2020 Mid-Season Cup groups and format leaked ahead of tournament

A League of Legends player has accidentally leaked the groups and format for the upcoming 2020 Mid-Season Cup. 

The Mid-Season Cup will take place over the course of four days, from May 28 to 31. The two opening days will consist of the group stage, followed by the playoffs the two closing days of the event. 

Invictus Gaming‘s support player Su “Southwind” Zhi-Lin accidentally leaked previously unknown details about the Mid-Season Cup on a stream. He revealed that the eight-team event will feature a single round-robin group stage, with each team playing three games. The two top teams from Group A and Group B will then advance to the next stage of the competition. 

Group A consists of JD Gaming, Invictus Gaming, Gen.G, and DragonX. T1, Damwon, Top Esports, and FunPlus Phoenix make up Group B. 

Restrictions to travel have also led to LCK representatives competing from the LoL Park in Seoul. Meanwhile, LPL teams will be playing in the Shanghai LPL Arena. There will be no live audience present, in order to “adhere to the local health regulations” of each city. 

According to Riot Games, they will “artificially standardize” the ping level to 30-40 m/s through the use of third-party tools to ensure the integrity of the Cup.

“While the current environment has made it difficult to host international events, the close proximity of the LCK and LPL allow for the opportunity to create a meaningful inter-league competition that fans all over the world are eager to see,” Riot explained. 

After the Mid-Summer Invitational was canceled earlier this year, the League of Legends community was wondering if there would be any international competitions at all between the Spring and Summer Split. 

At the beginning of May, esports reporter Kenzi posted on Twitter that Riot was planning an event between the LCK and LPL. 

“It is different from the competition proposed by Joe Marsh and is expected to be officially announced next week,” Kenzi said, referencing T1 CEO, Joe Marsh’s proposition of a friendly tournament for fans to watch. 

The Mid-Summer Cup will be a more official tournament that tests the skills of each region before the Summer Split begins.