MSI 2026 set in Daejeon

Riot Games has set the 2026 Mid-Season Invitational in Daejeon, South Korea, from June 28 to July 12. (lolesports.com) Riot said MSI 2026 will be played at Daejeon Convention Center II, and it published a stage schedule that runs Play-Ins from June 28 to July 1 and the bracket stage from July 3 to July 12. (lolesports.com) The field will include 11 teams: two each from the League of Legends Champions Korea, League of Legends Championship of the Americas, League of Legends EMEA Championship, League of Legends Pro League, and League of Legends Championship Pacific, plus one team from Brazil’s CBLOL. (lolesports.com) Riot said seven teams will start directly in the bracket stage: the No. 1 seed from each region and the second seed from the two best-performing regions at First Stand. The remaining four teams will play a double-elimination Play-In bracket for one spot in the main bracket. (lolesports.com; lolesports.com) The Daejeon stop is a venue change as well as a city change. Riot said this is the first time a League of Legends Esports event has been hosted in Daejeon. (lolesports.com) South Korea’s two MSI slots will be decided through the 2026 Road to MSI, a qualifier for the top six teams from the LCK regular season. The first two rounds will be held at LoL Park in Seoul, according to LCK details reported by Inven Global. (invenglobal.com) The final three rounds move to Wonju DB Promy Arena in Wonju, where the two LCK representatives will be locked in over three days. Inven Global reported the No. 1 versus No. 2 regular-season teams will play on June 12 for the first seed, with the second seed decided on June 14 after two more best-of-five matches. (invenglobal.com) Riot also tied MSI results to Worlds 2026. On the official MSI event page, Riot says the MSI winner qualifies directly to Worlds, and the runner-up region earns a fourth domestic seed for Worlds. (lolesports.com) Ticket sales have already started on Riot’s global timeline. Riot said Mastercard presales opened April 21, general global sales opened April 23, and South Korea sales requiring a Korean social security number open May 21 through NOL platforms. (lolesports.com) That leaves the next checkpoint in Wonju in mid-June, where the LCK will decide which two Korean teams get the home-country path into MSI in Daejeon. (invenglobal.com; lolesports.com)