Cover-Credits:
The Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) 2022 came to an end on 29th May with the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) representative Royal Never Give Up (RNG) lifting the trophy. At the start of the tournament, RNG was allowed to participate remotely from Shanghai, China because of the strict COVID-19 restrictions in its hometown. After receiving backlash from the community over the situation and having to replay three of its matches due to a discrepancy in latency, the team’s head coach Zhu “KenZhu” Kai spoke about the difficulties RNG was facing at MSI 2022 and that they would go all the way.
Despite being under the scrutiny of the audience and fans, who were watching it very closely throughout the tournament, RNG persisted and took down T1 on its home turf to become the MSI champion for the second consecutive year. Additionally, the team showed immense strength on the Summoner’s Rift, dropping only four games, including the two games in the final.
Notably, at MSI 2022, RNG was a part of both the longest and the shortest games and showed prowess and perseverance.
Shortest game of MSI 2022 - 20:33 minutes
The shortest game to be played at MSI 2022 was between RNG and RED Canids at the Group Stage of the tournament on 13th May and it was for 20:33 minutes. This game was a classic stomp by the LPL representative who decided to speed run the game. At the start of this match, both teams had secured one victory each in the tournament. RED Canids could not even seek shelter or enter its own jungle which was under the complete control of RNG. Chen "GALA" Wei picked up his first official pentakill of the tournament after the first one was discounted for in the games that were declared null and void. Fans also got to witness a dancing Rift Herald on RED Canids’ base.
Longest game of MSI 2022 - 43:45 minutes
The longest game of MSI 2022 was in fact the one between the North American representative Evil Geniuses (EG) and RNG in the first semifinal of the tournament. It was the third match of the series and it started with multiple kills falling in the bottom lane where Shi "Ming" Sen-Ming picked up a double kill even after GALA died early on.
It was a back and forth game and EG was mounting a comeback, but it was short-lived. The defending MSI champion, RNG, aced Evil Geniuses at 43:45 minutes and ended the game in a swift three-game series.
It is the third MSI title for RNG, which shall look to translate this momentum into the Summer Split and eventually, the World Championship.
