First semifinal series: Royal Never Give Up (RNG) vs Fnatic (FNC)
Royal Never Give Up, once again showed their dominance in the tournament. The LPL representatives, who have entered the tournament as one of the favorites of the title, managed to win 3 clean games against the EU LCS representatives – Fnatic. Watching all three games, it was quite obvious that these series were not won by luck, but by pure skills. We could notice a utter similarity in all three games – Fnatic were gaining early game advantages, but they could not match RNG‘s mid to late game fantastic coordination. With the suburb team fighting skills, excellent positioning and outstanding map awareness, Royal Never Give Up showed us why they are currently the main candidates for the trophy of this years MSI.
Players impact
For consolidation price, the AD Carry of Fnatic, Rekkles managed to grab a penta kill in the last game of the series. Although many expected Fnatic‘s mid laner Caps to take control of the games for Fnatic, based on his previous performance during the tournament, he was unable to provide any significant impact to the game, especially when it came to the team fighting.
Another drawback for the European team was the difference in qualities between their support and RNG‘s support. Hylissang, failed to accomplish his duties with engages and protections on his AD Carry and felt more of a liability to the team. RNG‘s Ming on the other hand, grabbing the same champions who Hylissang took in the other games, showed a much deeper understanding of the game and the support role, providing great assistance to his team and ultimately giving them high advantages in the mid to late game.
Aftermath
As many commentators and fans pointed out after the series – these matches were not feel bad, but feel sad. Even though it looked like Fnatic were playing at their best – which they did – their skills could simply not match the skills of their opponents. To put it simple – they have faced a better team.
First Game
Second Game
Third Game
If you want to see the results and highlights of the group stage of MSI, click HERE.
