Following the second day of MSI play-ins, numerous LoL fans criticized the low quality and overly lengthy schedule of the play-in stage. With only four teams competing for a single spot in the main event, many argued that the double-elimination system was meaningless. Since some teams were simply too weak, even having a "second chance" didn't help much. The results matched what viewers had predicted: in two days, four matches were played, and all ended with a 3–0 sweep.

Many viewers couldn't understand why MSI officials stretched a play-in stage that could have been finished in two days into a four-day event. Among these four sweeps, DCG—a team from the LCP region representing a province—was crushed by both KC and TL in straight sets. DCG also set the worst historical record for an all-Chinese team at MSI. Previously, all-Chinese teams like TES, PSG, and RNG had all won at least one game in MSI, but DCG were eliminated without a single victory, becoming the first team knocked out of this year's MSI.

I personally watched all of DCG's matches, and I feel that their players' individual skills and macro play have serious issues. For example, their jungler, POP9, seemed to "ghost farm" in both Bo5s, providing no early-game pressure, which led to DCG being crushed in the early and mid phases. Their macro was also chaotic—they couldn't even execute basic lane swaps or tower pushes. Many viewers joked that last year's CFO was the last glory of the LCP region, and since Junjia and Hongq came to the LPL, the LCP has completely fallen.

Keria calls himself the "greatest support of all time" in an interview.

T1, as the biggest favorite to advance from the MSI play-in, always attracts a large audience, and they didn't disappoint—they provided plenty of "entertainment." For instance, against TL and KC, T1 fell into significant economic deficits, yet pulled off miracle comebacks in every match. Many viewers think T1 is treating the play-in stage as practice, especially since Faker and Doran seemed quite "relaxed" during games.

Doran's performance, in particular, left many T1 fans speechless. Some fans even joked that if Doran just plays a tank and stays safe, he's done his job, because every time he tried to "draw his sword" with carries, he got "humiliated" by the opposing top laner. In the previous match, his champion Wolf Mom was killed twice in lane; today against KC's top laner Canna, Doran picked Gragas and the Grave Digger, only to be crushed in lane. Many T1 fans shudder at the thought of Doran facing Zeus or Bin in the future.

Despite Doran's poor performance, T1's other players were more than capable of carrying, especially the bot duo, who have become the absolute core of T1. No matter how big the deficit, the bot lane finds opportunities to turn the game around. After the match, T1's support Keria confidently stated in an interview that he is "the greatest support in history." Many viewers agreed with this claim, given that Keria has won three World Championship titles and consistently delivers eye-catching plays.

Conclusion

With the MSI play-in stage halfway through, many viewers joked that Riot Games is just "dividing the cake." Since all participating teams come from the five major regions, a single-elimination format would be too "unfair" for some teams—after all, flying all the way to Korea just to play one Bo5 and then go home would be too ridiculous. Of course, many fans also hope Riot will adjust the tournament rules, as this year's MSI has "too many loopholes." (Do you think the MSI rules are reasonable? Will the next MSI adjust the qualification rules?)