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In a rare battle of League of Legends Pro League group leaders, Royal Never Give Up took on Team WE on Week 6, Day 3. In a hard-fought slobberknocker, Team WE left Shanghai with a 2-1 series win on Saturday.
RNG landed the first blow in the series with a crushing Game 1 win, beginning with substitute jungler Wang "Baybay" You-Chun's Elise picking up first blood at eight minutes. Rotating well in the mid-game, Royal Never Give Up (7-2, 15-7 match record) sent all five members mid at 11 minutes allowing them to secure two kills and a Mountain Drake. Dominating Team WE (8-2, 17-7 match record) with a 5-for-1 ace after WE picked up a Mountain Drake, RNG shined as AD carry Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao's Ezreal popped off, securing kills throughout the game while dealing a game-high 26,500 damage to enemy champions. Securing a Baron kill, RNG kept its foot on the gas pedal, relentlessly sweeping through WE's base while Uzi earned a flawless 7/0/3 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) for 83 percent kill participation and game MVP honors as RNG took Game 1 in just under 29 minutes.
RNG continued to excel in the early game as Baybay's Kha'Zix picked up another first blood before 10 minutes to start Game 2. RNG mid laner Li "Xiaohu" Yuan-Hao had a prolific mid game as Taliyah, using the Weaver's Wall to create picks for RNG, but Team WE stayed close in gold. Biding its time, WE took over the mid-late game with a 2-for-0 skirmish at the 22-minute mark, giving Team WE a free Baron kill which it used to demolish RNG's defenses. Methodically choking RNG out of the map, Team WE secured a second Baron kill at 32 minutes, pushing into RNG's base and taking an extended 5-for-1 fight in a 35-minute Game 2 win.
In a crucial Game 3, Team WE controlled the tempo from the start as Xiaohu's Vladimir picked up first blood at just six minutes. Dominating the objective game, WE secured three Ocean Drakes, one Mountain Drake, and two Baron buffs throughout the course of the game, consistently shutting down RNG's attempts to claw back into the game. Support Nam "Ben" Dong-hyun was clutch down the stretch on Nami, landing huge Aqua Prisons in the mid and late game to put WE ahead. Looking nothing like the team that got so thoroughly stomped in Game 1, Team WE took control of the league with a 35-minute Game 3 win.
Royal Never Give Up will look to shake off the loss as they prepare for another tough matchup against QG Reapers on Friday at 5 a.m ET, while Team WE squares off against OMG on Saturday at 1 a.m ET.