by in
After three weeks of amazing LoL action, the League of Legends 2022 Mid-Season Invitational came to an end on Sunday with an intense best-of-five finals series between Royal Never Give Up and T1.
RNG came out on top, with the Chinese esports organization clinching the title for the second time in a row. RNG retained the title having won the title in the previous season, but they did so after a fierce battle with T1. They currently hold the record for the franchise with the most MSI championship titles.
The MSI champions now have a total of three championship titles to their name, having won the title in 2018 and 2021. Both teams went into the finals tied as the teams with the most titles, having two titles each.
The finals lived up to expectations, as both teams fought and gave their best. It was a highly competitive series with no team willing to get completely ridden over. But T1 fell in Game 5 and RNG snatched the win whilst making history in the process. RNG started the game out the gate with a kill within the first minute of the first map. The kill was facilitated by Chen “GALA” Wei and Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong was the dealt the blow.
By the end of Game 1, Chen “Bin” Ze-Bin had the most kills by any player from both teams. He had recorded over 50% of the total kills made in the first map. His 13 kills in Game 1 were his most kills in a map and it added up to get the top laner a total of 22 kills.
Game 2 went in favor of the Korean brand as they recorded over 51,000 gold with about a 7,000 differential. They completed 15 kills as opposed to RNG’s five kills made possible by Wei (3), GALA (1), and Bin (1). Gumayusi led T1 with eight kills, with Faker posting three kills and Zeus was good for two kills, while Oner and Keria both recorded a kill each.
RNG went ahead in Game 3, but T1 tied the series in Game 4 and forced Game 5. RNG had a better display in the tiebreaker and proved themselves to be more deserving after putting up a great performance throughout the tournament. RNG recorded a total of 66 kills to claim the win, and T1 finished off with 42 kills, with Gumayusi leading the team with his 17 kills.
Reacting to the loss during the post-game interview was T1’s veteran, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. The mid-laner stated that the loss was a positive as it showed him the deficiencies in his game. He also revealed that he has his eyes set on the Summer Split and the Worlds as he looks to improve his game.
”In a way, today’s loss was positive because it helped me see what I lacked,” Faker said.
“I think I’ll be able to improve more in the future, so I’m looking forward to the Summer Split and Worlds.”
Responding to a question relating to the future of his teammates, Faker remarked that the lads do have ample time as there is tons of potential within the roster. Whilst he acknowledged that the MSI is an important tournament, he stated that it was only one part.
”We have plenty of time, and while MSI is an important tournament, it’s just one part,” he continued.
“I believe we have a lot of time, so there’s much potential in here.”
