League of Legends' Mid-Season Invitational has come and gone for 2024, but many fans will have a hard time forgetting the action that unfolded over the past few weeks. In fact, many are calling this MSI the best of all time, largely due to the change in format.

This year’s edition introduced the highly requested double-elimination playoffs to the tournament, and this, combined with a quicker turnaround time between each series and the removal of as many “civil war” matchups between regions as possible, made for a much better viewing experience. Fans on the League subreddit pointed out that last year’s World Championships had seven best-of-fives in three weeks, while MSI completed 14 full series in 12 days. “Double elimination is better, but the best difference is the lack of downtime,” they said, adding that the format’s week-long wait between matches killed the hype for Worlds.

The biggest concern for skeptics of the format was the lack of a significant advantage to reach the Grand Finals from the upper bracket. While a few still believe in a bracket reset, most were happy that the faster format meant that a lower-bracket team making a run, like Bilibili Gaming did this year, would naturally be at a disadvantage due to the busy schedule. “If the playoffs were to last four weeks, it would give lower-bracket teams a chance to rest. The double elim should be as short as possible to favor the upper-bracket team,” one fan said.

Others were pleased to see the League spotlight shared across a wide range of regions, thanks in part to the group draw, which was designed to keep inter-regional series to a minimum. While this year’s MSI results helped achieve that goal, the difference from previous iterations of the tournament was noted by fans.