Six domestic champions remain at the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational, and the setting now shifts to the Main Event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Defending MSI and World Champion SK Telecom T1 of South Korea is accepting all challengers, and the five other regional champions will take their best shot in the double round-robin group stage starting Wednesday.
Before the action kicks off, though, let's dissect -- maybe argue would be the better word -- the positional hierarchy coming into the Main Event. Who is the best top lane starter of the six clubs left standing? Which players have something left to prove in Rio following a so-so opening split of the year? Here are the players and stories to follow as the fans in Brazil prepare for the opening festivities.
Top lane
1. Huni (SKT)
Back on Fnatic (2015) and Immortals (2016), Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon was a shapable lump of clay. A talented, smart piece of clay, but clay nonetheless. Kim "kkOma" Jung-gyun has molded that clay to become one of the world's best and most reliable top laners. After winning his first domestic championship and defeating his domestic rival Song "Smeb" Kyung-ho in the final, he has a chance to assert his superiority on a global scale in Rio.
2. Hauntzer (TSM)
This is the stage Kevin "Hauntzer" Yarnell has been waiting for for the entire season since turning heads at the end of last year's NA LCS summer split and the 2016 World Championships. If he wants to put his name among the other great top laners in the world, he'll need to be the star in this tournament for TSM.
3. Expect (G2)
After a lukewarm rookie outing last year on G2 Esports, Ki "Expect" Dae-han is coming into his own as a player. His early game and laning phase is still exploitable, so we'll have to see how he fares against LCS counterpart Hauntzer and South Korean top laner and EU LCS champion Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon.
4. MMD (Flash Wolves)
5. 957 (WE)
6. Stark (Marines)
Jungle
1. Peanut (SKT)
2. Karsa (Flash Wolves)
Hung "Karsa" Hau-Hsuan is so good. So, so good. Any team not named SKT is going to need a Hail Mary to win this tournament, but maybe Karsa is the player who can bring the holy water to Brazil.
3. Condi (WE)
Every international event seems to have a new breakout star in the jungle. While Xiang "Condi" Ren-Jie has been one of China's brightest domestic stars for a year now on Team WE, this could be the event where he solidifies himself as a world-class talent. You'd best not challenge him to a 50-50 Baron duel.
4. Trick (G2)
5. Svenskeren (TSM)
The spring season wasn't the easiest for Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen. Although he's generally one of the best junglers in the western region, he struggled at times for Team SoloMid this spring split. Notably, he's been caught out in the opposing jungle or he's given up an early kill. When Svenskeren is on, as seen in the later games of the MSI 2017 Play-In round against Vietnam's GIGABYTE Marines, he can be a positive game changer and one of the more clutch players. TSM will need the Svenskeren that showed up during game five against GIGABYTE Marines if it wants any chance of making a deep run in the competition.
6. Levi (Marines)
Đỗ "Levi" Duy Khánh is a special player. His team plays behind his early-game aggression and skirmishing talents, and he might very well be the reason the Marines exit Brazil with a few more wins under their belts than expected.
Mid lane
1. Faker (SKT)
2. Maple (FW)
Huang "Maple" Yi-Tang has always been highly regarded coming into international events, but MSI 2017 feels different. He's the best non-South Korean mid laner in the world, and very well could be No.2 right behind SKT's Faker overall. This is his shot at the king. Flash Wolves had their best season in team history, rampaged through Turkey's SuperMassive in the Play-In stage, and come into the Main Event with swagger. It's time for Maple to show us how high his limit goes.
3. Bjergsen (TSM)
4. Perkz (G2)
Every season is an adventure with Luka "PerkZ" Perković. He won Rookie of the Split during the Spring Split in 2016, and then he lost all that goodwill by falling apart at MSI last year. His summer split for 2016 was decent at best, Worlds was another disaster for him, and then he bounced back this most recent spring split with another season worthy of being in talks for MVP. When PerkZ debuted, he was expected to be a face of the new generation of European talent. A strong MSI showing following the dark memories of last year's event could take him to a new level of stardom.
5. Xiye (WE)
A warm, unassuming smile on his face, Team WE's Su "Xiye" Han-Wei is often overlooked as a player, even on his own team. He brings a consistent high level of mage play, and could be good enough to take down some of the bigger names at the event.
6. Optimus (Marines)
Like with his teammate Levi, Tran "Optimus" Văn Cường is the engine of the Marines. How well he can perform will tell us how far Marines can go in the group stages. He's outmatched against players like Faker and Maple, but Optimus doesn't play scared -- he's either going to win or go down swinging.
AD Carry:
1. Bang (SKT)
2. Zven (G2)
3. Mystic (WE)
After being nothing more than a pretty face in South Korea on the Jin Air Green Wings, Jin "Mystic" Seong-jun has evolved into a formidable talent in China with Team WE. Bang currently holds the title of "Ezreal God" and Mystic might have something to say about that in Rio.
4. Betty (Flash Wolves)
Lu "Betty" Yu-Hung was the missing piece for the Flash Wolves to go from Taiwanese champion last year to international contender in 2017. His performance will be a deciding factor if the Wolves can keep up with SKT T1 for the gold medal.
5. WildTurtle (TSM)
6. Slay (Marines)
I hope Nguyễn "Slay" Ngọc Hùng's Jhin ultimates are better on the main stage in Rio. His play was good in the Play-In rounds, but his limited champion pool might hold him back now that teams have a thorough scouting report on him.
Support
1. SwordArt (Flash Wolves)
Hu "SwordArt" Shuo-Jie is the architect of the Flash Wolves and third head of the three-headed beast that includes Maple and Karsa. Last year's group stage elimination at Worlds hit hard for him, and he'll want to at least go one stage above Flash Wolves' semifinal placing last year at MSI.
2. Wolf (SKT)
3. Ben (WE)
Team WE's Nam "Ben" Dong-hyun is for all intents and purposes a rookie, having only played four games professionally with Invictus Gaming as a substitute before becoming a starter this year on Team WE. As the team's primary shot-caller, it'll be interesting to see how Ben handles the pressure of the international stage for the first time in his young career.
4. Biofrost (TSM)
5. Mithy (G2)
Normally this wouldn't be where you'd see Alfonso "Mithy" Aguirre Rodríguez. But his performance during the spring season wasn't the best, and the star Spanish support will want to make an amends of sorts at MSI. After playing in four straight European league finals, Mithy heads into Rio wanting to add a large international final to his resume as well.