the 2023 MSI play-ins round one. Because of the new format, instead of the teams playing best-of-one series similar to previous years, every round during the play-ins stage is best-of-three series.

On the first day of the first round, there were two series. In the first series of the day, it was PSG Talon taking on DetonatioN FocusMe, and the second series of the day was G2 Esports taking on LOUD. On the second day of the 2023 MSI play-ins day one, it was Bilibili Gaming taking on Movistar R7, followed by Golden Guardians taking on GAM Esports.

Who is going to start off the tournament hot, and who is going to be struggling already after their first series? Since the play-in stage is a lot shorter this year, every series matters. One mistake or one dropped series, could make a world of a difference compared to any other play-in stage in years prior.

READ MORE: 2023 League of Legends MSI Changes

2023 MSI play-ins round one results:

2023 MSI play-ins round one, day one:

PSG Talon vs DetonatioN FocusMe:

  • PSG Talon > DetonatioN FocusMe
  • DetonatioN FocusMe < PSG Talon

G2 Esports vs LOUD:

  • G2 Esports > LOUD
  • LOUD < G2 Esports

2023 MSI play-ins round one, day two:

Bilibili Gaming vs Movistar R7:

  • Bilibili Gaming > Movistar R7
  • Movistar R7 < Bilibili Gaming

Golden Guardians vs GAM Esports:

  • Golden Guardians > GAM Esports
  • GAM Esports < Golden Guardians

The favorites show up, and the underdogs didn’t

The Golden Guardians waving after winning during the 2023 MSI play-ins round one
(Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)

The story of the 2023 MSI play-ins round one was that the favorites to win each series, those being G2 Esports, Bilibili Gaming, PSG Talon, and the Golden Guardians, showed up during their matches, and their opponents didn’t save for a few moments where G2 was about to lose their first game to LOUD.

The only time that an upset looked like it might have happened was in the aforementioned first game between LOUD and G2 Esports. In that game, LOUD jumped out to an early lead. They had three dragons, an early gold lead, and seemed to be winning every team fight against the LEC winter champions, but Yike, the jungle for G2 Esports, had other ideas.

His Nidalee was one of the sole reasons that they had a fighting chance at the end of the game, leading team fights, making picks with spears, and getting onto the backline of LOUD whenever it was possible. He dealt the second most damage on his team, only finishing about two thousand damage behind Hans Sama on Jinx.

If G2 Esports are able to clean up their early games just a little bit, they will be a really scary contender coming out of the play-ins. They are not a team of rookies either, with Mikyx being the last member of the team that won MSI in 2019.

READ MORE: League of Legends: 2023 LCS Spring Playoffs round two recap

Now that the 2023 MSI play-ins round one has come to an end, it’s time to look forward to round two, and this is where things can get interesting for the teams that won their previous series. In the top half of the bracket, we have G2 Esports taking on PSG Talon, and Golden Guardians taking on Bilibili Gaming. The teams that win those series automatically get a spot in the next stage of the tournament.

If they end up losing their series, they are not out just yet, instead, they have two more chances to make it. Waiting in the lower bracket are both LOUD and GAM Esports. Between both those series, there is only one spot left in the next stage. Between LOUD, GAM Esports, and whoever they face next, they need to be careful because one mistake and their journey at MSI could come to an end.

If you want to find the full schedule for MSI, or watch the series back because you missed a game or they started too early for your timezone, you can find everything at lolesports.com.