Was curious about this, and couldnt find it online. How is it decided what team starts at what point? Why do LEC, LCK, and LPL automatically qualify for groups? Why did LCS and LMS automatically get second play in phase? Im mostly curious about the automatic group qualifiers.
Back in 2017, the format to MSI qualification had changed with the inclusion of Play In Stages. Play Ins were made in place of what was the IWCI, which made then wildcard regions feel more relevant to the international scene and give just a bit more opportunity.
Where your question's answered comes from this part. Due to this change, rather than all five major regions getting a free ticket in, they would grant that ticket to the most successful regions based on the previous two years of international performance; as gauged by final placements for each event. In this case, LEC, LCK, and LPL remain the more successful regions leaving NA and LMS to play for Round 2 as what's basically gatekeepers.
I remember an article from a previous MSI that would explain the process in more detail in regards to the major regions. But simply...take the last two years (2017 and 2018) and count out the number of teams per region among their playoff result at previous MSI and Worlds events. For LMS, it was 2 MSI semifinal finishes by Flash Wolves. For NA, it was a Worlds quarterfinal and semifinal finish by Cloud9 (never forget). Meanwhile the other regions have....more. Straight up more. That's about all it takes to determine.
The LMS and NA regions have been the most 'disappointing' regions and overall, minor compared to the rest(LCK, LPL, EU) they gotta earn the chance to actually face the big boys.
