The Gap Remains: Western Teams Stumble at MSI 2025

4 Jul

Martin Arévalo-Östberg

Only FlyQuest, Movistar KOI, and G2 Esports remain to represent the West at the MSI 2025 Playoffs. None of these teams, however, managed to win their opening match of the Bracket Stage, demonstrating the superiority of Eastern teams on the biggest stage once more.

The West Is Off to a Rough Start

Things looked good at the start of the Playoffs, with G2 Esports shocking the LCK Champs of Gen.G to take the win in the very first game of the MSI 2025 Bracket Stage. The hype, however, was short-lived, with Gen.G sweeping the next three games to close out the series with an emphatic 3-1.

As if once was not enough, FlyQuest then climbed onto the stage ready to take on Anyone's Legend, completely unaware they would be following in G2's footsteps. The North American side took down the LPL Champions in their first game of the series, lighting up rays of hope all across the West. As for the remainder of the series? Another Eastern sweep, and another 3-1.

Moving on to Movistar KOI, the Kings of the LEC remained as the sole Western hope of standing up to the titans of the game. Up against Bilibili Gaming, MKOI seemed to wake up after losing the first game of the series, fighting tooth and nail to remain in the Upper Bracket of MSI. After a back and forth Game 4, BLG found just the pick they needed in the end, rampaging through the MKOI base shortly afterwards to claim the series 3-1 (yes, again).

The Gap Remains

For all of Karmine Corp's valiant efforts at First Stand earlier in the year, it is clear that the gap between the East and the West still remains. The LCK, in particular, have been on a rampant run on, winning the last four international tournaments.

If either one of Gen.G or the reigning World Champions of T1 manage to get their hands on the trophy at MSI 2025, the LCK's fifth consecutive international tournament win would firmly cement them as the region to beat once more as far as competitive League of Legends is concerned.

One More Shot

Not all is lost, though. The three Western teams at MSI still have a chance at redemption as they now make their way to the Lower Bracket, with FlyQuest vs G2 Esports no doubt taking center stage.

The two teams will take each other on to write a new chapter in the classic NA vs EU rivalry. The winners get to continue their journey at MSI 2025. The losers, meanwhile, must say goodbye to Canada and head back home to start the grind all over again.

Catch the high-stakes series by tuning in to the official Riot Games channels on Twitch and YouTube, starting this Friday, July 4th, at 12 pm PT/9 pm CET.

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Featured image credit: Liu YiCun/Riot Games

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