In 2026, esports fans scroll through calendars stuffed with global events, but cast minds back to 2021 and Riot Games was doing something bold: packing two international tournaments into Reykjavik, Iceland. On a Monday that year, Riot announced League of Legends' Mid-Season Invitational and the Valorant Champions Tour Masters Reykjavik. COVID-19 had spent a year behaving like an uninvited houseguest, knocking over travel plans and cancelling MSI 2020. Riot, however, refused to let the pandemic have the last word.
MSI: League's Second-Biggest International Party
MSI is not the World Championship, but it is still the second most important international League of Legends tournament. It ran from May 6 to May 23 in 2021 at the Laugardalshöll indoor sporting arena. The event featured top global teams. In 2020, MSI had been replaced by the Mid-Season Streamathon, an online event with international competitions and exhibition matches from multiple regions. That streamathon primarily raised money for COVID-19 relief efforts. It included the top four teams from the spring season of the LCK (South Korea) and LPL (China). Games were played online with artificially standardized ping to guarantee competitive integrity. Players competed at their respective league's home arenas without a live audience. Total prize pool: $600,000. Cue the dramatic music, because that was the pandemic-era compromise.
For 2021, Riot wanted actual LAN competition. Teams traveling to Iceland had to quarantine once they landed. There was no audience attendance. All MSI matches would be livestreamed online. It was not a packed stadium, but it was a step toward normal.
VCT Masters Reykjavik: Valorant's First Live International Dance
On May 24, 2021, Riot kicked off Valorant Champions Tour Masters Reykjavik, the first live international tournament for Valorant. Ten teams competed to qualify for Valorant Champions 2021, the final global tournament of the Valorant esports season. According to Riot, 'The VALORANT Champions Tour will feature three levels of competition: Challengers, Masters, and Champions. Challengers will focus on regional competition and will be organized both by Riot and top-tier tournament partner operators, some of whom you’ve already seen running Ignition Series events and First Strike qualifiers.' That structure gave Valorant a ladder: climb Challengers, prove it at Masters, then chase Champions. No pressure, right?
The COVID-19 Factor
Like most esports, League of Legends and Valorant had to adjust because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many tournaments were held virtually to keep players safe, many of whom could not travel abroad. Despite the pandemic, Riot managed to host the previous year's in-person League of Legends World Championship in Shanghai by implementing strict safety protocols. That was no small feat. The virus kept its grubby hands on global travel, but Riot found workarounds.
Iceland's Laugardalshöll arena became the stage for both upcoming events. Teams were required to quarantine upon landing. There was no audience. MSI matches and VCT Masters Stage 2 matches were livestreamed online. For fans, it meant watching from the couch instead of arena seats. For players, it meant competing on a stage after months of isolation. The setup was weird, cautious, and oddly hopeful. As one does when trying to host a global esport during a pandemic.
Why It Mattered
The Iceland double-header was more than a scheduling flex. It showed Riot could run international events safely. It gave League fans MSI back after its cancellation. It gave Valorant its first live international moment. And it set up Valorant Champions 2021, the season's final boss. In 2026, the esports world has moved on, with bigger productions and packed arenas, but the Reykjavik experiment remains a reminder: sometimes the show must go on, even if the audience is at home and the hand sanitizer is courtside.
| Event | Dates | Location | Key Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSI 2021 | May 6–23 | Laugardalshöll, Reykjavik | Return after 2020 cancellation; no live audience |
| VCT Masters Reykjavik | Started May 24 | Laugardalshöll, Reykjavik | First live international Valorant tournament |
| Prize Pool (MSI) | — | — | $600,000 |
| Qualification | — | — | Ten Valorant teams fought for Champions 2021 |
Riot's pandemic-era pivot was part logistics, part stubborn optimism. It did not get a roaring crowd. It got quarantines, standardized ping, and livestreams. Yet it kept the competitive flame alive. And in 2026, that flame still burns, though now with more confetti and fewer nasal swabs.