Doinb reveals remote play may be LPL’s “only option” for MSI 2022

Meg Kay

Kim ‘Doinb’ Taesang, mid laner for LNG Esports and former world champion, revealed on April 6 via a livestream that the LPL’s in-person attendance at MSI 2022 is in jeopardy. 

According to Doinb, a combination of Shanghai quarantine policies and scheduling conflicts could mean that the LPL’s MSI representative is forced to play remotely while the tournament is held in-person in Busan, Korea.

The international schedule for the LPL MSI representative this year is a brutal one. Not only do they have the Mid-Season Invitational and their domestic summer splits to worry about, they now have to factor in the scheduling of the Asia Games, where Chinese and Korean representatives will compete in League of Legends for only the second time since the Games’ inception in 1951.

Accommodating for the Asia Games

In a previous livestream, Doinb discussed the LPL’s summer split undergoing a format change in order to accommodate for the Asia games, which will take place in Hangzhou in September.

He claimed that the split would be condensed into a singular month of competition, where normally it takes place in a two-month window, in which four best-of-three series would be played per day in order to accommodate a full double round-robin.

However, the quarantine period required upon entry into Shanghai is 21 days – meaning that the LPL’s MSI representative would still be under quarantine at the start of the newly-scheduled summer split. Doinb explained that there were very few options for a team to compete in quarantine, and that the “only way” for the LPL to be able to compete at MSI would be through remote play.

“If you don’t quarantine, you can’t play in the summer split. You can’t promote academy teams to play, right? It’s impossible to play the matches via the hotel’s computers when you have to quarantine in a hotel.”

No confirmation from Riot as of yet

Riot has not yet commented on the LPL’s status at MSI. Remote play from China to Korea is not impossible – the LPL competed remotely for the 2020 Mid-Season cup on around 30/40 ping, which while posing a slight disadvantage is by no means unplayable.

To add to the confusion, the LPL playoffs were postponed on April 6 due to the ongoing rise of cases in Shanghai. The date of the finals has not yet been confirmed, but it will be a tight schedule for the LPL’s representative with MSI beginning on May 10.

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About The Author

Meg is a former Dexerto writer. Hailing from the UK, Meg covered all things esports for Dexerto, with a focus on competitive League of Legends. She has a degree in English Literature, and has formerly worked with Dot Esports, Esports.gg, and LoL Esports.