Royal Never Give Up broke Korea’s international dominance, beating King Zone Dragon X to be crowned MSI 2018 champions.
The Chinese team broke the 1106-day long streak of Korean best of 5 victories in a dramatic 3-1 series win. RNG’s eventual victory wasn’t without its struggles. In their first five games of the competition they had only won two series, this sparked a remarkable turn in-form as they went 12-1 for the remainder of the tournament.
Paris had their fair share of unexpected results. From the rise of Flash Wolves to the demise of Team Liquid, despite a heroic final run for the knockouts. In the end one man was on a mission to prove he was the best in the world right now. UZI. The ADC stunned the likes of Fnatic, Kingzone and Flash Wolves with his ability to play every champion to perfection. UZI has always been highly regarded as one of the best bot laners in League of Legends, yet he had never claimed an international trophy. Until now. Along with his first ever Chinese split victory, the MSI trophy adds to what is looking like a growing list of accomplishments.
While RNG’s success will make the headlines, and rightfully so, it’s important to mention how successful the competition was as a whole. The crowd was electric from the first game of the group stage to the finals. There were surprise upsets such as Flash Wolves being undefeated in the groups against King Zone and EVO’s taking a game each off Team Liquid and Fnatic. Each game felt different with a variety of strategies and tactics being used. They were then analysed by a mixture of casters from every region.
With Koreas dominance taking a step backwards, could RNG and UZI take their growing momentum into Worlds and dethrone the unstoppable region? Only time will tell. However, if MSI has anything to go by, the next time there is an international competition, it is expected to be another unbelievable occasion.
To summarize MSI was one of the best international events in recent years for League of Legends. As teams start to prepare now for their summer splits. All eyes will be on who will qualify for Worlds in South Korea.
Gromp News 