G2 Esports Finishes Strong On Day 1 Of Rumble Stage After Taking Down RNG

Riot Games seemed to have kicked off MSI 2022’s Rumble Stage with one motto: “Break some win streaks” and it looks like it has successfully carried out this plan. Earlier today, on 20th May, G2 Esports broke T1’s winning spree that it had been building up from the start of the Spring Split. After the mano-o-mano between G2 Esports and Royal Never Give Up (RNG), the only two undefeated teams at MSI 2022, RNG’s streak has also been shattered.

The drafts were pretty standard and straightforward for both teams, but the common consensus was that RNG out-drafted G2. As a result, walking on to the Summoner’s Rift, G2 had to play the individual matchups really well.

Unfortunately for RNG, the draft win did not mean anything after the team was styled on by G2’s picks on Kai’Sa, Zoe, and Vladimir.

First blood falls at 7.30 minutes

Yan "Wei" Yang-Wei’s Lee Sin pick helped Chen "Bin" Ze-Bin and the team pick a crucial kill on Sergen "Broken Blade" Çelik playing Vladimir. Soon after this, RNG also picked up the Ocean Dragon and turned to the bot lane. After realizing that RNG had overstayed its welcome, Rasmus "caPs" Borregaard Winther followed up and collected a couple of kills on Zoe. At 14 minutes, the teams were neck and neck in terms of gold and kills.

RNG members fall like dominos

At the 15 minute-mark, G2 Esports burst down the dragon and collected multiple kills on RNG’s roster. Zoe was dishing out tons of damage alongside Vladimir and Victor "Flakked" Lirola Tortosa’s Kai’Sa. Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski even collected the second Rift Herald that was initially started by the Chinese squad. After losing out on multiple members, RNG answered back by killing Raphaël "Targamas" Crabbé and Flakked.

G2 turns to Baron Nashor

At 21 minutes, G2 Esports collected the Baron Nashor buff after noticing that RNG members were spread out all over the map. Lee Sin on the flank was the only hope that RNG had but even that failed miserably as the European squad averted disaster by playing proactively.

Both Chen "GALA" Wei and Li "Xiaohu" Yuan-Hao were shut down in this game and the LPL squad was running around like headless chickens. G2 Esports collected its second Baron of the game at 31.30 minutes after slowly dismantling the lineup of RNG, by baiting them into a scrappy fight.

At 36 minutes, the European squad aced RNG and proved that it was the favorite at MSI 2022 by taking down RNG’s base. After winning its two games on Day 1 of Rumble Stage of MSI 2022, G2 Esports cemented that it can play the objective game as well as go toe-to-toe against the best players in the world.

The biggest takeaway for the teams at MSI 2022 is not to let caPs get away with mini-wins because he will absolutely stomp on the team and wreak havoc.