Royal Never Give Up are on the board in the 2021 MSI Rumble Stage. The LPL champions had an impressive victory over the defending world champions in Damwon Kia. Here is how they secured the victory.
RNG is off to a great start in the Rumble Stage with the LPL side taking care of business. This will set them up well going into their game against Cloud9 later in the day. As for Damwon KIA, they will have to dust themselves off with PSG looming on the horizon. Here is how the draft played out for both sides:
Damwon controlled the early game
The game started greatly for the defending world champions with Ghost and Beryl turning around an engage from Ming to secure first blood for Damwon. On top of that, DWK were able to secure a kill onto RNG's Wei at the same time. Giving over a 1k gold lead to the world champions is not the smartest of plans if you are RNG. This did not phase the LPL champions, however. RNG started to claw their way back into the game with multiple picks onto Beryl.
RNG starts to turn the tide
While Damwon KIA was up in gold, RNG was able to take the maximum out of these trades. This was largely evident around the 19-minute mark, DWK was able to secure their second dragon but lost two kills and a tower for their efforts. By the 20th minute, Damwon's gold lead was gone, RNG's team fighting comp was online and was ready to take over the game.
While Damwon KIA was able to keep the game close, RNG's team fighting composition was just too much for the defending world champions to handle. RNG were able to secure Baron at the 25th minute mark. A couple of minutes later RNG were able to brute-force their way into DWK's base and take the nexus for the win.
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Damwon's drafting is being punished
For the entirety of 2021, Damwon KIA has struggled when it comes to drafting. Nick "LS" De Cesare who has spent most of his career covering the LCK scene, has consistently criticized Damwon for their drafting. LS was not happy with how both teams drafted this game.
While Damwon KIA is not yet in any immediate danger at MSI 2021, both RNG and Cloud9 have shown the LCK champions have massive holes in their arsenal. Royal Never Give Up and Damwon KIA will both be back in action later today when they take on Cloud9 and PSG respectively.
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