Royal Never Give Up comes into this year’s MSI as a solid contender for the title as they didn’t drop a single series in their LPL Spring Playoffs run. RNG finished 2nd place in the regular season after being in a close race for 1st place with LPL champions Victory Five.
Their performance during the regular split had its ups and downs, getting into a tie for first place with LNG in Week 3, then dropping to 6th by Week 6. Even if RNG did manage to close the regular season solidly, it’s not crazy to say that getting into form was a tough challenge for them.
RNG’s playoff run was nothing short of spectacular. It all started when they faced JD Gaming and we knew this series was going to be a banger because the last time these two teams met we had an intense 3-game series, and once again, they delivered. JD Gaming started the series with a lead as they won the first two games, but RNG struck back and took down JDG three games in a row, smashing the lol odds.
The team advanced into the semifinals where they would have to play against the team that recently had taken Victory Five down, that team was Top Esports. It wasn’t completely unexpected when Top Esports secured the first victory of the series. In game 2, Royal Never Give Up was quick to recover and thanks to Xiaohu’s performance they made a comeback and took TES down 3-1, knocking them down to the losers’ bracket.
RNG had secured a spot in their 9th grand finals, and a few days later, Top Esports would defeat Victory Five once again. The grand final would be a rematch of the semifinals and Royal Never Give Up made the first move starting the series with a 2-0 lead but was evened rapidly by TES. Everybody was expecting a reverse sweep from Top Esports, but RNG had other plans in mind. After a 37-minute back-and-forth game, RNG managed to close out the series, achieving their 5th LPL championship.
Royal Never Give Up Playstyle
You don’t win an LPL championship with only one trick up your sleeve. We’ve recently talked about teams that are able to perfect one playstyle, and we’ve gone over teams that are strategically flexible. Well, we could say that Royal Never Give Up is a combination of both. First of all, every single player in RNG has received multiple MVP awards throughout the season, Xiaohu being the first on the list. All of the players in this team have a strong feeling about when and how they can carry the game on their own.
Throughout the split, the question about which team had the strongest laners in the league was constantly brought up. And if we are being honest, it’s not like RNG players are 100% the #1 prospect in this regard. Yes, Xiaohu, Bin, and Gala all have popped off in some of their games, but it’s hard to constantly be the best laner when you have to compete against the likes of Cube, Rookie, Knight, Photic, and JackeyLove.
Royal Never Give Up had games where they played around Xiaohu, especially when he played champions like Vex and LeBlanc. But Xiaohu also knew how to use champions like Galio to exacerbate Gala’s teamfight potential on Jinx or Aphelios. It was also common for Xiaohu to pick Twisted Fate to secure a strong side-lane composition so Wei could focus entirely on aiding Bin when he was on a split-pushing champion.
At the end of the day, Royal Never Give Up didn’t become the LPL champions necessarily because of outperforming their opponents individually. Don’t get me wrong, RNG players are amongst the best in the world, but what made them shine and dominate the league was their ability to delegate. Time and time again every single one of their players proved to be able to perform in clutch moments, making them one of the biggest threats in this tournament.
Player to Watch: Li “Xiaohu” Yuan-Hao
When it comes to solid performances, Xiaohu is the king of all. The 24-year-old Chinese mid laner has been playing under the RNG organization for well over 7 years, and what he’s accomplished is worthy of admiration. Over 500 games, more than 2500 kills, 5 times LPL champion, 2 times MSI winner, 3 Demacia Cup titles, 5 appearances in LPL All-pro teams. The only thing missing in Xiaohu’s achievement list is a world championship, but looking at the way he’s been playing recently, this year could be Xiaohu’s best shot at getting it.
This season, Xiaohu has played 13 champions so far and achieved a 5.52 KDA over 53 games, which is quite impressive. As noted before, Xiaohu isn’t a player who demands resources, he is extremely aware of when he is able to carry and when he is most needed as a secondary carry. For other mid laners, it must be hell to play against him considering that it’s really hard to neutralize him, and if Xiaohu falls behind slightly, he always knows how to come back into the game.
It’s safe to say that group B won’t be a challenge for Xiaohu. He’ll be facing three mid laners coming from minor regions. Like in any international tournament, overconfidence can be any team’s demise, but Xiaohu is clearly in a whole different league coming into this group. For Xiaohu, the real fun begins in the next stage, where he will be able to meet players like Caps, Jojopyun, and of course, one his oldest rival, Faker.
Royal Never Give Up is one of the few teams that come into this MSI with a real chance to win it all. It’s going to be interesting to watch how dominant they can really be on the international stage. As MSI is getting closer and closer, be sure to stay tuned in as we are almost halfway through our MSI 2022 profiles and are excited to share our esports picks.
