MAD Lions vs T1 Preview and Predictions: Mid-Season Invitational 2023 Bracket Stage
| Tags: League of Legends
| Author Bence Loksa
MAD Lions have fought their way from the bottom of the leaderboard to the MSI, but can they get through the legendary Faker?
The Play-In stage of the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational has officially ended, with G2 Esports, Bilibili Gaming and Golden Guardians advancing to the Bracket Stage, while the smaller regions’ teams must head home. On Tuesday, Gen.G Esports and G2 Esports kick of the next stage of the MSI, but on Wednesday, it’s MAD Lions’ turn to prove everyone wrong (again) by beating T1, and advancing to round 2.
MAD Lions vs T1 Preview and Predictions
MAD Lions
The Lions have gone from nobody believing in them to everyone rooting for them. After a 2nd place finish in the LEC Winter Split and Playoffs, Yasin “Nisqy” Dincer and his teammates fell off hard, finishing 8th in the Spring Regular Season – and that’s after the Tiebreakers. However, after a rocky start in Spring Groups, they rose to the occasion, beating Fnatic 2-1 and Astralis 2-0 to advance to the Playoffs. Once they got there, they fought tooth and nail, beating G2 Esports 3-2, Team Vitality 3-1, then reverse sweeping Team BDS for the MSI spot.
The Lions upset the region yet again, proving to everyone they are better than they seem – thanks to Javier “Elyoya” Prades Batalla and the team’s new import, Kim “Chasy” Dong-hyeon.
T1
But can they beat T1, and it’s three-time World Champion, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok? Well, T1 couldn’t win the LCK this time, even though they were the most dominant team in the Regular Season – yet again. Faker and co. finished the Spring Split of the Korean Championship with an almost perfect record, running circles around teams such as Gen.G, KT Rolster or Dplus KIA, who have dropped a few matches before the Playoffs of the LCK.
T1 started the second half of the LCK in a dominant fashion as well, beating KT Rolster 3-2 and Gen.G 3-1. But after Gen.G defeated KT in the last match of the Loser’s Bracket, they gained enough momentum to surprise T1, beating them 3-1 and claiming the first spot of the LCK in the MSI.
MAD Lions vs T1 Predictions
MAD Lions have really come into their own by the end of the LEC Spring Split: Chasy was doing wonders in the toplane, Elyoya found his form again, while Nisqy was the glue that held everything together. But the real heroes were Matyás “Carzzy” Orság and Zdravets “Hylissang” Iliev Galabov, who were one of the biggest reasons that MAD could win the Spring Final.
However, T1 is a world class team, who have proved again and again how proficient they are. While they don’t have as much of a difference in say, DMG% as MAD Lions, that just means that every member of the team is capable of carrying. MAD Lions are in for a ride, but in the end, they have to fight an uphill battle for the whole Bo5.
Where to watch MAD Lions vs T1
You can find the 1st seed of the LEC and the 2nd seed of the LCK playing against each other on lolesports.com, the official Riot Games Twitch channel and the official LolEsports YouTube channel on Wednesday at 14:00 CEST. Don’t forget to check out ESTNN’s other previews and predictions to be up to date for the 2023 MSI!