Worlds 2021: RNG Seek to Claim all of 2021’s International Titles

The Golden Road may no longer be a possibility, but Royal Never Give Up seek to do what only SK Telecom T1 has done before— to win both the Mid-Season Invitational and the World Championship in the same season.

At 2019 Worlds, Royal Never Give Up failed to make it out of the group stages. The following year, with the status of bottom lane superstar Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao uncertain, and with him eventually declaring his retirement in the middle of 2020, RNG struggled to fill his shoes. In the offseason, RNG made a gamble: Li “Xiaohu” Yuan-Hao roleswapped into the top lane, and they signed younger talents Yuan “Cryin” Cheng-Wei and Yan “Wei” Yang-wei from middling LPL organization Estar, and Chen “GALA” Wei from Dominus Esports. Many were skeptical of this move as Cryin, Wei, and GALA were all rather unproven talent with the occasional streaks of brilliance, and that Xiaohu was clearly a better mid laner than Cryin on many aspects.

Royal Never Give Up slowly found their form over the course of spring, ending the regular season in first place. However, their playoff run was not exactly easy. In the fourth round, they were immediately swept 3-0 by FunPlus Phoenix, and had to face off against Top Esports in the lower bracket. They won a close series against TES 3-2, and they fought their way against Edward Gaming 3-2 as well. The finals was perhaps RNG’s best series in that playoff run, where they won 3-1 and secured a spot at the Mid-Season Invitational.

At MSI, while RNG were the favorites, there were some questions around some of the players’ champion pools and how the team would fare in a meta that deviated from what the team was comfortable playing in. They placed second in the rumble stages with a 7-3 record, but never dropping a single game to the first place team, Damwon Kia. They had a convincing best of five against PCS representatives PSG Talon, who they beat with a 3-1 scoreline. Their series against Damwon Kia was rather close, but they secured the victory over five games.

In the summer, the expectations for this team was that they would perform better given the added confidence of having won an international title. RNG had a rather slow start to the season, and they seemed to struggle to adapt to the meta. They picked things up in the middle of the season, finishing fourth and getting seeded into a relatively later round in the playoffs. The expectations were that RNG would just continue to ramp up and would be a championship contender, but they were stopped by a surging LNG Esports with a score of 1-3. Royal Never Give Up then had to prove themselves in the Regional Qualifier, where they won a rather quick 3-0 against a Team WE, securing the LPL’s third seed.

This team is inclined to play towards Xiaohu, who may not exactly be the best in pure laning, but is an excellent team player. He has made the game-winning play several times with his engages on champions like the Gnar. He is also an excellent carry, and is heralded by many as the best Lucian top lane player in the world. While Cryin is usually a rather supportive mid laner that enables Wei to get advantages on the map, their MSI run proves that Cryin can hold his own against international competition. GALA can be relied upon in skirmishes and in late game team fights, but the real star of the bottom lane is Shi “Ming” Sen-Ming. His ability to create advantages in the laning phase, his roams and vision setups, and his initiations are a sight to behold.

While Royal Never Give Up is be the LPL’s third seed, it must be remembered that they are the champions of the most recent international tournament. They are not to be underestimated. 

 

(Header image via Royal Never Give Up)