League of Legends Champions Korea representative T1 and the Vietnam Championship Series representative Saigon Buffalo advanced to the Rumble stage of the Mid-Season Invitational on Sunday.
Day 6 of the MSI 2022, like Day 5, had only a couple of meaningful games. In fact, just three games in, the two top seeds from Group A were already decided.
T1 ended up going undefeated in the double round-robin group stage as they 2-0’d SGB, DetonatioN FocusMe and Team AZE. Even though SGB dropped their two games to T1, they managed to 2-0 the other two teams to make it out with a 4-2 record.
T1 never struggled in the group stage as they never had a game go past the 30-minute mark. In fact, only one game went past the 25-minute mark. T1 also outkilled their opponents 129-45 over the course of the six games.
T1 came into the group stage as overwhelming favorites to not only win the group but to win the entire tournament. SGM, meanwhile, came into MSI with something to prove. The VCS region has been absent from international play for nearly three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Saigon Buffalo were actually the No. 2 team in the region this spring. With GAM Esports having prior obligations, SGB took their place instead.
With Group A being a two-team race for the second seed between SGB and the League of Legends Japan League representative DFM, the group was supposed to be the most competitive one. But SGB took down DFM in both of their games and showed that the VCS is just a step ahead.
Now both teams will join G2 Esports, Evil Geniuses, Royal Never Give Up and PSG Talon in the six-team Rumble stage to see which four teams will move onto the final single-elimination knockout stage. The Rumble stage kicks off on Friday, May 20.
