Riot Games opted for a glass-half-full approach and decided to postpone but not cancel the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), the tournament that follows after the Spring Split. The remaining Rift Rivals duels, however, will not happen.
The MSI 2020, previously scheduled for May, had been moved to the beginning of the summer. It will now run from Friday, July 3 to Sunday, July 19.
"Shifting the tournament to the summer offers the best chance to see travel restrictions lifted, allowing teams from leagues around the world to travel and compete safely", Riot's John Needham writes in a blog post. The company is keeping the location under wraps for now, "though we need to remain flexible given how much the COVID-19 situation has impacted international travel and live events for nearly every sports and entertainment property."
A longer break during the Spring Split forces a small change to the calendar season but the impact will be minimal since the Summer Split will begin before the MSI competition. While waiting for the Latin American schedule, match days for the Summer Split will be thus in each region:
OPL - May 15th
VCS - May 15th
LCS - May 16th
TCL - May 16th
LCK - May 20th
LEC - May 22nd
CBLOL - May 23rd
LPL - May 23rd
PCS - May 30th
LJL - May 31st
LCL - June 6th
LLA - TBD