Cover-Credits:
The battle for the top two spots at the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) 2022 Rumble Stage was a heated one with G2 Esports and Royal Never Give Up (RNG) testing their limits. For years now, the rumble between G2 and Chinese teams has delivered hype-worthy moments and never a dull moment. Notably, this European team is often called a League of Legends Pro League (LPL) representative because of the aggression and unconventional plays it brings to the Summoner’s Rift.
However, the game seemed very one-sided for G2 with its very strong Xayah tearing through multiple members of G2 Esports. RNG dismantled G2’s base in under 27 minutes and ended the day with a 5-1 record.
G2 Esports surprised the audience with Sergen "Broken Blade" Çelik’s infamous Riven getting locked in. In the jungle, however, both the teams opted for standard picks in Lee Sin and Viego. Yuumi was another pick that caught everyone off-guard.
RNG picks up the first kill
All eyes were on the top lane where Chen "Bin" Ze-Bin played Gwen against Riven. The early game favored Riven, but after a misstep, he walked away from Bin with a sliver of HP. Chen "GALA" Wei and Shi "Ming" Sen-Ming, meanwhile, picked up first blood on Raphaël "Targamas" Crabbé. It was an easy dragon pick-up for G2 Esports and the team did not have to trade other objectives to collect it. Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski and Victor "Flakked" Lirola Tortosa crashed in on Yan "Wei" Yang-Wei who was all alone in the bot-side river and punished him for it.
GALA collects kills across the map
At around 11 minutes, RNG killed Rasmus "caPs" Borregaard Winther and quickly turned to the dragon. Following this, the Xayah-Rakan duo rotated to the top lane and killed Broken Blade, and further pushed the attack-damage carry’s (ADC) powers. At 14.40 minutes, the Xayah was the richest champion on the map nearing 7K gold. With three members of G2 fishing for kills on the bottom lane, RNG pushed two towers in the mid-lane and opened up the map.
RNG rallies behind its ADC
RNG realized that its win condition is not Li "Xiaohu" Yuan-Hao’s Ahri but the Xayah. Time and again, along with the Lee Sin, GALA and Ming picked off the sporadic members of the European squad. After killing Jankos, RNG secured the Baron Nashor, further extending the gold lead by 7K. An engage by caPs turned awry with RNG answering it effectively and breaking open the base of G2 Esports. RNG tore G2 apart systematically and took down the nexus and got its revenge in the Rumble Stage of MSI 2022.
