MSI Finals - RNG Take The Crown

Rilea -

The MSI finals was a closely fought battle, going all the way to game 5 while both teams went toe-to-toe with each other. Nevertheless, RNG dominated in game 5 to become the back-to-back MSI champions and become the first organisation to claim 3 MSI titles.

Lissandra Dominates

With Ahri emerging as one of the most successful picks throughout the tournament, it was a given she would appear in the final. Therefore, both teams smartly locked in Lissandra to counter Ahri by using her plethora of hard CC tools.

This pick proved to be extremely successful, as Lissandra was picked 3 times into Ahri and won each game. She was able to mitigate Ahri's all in potential with her ultimate (either on herself or on the Ahri), and had more team-fighting power between the AoE CC of her ult and W.

LPL Continue Their Reign

With their victory, RNG earned the LPL region another title. Incredibly, the region has won 6 out of the last 8 international tourmanets, confirming how we are living in the LPL era of competitive League of Legends:

  • MSI 2018 - RNG
  • Worlds 2018 - IG
  • Worlds 2019 - FPX
  • MSI 2021 - RNG
  • Worlds 2021 - EDG
  • MSI 2022 - RNG

Incredibly, 4 separate organisations have hoisted the trophy on behalf of the region. The LPL hasn't been defined by a T1 or a G2, and instead produces multiple world class teams who are competing with each other for the throne. It's easy to forget RNG were forced to game 5 by Top Esports in the LPL finals to even qualify for MSI, and with the LPL sending 4 times to Worlds at the end of the year, they are undoubtedly the region to beat.

© 2022 Riot Games, Inc. Used With Permission.

Is Blue Side Too Strong?

MSI 2022 has been surrounded in controversy: the 35 ping debate, RNG being made to replay games in the Group Stage, and the community's criticism over the format. The final continued this trend with T1's head coach Polt stating in an interview T1 lost because they couldn't play on blue side for 3 games in the series, which was ultimately decided by a coin toss RNG won.

Historically, blue side has always been regarded as more favourable and this year's MSI was no exception; it finished with a 53.2% win rate across the tournament, and a 100% win rate in the final. Blue side has also been favoured for the last 3 international tournaments, with a 56.8% win rate at MSI 2021 and 51.8% win rate at Worlds 2021. Perhaps it's time for some critical discussion between Riot and the competitive community about changes to side selection.

Highlight Play

The confined nature of the Baron pit makes for the perfect spot to pull off huge AoE abilities when players are clumped together, just like Faker did on Lissandra:

Faker took advantage of RNG's lack of vision in the top side jungle, and found a sensational 4 man root with a E + Flash + W combo. Keria then followed up with Tahm Kench's W for a great knock up, all while Gumayusi shredded through RNG's health bars using Jinx's AoE rockets.

For now, competitive League will take a small break until the major regions resume play in mid June. Congratulations to RNG for their historic win, and hopefully we'll see them compete in person at Worlds later in the year!