The Free Fire SEA Invitational (FFSI) 2023 happened from May 12 to 28. The top 17 teams from around the world  competed for the title of champions and a share of the $296,000 prize pool.

Here’s a everything that went down at the mid-season Free Fire esports international event.

Farang at the FFSI 2023

The group stage storyline

The Free Fire SEA Invitational (FFSI) Group Stage happened over two weeks from May 12 to 21. Seventeen teams locked horns across 32 matches to determine the 12 teams who advanced to the Grand Finals. The overall standings of the Group Stage are as follows:

The common trend in the group stage was the domination of Thai teams. There were four Thai representatives in the FFSI, making their way through the Thailand Championship and all four managed to book a slot in the Finals.

Leading the table was EVOS Phoenix, the defending world champions. Seeing a Thai team at the top is a thing common for Free Fire esports, but over the past, the region has become synonymous with the domination of EVOS.

The team placed second in the FFWS Sentosa 2021 but closed the year in their home city of Bangkok with the title of world champions. Being the defending world champions, they have come into the tournament as the hot favorites and haven’t disappointed their fans.

They are followed by Magic Esport in second place with the Vietnamese duo of Tem Flash and P Esports rounding up the top four.

FFSI 2023 Finals: Qualified teams

While the group stage featured a long format, it served only as a prelude for the real competition: the FFSI Grand Finals. All scores were reset as the remaining 12 teams competed across a three-day give it your all tournament for the championship.

One thing that remained conserved in the group stage and the finals was the domination of Thailand. However, the teams were shuffled up. EVOS, who were the obvious favorites coming into the finals really struggled. While the team did show why they are the defending champions, with seven top-three finishes, the team were very inconsistent in their remaining matches. They placed eighth or below in terms of placement in 10 occassions.

Thus, while some of their good performances saved face, the team could only manage 192 points to finish in fifth place.

At the top of the table, it was eArena and Magic Esport  from Thailand fighting for the title. eArena got an early lead on the back of an impressive day one, where they won three games. However, towards the end of the finals, they started struggling a bit. In fact, in the last day, the team couldn’t manage a single top-four finish.

Magic, on the other hand, maintained consistency but utlimately fell short by a mere six points to finish in second again. eArena will pocked $100,000 for the victory while Magic Esport will get $40,000.

FFSI Finals 2023: Overall Standings

The overall standings of the Grand Finals are as follows:

EArena: 232 points
Magic Esport: 226 points
Morph Team: 218 points
G Arsy Aphrodite: 210 points
EVOS Phoenix: 192 points
SBTC Esports: 183 points
Genesis Dogma: 182 points
P Esports: 163 points
First Raiders Eclipse: 160 points
FW Esports: 149 points
Team Flash: 122 points
Expand: 66 points

Read next: Free Fire SEA Invitational (FFSI) 2023 is crucial for Garena’s esports future