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Royal Never Give Up showed why it is the king of Group A in the League of Legends Pro League on Friday, demolishing Snake Esports to finish up Week 9, Day 2 in Shanghai.
Royal Never Give Up (12-2, 25-9 match record) were dominant from the early stages of Game 1 as AD carry Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao's Caitlyn picked up a kill and an assist in a 2-for-1 skirmish between the duo lanes. RNG controlled the game from that point on, dissecting Snake Esports through indomitable objective control and good movement as a team. After a pick onto Snake support Yang "Kryst4l" Fan's Lulu led to a 3-for-0 overall fight win and Baron at 30 minutes for RNG, there was nothing Snake Esports (5-8, 12-18 match record) could do, especially considering how strong RNG was in the late game. Between Uzi dealing a game-high 21,100 damage, top laner Yan "Letme" Jun-Ze's Jayce dealing 20,800 damage, and support Shi "Ming" Sen-Ming's Karma picking up game MVP honors with a 4/1/9 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) for 93 percent kill participation, Snake Esports seemed to simply be waiting for RNG to strike the finishing blow, which finally came after a 4-for-0 fight at the 35-minute mark.
Another game, another early lead for RNG as mid laner Li "Xiaohu" Yuan-Hao's Talon picked up first blood and double buffs just over three minutes into the game. Xiaohu powered RNG's push through the early game, diving into Snake Esports' dejected backline in a 4-for-0 fight win for RNG to solidify its lead for the remainder of the game. Snake Esports managed to avoid letting RNG pick up a perfect game when it took down Letme's Gragas near 18 minutes, but it ended up being the only kill Snake could claim, without even a tower destruction to its name. With Uzi's Kog'Maw sufficiently snowballed, a 3-for-0 skirmish and Baron kill for RNG at 22 minutes just about wrapped up the series, as, between Uzi's game-high 16,500 damage and Xiaohu's 15,500 damage dealt to enemy champions, RNG cut through Snake like a hot knife through butter to close out the series in just over 25 minutes.
Royal Never Give Up now turn its attention to OMG, which it meets on Sunday at 1 a.m ET, while Snake Esports will try its luck against the 2nd place team in Group A, Invictus Gaming, on Sunday at 4 a.m ET.