Season 7 formally kicked off in the League of Legends LPL with a clash of two teams that represented China at the 2016 World Championships. Looking to make a statement early in the season, both RNG and I May battled hard, but I May dominated thanks to superior teamwork and coordination in-game.
The first game of the series was surprisingly quiet in the early game, with little action occurring until Liu "Mlxg" Shi-yu picked up first blood at 12 minutes on Lee Sin. Soon after, though, the game would pick up with a fight in the dragon pit, where Shek "AmazingJ" Wai Ho took advantage of his Maokai's tankiness to secure a 3-for-1 teamfight win for I May. Although LPL rookie Tu "Ben4" Xin-cheng looked nervous in his debut, his performance on Kha'Zix was certainly impressive, finishing with a 3/1/6 KDA (kill/death/assist ratio) while finding crucial picks onto Mlxg's Lee Sin. A clean 5-for-0 teamfight in RNG's base near the 28 minute mark locked up the Game 1 win for I May.
Ben4 continued to control the map early in Game 2, picking up first blood by killing Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao in a 2-for-1 fight early on. After turning a three-man dive in top lane into a 3-for-1 teamfight win for I May, Ben4 took over the game with a series of highlight reel plays, including a Mountain Drake steal at 18:30 and a quadrakill at 29 minutes. Still, it was I May's impeccable teamfighting performance that sealed RNG's fate. Yun "Road" Han-Gil and Ben4 were monsters in the late game teamfights, setting their teammates up to blow RNG out of the water. In similar fashion to Game 1, I May secured the Baron, walked into RNG's base and took RNG out in a clean ace, this time closing out the win in just over 33 minutes.