League of Legends Pro League representative Royal Never Give Up captured their second-straight Mid-Season Invitational title Sunday with a 3-2 win over League of Legends Champions Korea representative T1 at MSI 2022 in Busan, South Korea.
The final two teams were the two pre-season tournament favorites. However, it was the underdogs, RNG, that came out on top to become the first-ever team to win three MSI titles. T1 continue their international title drought despite deep runs at this MSI and at Worlds 2021. The organization has not captured an international tournament championship since 2017.
RNG started off the finals with a convincing win against T1’s wild draft. T1 top laner Choi “Zeus” Woo-je locked in Jayce, and T1 bot laner Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong picked Caitlyn, two champions that have not been meta picks during MSI 2022. The picks backfired as both were non-factors. But the biggest game-changer was Zeus’ lane opponent, RNG’s Chen “Bin” Ze-Bin, who posted a 13/0/3 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) on Gwen to give RNG the 1-0 lead.
Game 2 saw T1 bounce right back thanks to an incredible performance by mid laner Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok on Lissandra and a clutch fight at Baron by T1 to lock up the game to tie the series at 1-1.
FAKER'S LISSANDRA FINDS THEM ALL pic.twitter.com/qXx8d8PExA
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The next two games flip-flopped. Each team crushed the other finalist to force an all-deciding Game 5. But in Game 5, Faker and T1 found themselves outclassed. RNG took early advantages in all lanes and ran with it. They ended Game 5 in under 30 minutes as RNG held up the trophy from their team base in China. The Busan crowd watched stunned as confetti fell from the ceiling over an empty left side of the stage where RNG were meant to be. But with strict COVID-19 restrictions in Shanghai, China, RNG played and won MSI 2022 remotely.
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) May 29, 2022
RNG’s jungler Yan “Wei” Yang-Wei picked up MVP honors for his solid play throughout the finals. RNG’s objective control could not be matched throughout the finals. Wei locked down the Baron and dragon pits constantly. His defining moment came in Game 3, where he was unstoppable on Viego. He ended the game with a 8/0/7 KDA to put RNG at championship point.
RNG’s best-of-five series win against T1 was their first-ever in five tries. But now was a better time than ever to grab it as RNG broke the tie they had with T1 when it came to the number of MSI titles. RNG now has three MSI titles, the most of any team in League of Legends history. RNG mid laner Li “Xiaohu” Yuan-Hao also became the first player to win two MSI titles in two different roles after capturing the title in the top lane last year.
T1 came into MSI 2022 after pulling off the first undefeated split in LCK history but failed to give their hometown crowd another title to cheer for. The team did not continue their undefeated streak very far in the tournament, losing games to G2 Esports, Evil Geniuses and RNG. Although T1 swept G2 in the semifinals convincingly, the team couldn’t get it done against RNG in the finals.
Published: May 29, 2022 09:12 am