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The defending Champions of the Mid-Season Invitational, Royal Never Give Up, will be defending their title in Busan, South Korea, come May 10. The esports organization secured its spot earlier today after winning the 2022 League of Legends Pro League (LPL) Spring Split Grand Finals against Top Esports.
RNG bested Top Esports (formerly known as Topsports Gaming) in a best of 5 series (3-2). The 2-time MSI Champions will be representing the League of Legends Pro League at MSI 2022.
RNG has done a double over Top Esports as they had defeated TES in the upper semifinals, leading up to the Grand Finals. After suffering a 1-3 loss in the semifinals, TES bested the Victory 5 in the lower semifinals to secure a spot in the grand finals going up against RNG.
Victory 5 finished first place in the LPL 2022 Spring standings with an 88% win-loss ratio, having won 14 of 16 series. They were the favorites to win the LPL Spring Split 2022 by sportsbooks with Bet365 having them tied alongside RNG with a $3.25 moneyline odd.
TES, who placed 5th in the standings and was pegged by Unibet as fourth-best to win the LPL Spring with moneyline odds of $4.25, got the better of V5. They won the Macao esports organization 3-1 to advance to the grand finals.
Royal Never Give Up was second best to Victory Five in the spring standings with 12 series wins and only 4 losses. They have, however, played a game less than V5 and have won 25 of 39 games as compared to V5’s 29 of 40. This is not RNG’s first rodeo as Spring Playoffs champions, the China-based organization won the LPL 2021 Spring Playoffs, after defeating FunPlus Phoenix 3-1.
The final game between RNG and TES started with RNG taking the lead with the first map in the best-of-5 series, having gotten the Elder Dragon. The second map saw them secure the Baron and the Dragon Soul as they got the best of TES yet again.
One more win for RNG and TES would have lost without winning a map, the third map was everything for Luo “Crescent” Sheng and his lads. In the third map, TES had taken the lead and secured the Mountain Soul in the process. Knight’s Ryze put up an amazing performance, ending the match with a 4/0/15 scoreline.
Coming into game five – Rift, TES had the momentum having secured two back-to-back wins and forced a 2-2 draw. The winners of the Demacia Cup 2021 had come back from a 2-0 loss and were looking to close out the series with a win to seal their ticket to the 2022 MSI.
RNG had a better game plan as they secured two dragons, thereby taking the lead mid-game. By the end of the game, there was no coming back for TES as RNG became the winners of the LPL 2022 Spring Split.
Having missed the Mid-Season Invitational in 2019 and 2020, RNG makes a back-to-back appearance at the tournament. They have a chance to win the title in close succession, as they are the defending champions. They have also enjoyed the luxury of being the MSI champions in 2018, after sticking it to Kingzone DragonX (3-1) for prize money of $527,650.
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