MSI 2022 Power Rankings and Standout Stats

This year’s Mid Season Invitational, taking place in Busan, Korea, will feature the world’s best team from each region. Running May 10 to May 29, the event brings together different strengths and strategies. Each roster took its own path to win among its peers, and sometimes the statistics reflect those divergences. Here are some of the standout stats from each squad’s playoff run, as well as the MSI 2022 Power Rankings for all the participating teams.

1. T1

Can anyone even challenge T1. The team has had a historic year thus far. Not only have they been dominant in most metrics, they also come from a competitively deep region with a history of success. All of this points towards T1 as favorites for the tournament. 

Whether looking at their early game, fighting or sieging, T1’s stats look good for any region. Take into account they are competing in the LCK, their high win rate and short game duration, and a terrifying team comes into focus. Watch out for Oner and Keria, an unstoppable jungle-support duo. 

2. G2

The team with “1” in the name is first, so the team with “2” is naturally second, right? G2 esports did not dominate Europe to the same degree T1 dominated Korea, but their playoff run was unbelievable. They made teams like Rogue and Fnatic look completely out of their depth, as the mid-jungle duo Jankos and Caps made plays all over the map. 

G2’s main strength is objective control. They secured the majority of Dragons and Barons throughout playoffs, and they didn’t show deficiencies in any particular area. Layer that with the fact that G2 has such a history of international performance, and others at MSI should keep an eye on this team. 

3. RNG

By definition, RNG are the Spring 2022 champions, but does anyone really consider them the clear strongest LPL team? During the regular season, Victory Five and JDG stayed ahead. During playoffs, Top Esports went on a tear and looked like they might take the title. RNG beat them twice and clutched the 3-2 win in the finals. 

Statistically, RNG doesn’t stand out. They could be considered the third least dominant team in the tournament. Of course, once the regional strength of LPL is taken into account, the stats really just signal a tight race in playoffs. It’s a hard sell to put RNG lower than third place. China could send their fourth or fifth seed and it would still probably get rated third or higher at MSI. Playing remotely shouldn’t affect them. 

4. Evil Geniuses

North America had an exciting playoffs, with EG finishing 11-1 in a loser’s bracket run to earn the trophy. Everyone will remember Danny’s 2v5 Baron steal and Pentakill versus Team Liquid going into MSI 2022. Judging purely on stats, EG was a middling LCS playoff team. However, they have shown solid Herald control. 

EG’s teamwork and decisiveness are their greatest strength, something that can’t really be gleaned from stats alone. They take scrappy fights and almost always win, especially near objectives. Instead of stacking Dragons, they overload bottom laner Danny with as much gold as possible, then convert that into teamfighting power and destroying turrets. EG averaged 4.9 more turrets taken than lost across playoffs. 

5. PSG Talon

PSG Talon had a strong PCS regular season, only dropping two games out of 18. Playoffs were much more of a struggle, however.  They lost 1-3 to drop into the third-place match, where they won 3-2 and then won Finals 3-2. Hanabi, Unified and Kaiwing return with a new mid-jungle duo. 

PSG have some of the worst stats from playoffs, compared to others in the event. They averaged a gold deficit, put out the second lowest damage per minute and took the same number of turrets as they lost. Playoffs truly were a grind, but don’t forget Worlds 2021–they nearly made it out of Group Stage with a 3-3 record. 

6. Detonation FocusMe

That’s right, DFM makes another comeback onto the international stage. The Japanese representatives made a splash at Worlds 2021, winning Group B of Play-Ins by beating Cloud9 in a tiebreaker. The 0-6 in Group Stage stung, but they have since bounced back to dominate the LJL once again and qualify for MSI 2022. 

DFM showed similar levels of dominance as T1 in the LCK. They average way ahead in gold at 15 minutes, a large K:D ratio and the highest first turret percentage during playoffs among tournament participants. Jungler Steal and top laner Evi are going on five years with the organization. 

7. Istanbul Wildcats

It seems like the TCL has bottomed out at international events the last few years, so this could be a huge overrating. Istanbul Wildcats absolutely dominated their playoffs this year, carrying some of the craziest stats on all teams at MSI 2022. Forget the 100 percent win rate, First Blood rate and Baron control. They averaged 2,143 damage per minute, a 2.9 K:D and a 3,231 gold advantage at 15 minutes. 

Bottom laner Holyphoenix is well-known on the international stage at this point, especially on Samira, but mid laner Serin is the one to watch. He is everywhere on the map dealing tons of damage. If IW can replicate a fraction of their gameplay from TCL Winter Playoffs, then they can possibly upset some of the teams higher on this MSI 2022 Power Rankings. 

8. Saigon Buffalo

It feels wrong to pick on Saigon Buffalo, because they did not originally qualify for this event. GAM Esports won the VCS Spring Playoffs, but they are participating in SEA Games instead. SB is definitely the second-best team, but they are a pretty steep drop from GAM, which is reflected in the MSI 2022 Power Rankings. 

They don’t really stand out statistically compared to the rest of the MSI field. In fact, SB’s 44.4 percent win rate in playoffs is the lowest of all the teams, since they lost 1-3 to GAM in the Finals. This will be a good opportunity for the global community to see if Vietnam has depth beyond one team. 

9. Team Aze

The representatives out of the LLA have some signs of dominance coming into MSI 2022. AZE controls Dragon and Baron well, and they start the game 2,133 gold ahead at 15 minutes on average. Stats like these make AZE arguably the third most dominant team in the tournament behind T1 and Istanbul Wildcats. 

Unfortunately, the LLA hasn’t really shown much ability to compete in the last few international events. Team Aze may be just what the region needs to take more games against the broader competition. Korean imports Lonely and 5kid team up with Chilean mid laner Aloned to try to surpass low expectations. 

10. ORDER

It is so easy to underestimate Oceania’s teams at international tournaments. Their already wildcard league dissolved into an even more minor region, but Pentanet.GG exceeded expectations last year. With a bit of luck and a lot of grit, the LCO representative made it to the Rumble Stage of MSI 2021 and took a game off of Cloud9. 

ORDER will look to make similar waves at MSI 2022. The stats don’t really paint them as a particularly dominant team, but they did go 9-0 to make it to the Finals versus Chiefs Esports. Maybe they will try some wacky picks to throw off the competition. Opponents banned Evelynn 93 percent of the time, and ORDER did try Nasus support in Game Two of the Finals. 

11. RED Canids

This CBLoL team was one of the least dominant across the board of MSI 2022 participants. Combine that with the fact Brazil has not shown much fight at international competitions in the last few years, and RED Canids feel doomed. They were third-best in the regular season and really had to clutch out some wins in the loser bracket of playoffs to win 3-2 in the Finals. 

Statistically, they seem pretty weak. They have the largest gold deficit on average, low damage per minute with longer average game times and only took first turret 38.1 percent of games. The CBLoL is in for a rough one which is reflected in these MSI 2022 Power Rankings. 

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