Chinese League of Legends heavyweights Royal Never Give Up beat FunPlus Phoenix to win 3-1 in the LCK Spring 2021 final. With this win, RNG confirmed a ticket to the Mid-Season Invitational, scheduled to be held in Iceland from May 6 to 22.
The Grand Finale was held in Wuhan and the crowd enjoyed four action-packed League of Legends matches between two of the best LPL sides. Finally, the 2019 World Champions, FPX, had to accept defeat against RNG, who took back its regional crown after two years.
RNG was the first team to reach the League of Legends LPL Spring 2021 playoffs due to its pole position in the league table. However, it lost to FPX 3-0 and had to battle it to the finals through the losers' bracket. RNG defeated Edward Gaming 3-2 to reach the finals of the Chinese League of Legends Championship.
Even though FPX had a good final performance, it was the RNG players who had the final laugh. They came out of their progressive playing style to display continuous aggression throughout all four games.
"GALA" leads RNG to win the League of Legends LPL Spring 2021 title, secures ticket to Mid-Season Invitational
RNG's Yan "Wei" Yang-Wei dominated the jungle throughout the series with timely top lane ganks. He was constantly supported by Shi "Ming" Sen-Ming, leaving out Chen "GALA" Wei alone in the bottom lane.
The ADC outclassed his opponents by farming and building his items quickly to carry himself to victory. GALA was the stand-out performer on the final day and was deservingly awarded the Player of the Series tag.
RNG's Li "Xiaohu" Yuan-Hao was the team's main carry and had a tough duel with FPX's star player Jang "Nuguri" Ha-gwon throughout the series in the top lane. The early game of match two was single-handedly dominated by Nuguri for FPX as he pulled out two successive two-vs-one fights in his lane with his Irelia.
It was not enough to clinch a game point as Nuguri's progress along the flank was strategically stopped by Ming's CC abilities.
Xiaohu, who usually played as a mid-laner, had to shift himself to the top lane at the start of the new season. The sudden departure of RNG's star player Jian "Uzi" Zihao made things look difficult for the Chinese League of legends heavyweights.
Though fans were initially alarmed by the organization's decision of not roping in a new top laner, it turned out to be a boon in disguise for RNG. Xiaohu was one of the best performers in the split, and RNG managed to hit an outstanding score of 14-2 in the group stage.
The third game was all about the MVP of the series, GALA. The bot laner secured the only "pentakill" of the day, taking down all five FPX players in a single encounter. The fourth game was one-sided as well, and FPX's nexus was down in just 26 minutes, after a few brilliant spells of teamfights from RNG.
With this victory, Royal Never Give Up got tickets to represent the Chinese region at the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational 2021. RNG will face LCK winners DWG Kia and LEC winners MAD Lions in the pool 1 encounters of the MSI.
